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The ACOAThe Secret of a bilingual workplace by Mireille E. LeBlanc “The secret to creating a truly bilingual workplace is to find ways, however small they may be, to make learning a language interesting.” This is the Monique Collette’s philosophy on respect for and promotion of official languages. The President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) maintains that bilingualism is one of the most valued skills in this federal agency, whose mandate is to stimulate the economy of the Atlantic region. “Bilingualism has become part of ACOA’s culture. Language skills are valued as part of employees’ job skills,” she added. Diversified initiatives In addition to recruiting bilingual employees, ACOA integrates language training into employees’ career development. ACOA’s management committee promotes the use of the language of the minority at meetings by discussing at least one agenda item in French. In 2006, ACOA’s New Brunswick Region Official Languages Committee—New Brunswick Region won a Public Service Award of Excellence, which highlighted ACOA’s efforts to promote linguistic diversity within the Agency. The Committee launched a peer mentoring program to help employees perfect their second language skills. The Committee also organized Wednesday in French, days when employees are encouraged to speak French. On these days, all employees receive an e-mail with links to French words of the day, grammar and vocabulary exercises and tips on using both official languages. These e-mails are very popular with employees. A good rating ACOA achieved an overall rating of B in the last Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages' performance report card, which is testament to management’s commitment to respect official languages and support Francophone communities in the Atlantic region.
ACOA received an A in the equitable participation category because 31.3% of the workforce is Francophone. “I think the fact that ACOA’s head office is located in the country's only officially bilingual province makes it easier to recruit people who are proficient in both official languages. There is also increased awareness, not only of the French fact, but also of the benefits of bilingualism,” explained Monique Collette proudly. ACOA also did well in the complaints subcategory, with a rating of A. “We are well aware of situations that may lead to complaints, and we follow up on them quickly,” continued Ms. Collette, explaining ACOA’s strong performance in this area. However, we should not ignore ACOA’s rating of C in the service to the public category and the active offer and service delivery subcategory. According to the Office of the Commissioner’s evaluation, none of the staff made an active offer of service in both official languages. Ms. Collette recognizes ACOA’s shortcomings in this area and says that efforts have been made to address them. “We have an evaluation system for our senior managers, and one of their objectives is to implement measures to correct this problem,” she said. Ms. Collette commends the performance report card initiative, which has enabled ACOA to identify areas for improvement. Bilingualism as a tool for economic development With economic development as ACOA’s primary mandate, Ms. Collette would be remiss if she did not mention strengthening the Atlantic region’s economic capacity and the role of a bilingual workforce in job creation. She reiterated that Francophone communities are the minority in the Atlantic region and that language plays an important role in their development. “Language is of the utmost importance in the development of the region as a whole. Each community has its own unique potential to draw on, and it's only by recognizing this potential that we can ensure economic development.”
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