Action Plan for Official Languages

5. AN EXEMPLARY PUBLIC SERVICE

5.1 Where we are now

5.1.1 Communication and service delivery
5.1.2 Language of work
5.1.3 Participation of English- and French-speaking Canadians

5.2 Our plan

Over the past 30 years, the Government of Canada has invested in creating a competent, bilingual public service in order to provide employment opportunities to English- and French-speaking Canadians and to serve Canadians in the official language of their choice. The results are palpable. The situation has greatly improved since the introduction of the first Official Languages Act in 1969 and its revision in 1988. The public service is no longer the almost unilingual institution it was thirty years ago. For example, the proportion of Francophones at all hierarchical levels as the number of designated bilingual position, have significantly increased. As we will see, however, much remains to be done before the federal public service is in line with the vision of Canada set out in the Official Languages Act.

5.1 Where we are now

5.1.1 Communication and service delivery

DESIGNATED BILINGUAL OFFICES ARE FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO FULFIL THEIR MANDATE.

During the 1990s, the offer of service in both languages remained the same or declined. As a result, with the exception of Quebec (where, according to the Official Languages Commissioner, services in English are provided on a satisfactory basis), offices that are supposed to provide services in both languages often cannot do so.⁵⁵ According to studies conducted by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, too many offices cannot provide good service because too few of their employees are sufficiently bilingual.

The new policy on alternative service delivery, which came into effect on April 1, 2002, requires federal institutions to consider their impact on official languages and to consult minority language communities when changes in service delivery could affect their development. The current Commissioner of Official Languages feels this policy “may help improve the offer of service in both languages, provided adequate follow-up is done.”⁵⁶

5.1.2 Language of work

IMBALANCE CONTINUES TO FAVOUR ENGLISH AS LANGUAGE OF WORK.

A September 2002 study on attitudes toward the use of both official languages in the public service⁵⁷ confirmed there is an imbalance in second-language use by Anglophones and Francophones. Generally, English remains the preferred language of work, to the detriment of French, except in Montreal.

PROPORTION OF BILINGUAL POSITIONS HAS INCREASED BUT NOT ALL ARE STAFFED BY BILINGUAL INCUMBENTS.

According to Treasury Board annual reports, the proportion of positions designated bilingual has increased considerably since the mid-1970s. Currently, 37% of positions in the federal public service are designated bilingual, with 28% of these requiring the highest level of second language proficiency and 67% an intermediate level. The proportion of incumbents in these positions who fully meet requirements is 84%. At the executive level, a proportionally higher percentage of positions are designated bilingual (78%) but the compliance level drops to 72%.

The fact that there are public servants in bilingual positions who cannot carry out their duties in both languages remains a problem. The time to act is now, to avoid compromising obligations regarding language of work, communication with the public and service delivery provided for in the Act. Therefore, the shortfalls in language evaluation and training that have accumulated following the budget cuts of the past few years must be remedied as quickly as possible.

5.1.3 Participation of English- and French-speaking Canadians

IMPROVEMENT EXCEPT IN QUEBEC, WHERE THE PROPORTION OF ANGLOPHONES IN THE FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE REMAINS INADEQUATE.

The Treasury Board’s annual reports show that the participation rate for Francophones in the public service has risen, from 25% in 1978 to 31% in 2002, even in the management category (18% in 1978 and 28% in 2002).⁵⁸ The participation rate of Francophones is higher than their proportion of the population (24.1%).⁵⁹

The proportion of French-speaking deputy ministers was 28% in 2001 and 32% in 2002. However, it is noteworthy that the number of deputy ministers is small, so that statistics can fluctuate with the departure or arrival of one or two Francophones. The proportion is virtually the same for associate deputy ministers. For assistant deputy ministers, the proportion has held steady at 26%. Nearly 75% of assistant deputy ministers are bilingual.⁶⁰

In 2002, federal institutions (agencies and institutions for which the Treasury Board is not the employer) employed 53,101 people in the Quebec region (not including the National Capital Region), 8,500 of whom were Anglophone, representing 16% of employees, a higher percentage than Anglophone representation in Quebec’s population (12.9%).⁶¹ However, of the 20,136 public servants working in Quebec in 2001 in institutions for which the Treasury Board is the employer, 1,512 were Anglophones. Therefore, their participation rate was only 7.5%, a cause of concern for the Anglophone community and for the Government.⁶²

The Government is concerned that it has not been able to hire a sufficient number of Anglophones in the Quebec Region to be representative of their percentage of the province’s population. The Act requires that Anglophones receive equal opportunities for employment and advancement in all federal institutions — where the workforce should reflect the presence of both official language communities. This serious commitment is binding on all institutions. The Government feels it is important to rectify the situation. A thousand more Anglophones would be needed today to attain a 12.9% representation level.

5.2 Our plan

MAKE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES A PRIORITY AGAIN AND CHANGE THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

Despite recruitment initiatives to make management and staff who are responsible for service delivery sufficiently bilingual and to develop an adequate regulatory and policy framework, the official languages program has been losing steam for the last decade or so, while the country and the public service focussed on taming the deficit. Now, official languages must regain their place at the core of the mandates of affected institutions. Lasting change, including better service to the public and wider use of both official languages in the workplace, will not be possible unless the culture of the entire public service changes with regard to language.

The program was hit hard by budget cuts, leading to inconsistent enforcement of the Act in the public service. For the Treasury Board Secretariat in particular, the cuts represented a 60% decrease, resulting in fewer follow-up activities. Additional resources are needed if official languages programs and policies are to be successfully adapted to today’s realities, to the needs of managers who are not official languages experts, and to the demands of modern technology.

In all, the Government will invest $64.6 million over the next five years to create an exemplary public service in the area of official languages. This new funding represents a 208% increase for the Treasury Board for all five years of the Action Plan and a corresponding increase of 48% for the Public Service Commission.

To emphasize the importance of linguistic duality throughout the public service, departments and agencies will have to make it an integral part of their practices, rooted in their core values. The emphasis will be on behaviours stemming from these values rather than on setting mandatory minimum standards.

The study that was begun in 2001-2002 on perceptions, attitudes, obstacles and factors fostering the use of both official languages in the public service is expected to be updated and widened on an ongoing basis. In order to do this, the Treasury Board would like to bring aboard partners from among the affected institutions.

INVEST IN INNOVATION.

Although overall coordination of the official languages program falls to the Treasury Board, departments and agencies are responsible for implementing it in their own jurisdictions. The Treasury Board will endeavour to guide them by supporting targeted activities and by promoting better management of official languages, a change in organizational culture, new service delivery methods and language learning in the workplace. The Action Plan allocates $14 million over the next five years to do this.

A new Regional Partnerships Fund will enable regional offices of several departments to join forces to sponsor projects that are truly adapted to local realities. Currently, departments with regional offices run into funding problems and red tape from headquarters that are often far removed from local concerns. The new regional fund will enable several departments to co-operate on tailor-made projects in fields of mutual interest. This collaboration will target service to the public, balanced participation of Anglophones and Francophones, or language of work in bilingual regions. Consultation with minority official language communities will be encouraged. Evaluating projects and sharing best practices will be part of the basic requirements so outcomes will be widely known and successful approaches shared.

An Official Languages Innovation Fund will be set up to enable federal institutions to improve their ability to provide services in both official languages, create an environment that promotes the use of both languages in the workplace, encourage cultural change and improve their management of the program. This fund will use matching funds from institutions submitting projects, thereby injecting more resources into the fund. Evaluation procedures will be strict, so proponents will have to give careful consideration to coordination, defining objectives and measuring outcomes.

STRENGTHEN THE EXPERTISE AND MONITORING CAPACITIES OF FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS.

A monitoring and evaluation component will increase the accountability of federal institutions. At this time, the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Official Languages Branch operates with $2.6 million in annual core funding. With an additional $12 million over the next five years, evaluation tools can be developed, as well as measures that institutions can use in future for self-evaluation. The Treasury Board will encourage institutions to examine their infrastructure, which, for the 80 agencies⁶³ for which it is the employer, will mean reviewing their capacity to provide bilingual service to the public in designated offices, supporting the use of both official languages in the workplace, and managing official languages in general.

HIRE MORE BILINGUAL EMPLOYEES, IMPROVE LANGUAGE TRAINING AND PROVIDE IT EARLIER ON THE CAREER PATH.

The issue of language proficiency affects hiring, second-language training and learning retention. Thus, increasing the public service’s bilingual capacity will be accomplished in three ways: by hiring more candidates who are already bilingual, by providing better access to language courses early in the careers of those who are not, and by intensifying efforts in the areas of retaining and improving language skills. The Public Service Commission will receive 38.6 million dollars over the next five years to support these efforts.

It is imperative for language skills to be seen as prerequisites for people aspiring to high-level positions in the public service. Policies in this regard will be reworked over the coming year. Recruiting materials will stress linguistic duality as an asset and a means of promotion. The Government will use pilot projects to determine the best ways to find qualified candidates who already possess the necessary language skills.

Language training is a key component of career development. The supplementary funding will assist in reducing the accumulated back log and in updating the candidate lists following language classification testing. Methods must be found that will facilitate learning during or outside work hours. Training must be made available to anyone who is motivated, and the training stipulated in the Act must be adapted to the needs of an increasingly diversified workforce whose origins — and therefore experience — are varied. Greater priority will be given to learning retention. For example, as many computer-based training programs as possible will be provided. Forums on second-language use will be explored, pre-determined portions of meetings will be conducted in the second language, and learning material adapted to the duties of public servants will be available.

* * *

The measures in the Action Plan to make the public service a model will be decisive. These include the new Regional Partnerships Fund, the new Official Languages Innovation Fund and a much better equipped Official Languages Branch.

With these measures, all federal institutions should be able not only to fulfil their obligations under the Act, but also to be truly grounded in the official languages culture. To that end, the President of the Treasury Board will be able to count on the support of her colleagues. For instance, the Minister of National Defence has recently committed himself “to achieve a substantial improvement in the performance of the Canadian Forces in the area of official languages, or bilingualism.”⁶⁴

The Action Plan will foster the change of attitude needed for the use of both official languages in the workplace. Above all, it will help Canadians receive government services in the official language of their choice.

55. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, National report on service to the public in English and French, April 2001.

56. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, cited (Note 11), p. 54.

57. NFO CF Group, Attitudes towards the Use of Both Official Languages within the Public Service of Canada, prepared for the Treasury Board Secretariat, September 2002.

58. Treasury Board Secretariat, Annual Report on Official Languages, 2001-2002.

59. For the purpose of equitable participation, the official language first spoken is used. This derived variable is based on knowledge of official languages, mother tongue and language spoken most often in the home.

60. Privy Council Office, 2002.

61. For the purpose of equitable participation, the official language first spoken is used. This derived variable is based on knowledge of official languages, mother tongue and language spoken most often in the home.

62. Treasury Board Secretariat, Annual Report on Official Languages, cited, (Note 58), p. 42 and 44.

63. On December 31, 2001, Financial Administration Act.

64. Speech by the Honourable John McCallum, Minister of National Defense, given to the Defense Associations Conference, February 27, 2003.

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