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"Strengthening Linguistic Duality to Benefit all
Canadians"
Notes for an address
by the Honourable Stéphane Dion,
President of the Privy Council and
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Keynote Address delivered at the 27th annual
general
meeting of the Fédération des communautés
francophones et acadienne du Canada
Whitehorse, Yukon
June 22, 2002
Check against delivery
In the Speech from the Throne in January 2001, the Prime Minister of Canada,
the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, made a formal commitment to make the
promotion of Canada’s linguistic duality one of the priorities of his mandate.
On April 25, 2001, he asked me to coordinate the Government of Canada’s
official languages policy, to chair a reference group of ministers on this
issue, and, in the Prime Minister’s words, "to consider strong new
measures that will continue to ensure the vitality of minority official language
communities."1 These strong measures
must also ensure "that Canada’s official languages are better
reflected in the culture of the federal public service."2
After a year of consultation and dialogue with you, active members of various
Francophone communities, I am honoured to be your guest here today in
Whitehorse, at the Annual General Meeting of the Fédération des communautés
francophones et acadienne. This gives me the opportunity to tell you to what
extent it is important that the action plan the Government of Canada is
preparing draws on the general guidance you have given, as have your partners in
Quebec’s Anglophone communities. That action plan, which I should be able to
release this fall, will give new impetus to our official languages policy at a
key moment for Canadian linguistic duality.
After reflecting on this year of consultation, I will indicate the general
direction of the action plan being prepared. It will develop along three
pillars: education, community development and the federal public service.
Following our exchange today, which I intend to draw on as much as possible,
you will be able in the coming weeks and months to continue to share with me, my
colleagues and the Prime Minister, all your ideas for developing the most
effective, and the most realistic action plan possible and which is witness to
our willingness to operate in a responsible fashion.
1. A year of consultation
A year ago, when the Prime Minister asked me to prepare this action plan, I
felt a great deal of pressure to announce it as soon as possible. But that
pressure for hasty action did not come from the Prime Minister or from
communities as such. It came from certain political and media circles. You, as
experienced leaders, urged me to listen to you carefully. You asked to be given
the time to prepare solid background material to guide the Government more
effectively in its deliberations.
Thus in the past few months, my colleagues and I have received from you a
great deal of information, thoughtful documents and analysis which will be of
invaluable assistance. This information has come to us from different channels :
meetings with you and members of your communities, documentation you have
provided, or your submission to the Standing Joint Committee on Official
Languages co-chaired by the tireless Mauril Bélanger, M.P. ,and my colleague
from Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Senator Shirley Maheu. I also personally
benefited greatly from my meetings with MPs and senators. I have talked with a
number of academics. I have had productive exchanges with my provincial
counterparts. We have talked about these issues at length among ministers,
notably in the Reference Group of Ministers on Official Languages. Deputy
ministers have done the same in their own committee.
This intensive consultation was necessary, because it is no small task to
identify the general approach most conducive to meeting the specific needs of
different communities. The situation of Quebec Anglophones is different from
yours in a number of ways. For example, Quebec Francophones form the majority in
their province, but a minority within Canada. Those in New Brunswick make up one
third of their province’s population, whereas elsewhere, Francophones make up
less than 6% of the population. Franco-Manitobans benefit from a concentration
of population not found in the other Western provinces. The situation of
Francophones in the Ottawa region is different from those in Northern Ontario.
The Francophone community of Yukon, our hosts here today, could tell us a great
deal about the issues that affect them.
Perhaps the most important of your contributions to this consultation process
is contained in the paper prepared by your federation entitled, Des
communautés en action, which you submitted to me last month. If I had
sought to move too quickly, I would have deprived the government of the analyses
contained in that document. I thank you, and in particular your president, Mr.
Georges Arès, for all the efforts you have made to help the Government of
Canada develop the most judicious action plan possible.
Reading your paper, I am struck by your insistence on an accountability
framework. I want to confirm today that you have convinced us : the Government’s
action plan will indeed contain an accountability framework that will serve as a
constant reminder to ministers and officials that linguistic duality is a
priority. Without telling you today the exact form it will take, I will give a
general outline later in my speech.
Your paper, Des communautés en action, also proposes an approach for
each of the nine sectors identified by your communities as priorities :
education, arts and culture, economic development and employability, community
development, health, justice, communications, immigration and the international
Francophonie.
I would like to tell you that the Government’s action plan will also
contain strengthening measures in these sectors. I will be more specific later
about some of those measures.
All of this reflection has already yielded concrete action. The Government of
Canada has been very active in the official languages area in the past year.
Stimulated by the Throne Speech in January 2001, the establishment of the
Reference Group of Ministers on Official Languages, the work of the Standing
Joint Committee on Official Languages, the regular observations of the
Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, notably her document on the
Government’s strategic framework on official languages, and continually
spurred on by intensified dialogue with you, the Government has laid solid
foundations which I am sure you will build upon for the future.
I am reminded of everything the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable
Sheila Copps, has added to what her department was already doing in the
past year. It is impressive:
- an additional $15 million over 3 years for language exchanges;
- $2.5 million in financial assistance to the City of Ottawa to promote the
active offer of bilingual services;
- $1 million in financial assistance to the Government of New Brunswick to
enable it to translate municipal by-laws and help municipalities provide
services in both official languages;
- renewal and expansion of the multi-party agreement on culture between the
Government of Canada and the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française;
- launch of the Francophone Youth and Community Futures initiative
with $3.5 million in funding to help your young people better participate in
the life of your communities;
- nine new agreements concluded in 2001-2002 under the Interdepartmental
Partnership with the Official Language Communities (IPOLC), with the
Department of Canadian Heritage providing $5.4 million to which a further
$9.9 million was added coming from other departments and various
organizations, a good demonstration of how IPOLC effectively helps federal
departments and agencies better coordinate their activities to benefit your
communities;
- in March 2001, $750,000 to the Centre de la francophonie here in
Whitehorse to help promote the Francophone cultural presence in the North.
This is targeted assistance that will give you the boost you need. And I have
only mentioned the initiatives by Ms. Copps that affect you directly. To get a
better idea of her activities, I would have to list all the benefits your
communities draw from her dynamic and unfailing commitment in the field of arts
and culture. On that note, I would point out, as a Quebecer, that in my
province, the federal government spends more on culture than the provincial
government and municipalities combined. This also contributes to the cause of
French and Canada’s linguistic duality.
Much can be said as well about the determination of the President of the
Treasury Board, the Honourable Lucienne Robillard. I will merely highlight what
I feel are the two most striking initiatives, both undertaken in response to
specific requests on your part:
- the new Alternative Service Delivery Policy, which will require federal
institutions to consider official languages implications and consult
communities about service delivery changes with a potential impact on
community development;
- the new Government Communications Policy, according to which federal
institutions are required to purchase advertising space in media that serve
minority communities.
My colleague, the Honourable Jane Stewart, has provided $24 million in
funding over two years to renew the agreement with the two national human
resource development committees for official-language communities. The Industry
Minister, the Honourable Allan Rock, has provided $4 million to Francommunités
virtuelles, a program that, since its inception in 1998, has facilitated
access to the Internet by Francophone and Acadian communities throughout Canada.
I also want to highlight the actions of my two colleagues who served as
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, formerly the Honourable Elinor Caplan,
and now, the Honourable Denis Coderre. They have strengthened the importance of
linguistic duality in the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and
related regulations and they have struck an advisory committee for Francophone
and Acadian communities.
And I could never say enough about the support of the Honourable Anne
McLellan, then Attorney General of Canada, for the Franco-Ontarian community’s
efforts to prevent the closure of the Montfort Hospital.
Another measure undertaken by the Government of Canada this past year is, I
feel, of special importance. I am referring to the $10 million in funding to
establish a Research Institute on Linguistic Minorities at the Université de
Moncton. Just as the Official Languages Act was the result of a massive
research initiative by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in
the 1960s, the reinforcement of linguistic duality at the beginning of the 21st
century must be guided by leading-edge research in the field.
So you can see that the federal government is already working hard and is
determined to do even more. And we want to do it with you, in a serious,
realistic and responsible manner. This is not always easy, because we know there
are pressing needs and high expectations in many areas. But nothing will be
possible without a responsible and realistic approach. Canada is still paying
the costs of the enormous deficits it accumulated until the mid-1990s. Under
Jean Chrétien’s leadership, we have been able to put our public finances
back in order. The Prime Minister is determined that our quality of life will
never again be threatened by the spiral of debt. He wants to help you more, you
have no better ally, but he will do so in his own way, one step at a time,
through reasonable policies and investments that yield maximum results.
I believe that, through our dialogue, we can provide the Prime Minister with
accountability mechanisms which he views as key conditions for good governance.
As proof of that I would point to the tremendous progress we have made together
towards the implementation of new initiatives in a field your communities
consider sensitive: health. I will not surprise anyone by telling you that the
initial discussions and resulting expectations were seen as rather unrealistic
by the federal and provincial governments. But rather than losing heart, you
continued a positive dialogue, such that the recommendations of the Advisory
Committee on Francophone Minority Communities have now been incorporated into a
realistic financial framework which is a valuable source of inspiration for the
Government. I would like to thank the co-chair, Mr. Hubert Gauthier, and all the
members of the committee.
Such a responsible dialogue is essential to the success of the action plan,
of which I will now outline the three major pillars. The first is education,
because it is the key to passing on the language from one generation to the
next. The second is community life, because a language cannot flourish if it is
practised only in school. The third is the federal public service, because the
Government of Canada cannot exercise leadership unless it sets itself as an
example.
2. Education
The objective of the Government of Canada is the same as that of parents,
school trustees, teachers and community leaders : to maximize the possibilities
of passing on the language from one generation to the next. We can now rely on a
system of schools and school boards that was almost non-existent just a few
decades ago. That system is guaranteed through your constitutional rights under
the Constitution Act, 1982, but its vitality and development depend on
you and on governments.
One of the key objectives is certainly to increase the proportion of eligible
students from minority communities enrolled in French schools. That proportion
increased from 45% in 1986 to 54 % in1996. This progress will continue
only if, through enhanced partnership with the provinces and territories, and
while fully respecting their constitutional jurisdictions, four goals are met:
i) Assistance starting in early childhood
Education or acculturation is often decided at the preschool level. For any
skeptics, I would recommend reading the national early childhood development
support plan presented to me by the Commission nationale des parents
francophones. This brief demonstrates the need to act starting in early
childhood. It summarizes the essential aspect of the issue as follows: "The
birth of a child, especially the first, is for parents a time for decisive
long-term choices about family life. Integration in the community is one such
choice. In a minority situation, now or never is the time to actively offer
support and services in French."3
[Translation]
In this context, my colleagues Ms. Stewart and Ms. Copps are determined to
work with their provincial counterparts to find the best ways to support
communities in this area, which may include:
- encouraging the provinces and territories to give greater priority to
Francophone minorities under early childhood development agreements, in
keeping with the principle endorsed by first ministers in September 2000;
- allocating new funding expressly to official-language minority
communities, for example to develop teaching materials adapted to the
needs of pre-schoolers;
- supporting community activities to raise awareness in exogamous families
of the richness of their dual linguistic heritage, which would result in a
larger number of eligible children attending Francophone schools; and
- exploring the possibility of using, for early childhood purposes,
federal-provincial/territorial agreements on minority services.
Under that program, incidentally, I have the honour and the pleasure of
announcing on behalf of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable
Sheila Copps, $145,000 in funding to expand the Petit Cheval Blanc daycare
centre here in Whitehorse, just beside the lovely Émilie Tremblay school. The
other partners include the Government of Yukon, which will provide $20,000,
the Association franco-yukonnaise and the Francophone school board, which will
each contribute $5,000.
ii) School proximity
Parents understandably tend to enroll their children in an English school
if the French school is too far away. Besides, the Supreme Court decision in Arsenault-Cameron
in January 2000 introduced a type of proximity right. The Court ruled that
when the number of children covered by section 23 of the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms in a given region warrants the provision of
minority-language instruction, that instruction must be provided in an
establishment located in the community where the children live.
This issue will require the full cooperation of all partners –
governments and communities.
iii) Quality of minority-language education
I am referring here to instruction, teaching materials and extracurricular
activities. We can make schools more inviting for parents and children.
Scholastic results in standardized comparative tests have consistently
shown weaknesses in the reading and writing skills of Francophone minority
students compared with the pan-Canadian average. These results are
attributable among other things to the prevalence of English in the home.
If quality of teaching in schools in minority areas is not improved,
parents will be less likely to enroll their children. But on the other hand,
if the quality is improved and schools become more attractive to more parents,
this will pose additional challenges in terms of integrating these new
students, many of whom will be starting out with a rather limited
understanding of French.
In point of fact, students currently enrolled in French schools are
generally children with two Francophone parents or children who already have a
solid understanding of French. Around one third of eligible children say they
do not speak French well enough to conduct a conversation.4
Francophone minority schools will need additional resources to ensure the
integration of these students while improving the quality of education. But
here again, these resources will have to be entirely devoted to achieving the
objectives we will set.
It will not be easy to improve the quality of teaching in schools in
minority areas while absorbing more eligible students. But reconciling these
two objectives will be essential. It will take imagination, effort and
resources.
These measures for schools have to complement early childhood initiatives.
iv) Retaining students in the Francophone school system after primary
school and improving access to French-language postsecondary education
Students and parents are more likely to choose the Francophone minority
school system or remain in the Francophone system if there are possibilities
of continuing at the post-secondary levels. For instance, according to a study
published by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in January
1999, the number of parents in Sudbury choosing French schools has increased
since the opening of Collège Boréal.
In addition, postsecondary institutions are catalysts for local economic
development and for Francophone entrepreneurship. This is why the Government
already supports many such institutions. In January, for example, Ms. Copps
announced an additional $8.1 million in funding for French-language colleges
in Ontario.
So, those are the four targets we must not miss if we want to support the
training of our youth from early childhood to university. Parents of children
in minority communities or enrolled in second-language programs have told us
they want current funding and any additional funding to have a real impact,
the results of which will be felt in the classroom. We naturally share that
objective, and will bear it in mind as we work closely with our provincial
partners, because nothing is possible in education without the provinces.
To respond to your federation’s request to "enable Francophone
students, and by extension schools and school boards, to be better equipped so
as to ensure they receive a quality education equal to majority students, or
in other words, that the concept of school governance be based on equality of
results,"5 [Translation] we intend,
together with our provincial counterparts, to look at ways of reaching
agreement on effective resource allocation mechanisms.
Federal-provincial/territorial agreements are the principal levers in this
area. They come up for renewal in 2003 and so have to be renegotiated. My
colleague, the Honourable Sheila Copps, will conduct these negotiations on
behalf of the federal government. In keeping with a long-standing tradition of
cooperation with other governments, we will try to strengthen the direction of
the Official Languages in Education Program (OLEP) towards tangible results,
based on jointly determined objectives geared to the most affected
communities. We will not only have to work together, but also to invest the
necessary resources, and above all reach agreement to do so where we want the
desired results.
Similar efforts will be needed for second-language instruction. Here too, we
must hold our ground and take nothing for granted.
In her global approach to skills development in Canada, set out in February
2002 in the discussion paper, Knowledge Matters : Skills and Learning for
Canadians, my colleague, the Honourable Jane Stewart, proposes as an
objective for Canada to double the number of bilingual high school graduates.
I believe that objective, while demanding, is realistic. It has taken us less
than two decades to double the percentage of young Anglophones outside Quebec
aged 15 to 19 who can speak French. That percentage was 16% in 1996, whereas it
was only 8% in 19816. Why not raise it to 33% by
2010? Currently, 24% of young Canadian high school graduates know both official
languages. Why not double that proportion so that half of our young graduates
can speak both our official languages by 2010?
Achieving these objectives is within our grasp, but it cannot be done alone.
We will need the full cooperation of all, especially the provincial governments.
Enrolment in second-language programs has not grown in ten years, both for
core programs in either language and French immersion programs. In addition to
financial cutbacks in this area in the last ten years, the quality of
second-language education has been damaged by inadequate classroom materials,
the absence of remedial resources, and a scarcity of qualified teachers and
inadequate programs. The growing teacher shortage across Canada is particularly
acute in specialized areas such as French immersion. The demand for
second-language teachers already outstrips supply.
To counter this situation, we could undertake, in concert with our provincial
partners, a strategy which would include, notably, the promotion of
second-language teaching careers, bursaries to study second-language teaching
methods and expansion of specialized teaching programs.
To meet the commitment of doubling the number of bilingual students we will
need to:
- attract more students to enroll in second-language education programs;
- increase the number of instructors at all levels, as well as their skills;
- enhance the quality of second-language education by increasing the
availability of classroom materials, remedial resources and qualified
teachers;
- provide opportunities for secondary school graduates to use their
second-language skills through summer employment, exchange programs and
easier access to postsecondary education.
3. Community development
Your paper, Des communautés en action, refers to important progress
in the fields of arts and culture and communications and notes that "on
the whole, the artistic and cultural sector seems to be in quite a good position
today, although it still faces a number of chronic difficulties."7
[Translation] You call on us to strengthen this sector, and the action plan will
thus need to include measures to that end. For it is through culture that a
language flourishes.
You also call on us to help you develop other areas of community life.
Without making an exhaustive review here today, I would like to propose a number
of avenues for reflection.
i) Health
I have already noted how the needs in this sector have been well described in
an exhaustive report to the federal Health Minister by the Advisory Committee on
Francophone Minority Communities.
As the Advisory Committee noted in its report, a number of studies have
confirmed that language is a key factor in the effectiveness of certain types of
care. Accordingly, the Committee proposes, among other things :
- to facilitate cooperation by all stakeholders in developing strategies to
improve and enhance accessibility of services;
- to increase the number of infrastructures and service points providing
mother-tongue health services for official-language communities;
- to increase the number of health professionals who speak the language of
the official-language communities they serve; and finally,
- to make effective use of technologies to achieve these goals.
The final report of the Advisory Committee on Anglophone Minority
Communities, co-chaired by Mr. Eric Maldoff, is still forthcoming, but we expect
it to make similar findings and complementary recommendations.
The Health Minister, the Honourable Anne McLellan, is carefully studying ways
to address these concerns. She is working closely with you and is, therefore,
especially pleased to have been able to assist your federation in holding the
Forum santé en français last fall in Moncton. Ms. McLellan will be able to
build on solid gains achieved so far.
Since 1999, we have supported the Centre national de formation en santé,
through $10 million in funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage. This
pilot project coordinated by the University of Ottawa involves other partners as
well, including a number of postsecondary institutions in Canadian Francophone
communities. In health sciences, it helped train 75 new students from provinces
other than Quebec and Ontario; established a multi-disciplinary team of
specialists who run a clinical training resources multi-media centre at Montfort
Hospital; helped develop related distance learning resources; and provided
distance training to some 40 other nursing students throughout the country.
These partnerships have already resulted in the establishment of a nursing
program at the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and clinical and
practical internships in the regions.
I know that a transition consortium is currently planning the second phase of
this project, so as to extend the benefits to other regions of the country. We
find its efforts to expand the national scope of the project encouraging. The
Government will give serious consideration to requests from the consortium.
The action plan will make health a priority. We will make progress together.
I am pleased to give you an additional example here today. Indeed, I have the
honour of confirming, on behalf of my colleague the Minister of Health, the
Honourable Anne McLellan, the forthcoming investment of $1.9 million, making
possible in 2002-2003 the transition to full network deployment, the main
priority confirmed by the advisory committee. These resources will be allocated
to maintaining or creating a number of networks, conducting feasibility studies
and creating a national cooperation network able to support these various
initiatives.
ii) Justice
Since the administration of justice is a shared responsibility, the
Government of Canada here again needs to work in partnership with the provinces
and territories. We have already begun to assess with them the situation in
terms of access to justice in both official languages throughout Canada. The
federal Justice Minister has in fact completed a study entitled, État des
lieux, of access to legal and judicial services in both official languages.
The overview covered areas of federal jurisdiction (Criminal Code,
divorce and child support, and bankruptcy). It was conducted with the
cooperation of the provincial and territorial governments as well as Francophone
jurists in seven provincial associations. Indeed, the entire judicial system
contributed, from support staff to judges.
The objectives of this national study were to compile quantitative and
qualitative data on services, identify barriers to delivery, list possible
solutions adapted to the situations encountered, and finally, to prepare an
inventory of existing or potential practices.
The results of the study should be released over the summer. In all
likelihood, they will identify a number of barriers to accessing justice in both
official languages, including :
- costs and waiting times associated with demand for French-language legal
services;
- the difficulty of selecting a jury capable of hearing a case in French;
- the lack of judges able to hear a case in the language of the accused.
L’État des lieux also offers potential solutions and reviews
innovative measures already implemented in the provinces and territories.
I want to thank all those who have contributed to this study. It will be of
great help to the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Martin Cauchon, and his
counterparts, in developing innovative, practical solutions adapted to different
circumstances. Some people have advanced the idea of an official languages
support fund that would provide the flexibility needed without being seen as a
panacea. Consideration might also be given to introducing a single window for
legal services in both official languages. Two pilot projects are currently
underway in Manitoba, one in Saint-Pierre-Jolys and one in St. Boniface.
iii) Immigration
Immigration is another area of shared jurisdiction. The federal government is
a major source of funding for French- and English-language instruction for
immigrants’ children and other services used by immigrants, such as labour
market and community integration programs.
The Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, has helped to gain
explicit recognition in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of the
contribution of immigration to the development of minority official-language
communities. The new immigrant selection regulations award additional points for
a knowledge of either official language.
The advisory committee established by the Honourable Denis Coderre, Minister
of Citizenship and Immigration, is already working on ways to attract new
immigrants with job skills and linguistic capacity to contribute to the
development of this country. The committee is looking at ways to help these
newcomers make contact with your communities and eventually integrate with them.
iv) Economic development
The Minister of Industry, the Honourable Allan Rock, is well aware of the
importance of our two official languages for our country’s economic
development. He wants to work closely with you and with Anglophone communities
in Quebec. He wants to make his department’s programs more accessible to
minority official-language communities. To this end, he has begun a review of
initiatives by his department and the agencies reporting to it. Mr. Rock can
count on the full support of the four secretaries of State responsible for
regional economic development : the Honourable Stephen Owen, Western Economic
Diversification; the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency; the Honourable Andy Mitchell, Federal Economic Development Initiative
for Northern Ontario; and the Honourable Claude Drouin, Economic Development
Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
In addition, in keeping with the Government’s objective of being the most
connected nation in the world by 2005, Mr. Rock will be looking in particular at
Internet access in rural and isolated regions. This naturally concerns a number
of your communities.
Mr. Rock also takes great interest in the language industries. Over the
years, we have developed one of the most competitive industries in the world in
this field. Think of the skills of our translators, interpreters, terminologists
and other specialists recognized at the national level and beyond our borders.
However, we need to maintain the effectiveness of our language industry and
ensure high-quality in our succession planning. The Government of Canada is
determined to play a role in this regard.
The action plan will examine these issues in depth. I also invite you to
share your ideas on these issues with my colleague, Mr. Rock, such as during the
Canada-wide consultations he is conducting to determine the best possible
innovation strategy for Canada.
4. An exemplary public service
Over the past 30 years, the Government of Canada has invested in creating a
bilingual federal workforce, providing employment opportunities for both
language groups and serving Canadians in their official language of choice.
Today, the participation of Francophones, at 31%, is higher than the
proportion of Francophones in the population, which is 25%. However, Anglophones
are under-represented in the federal public service in Quebec: 7% compared with
13% of the population. My colleague, The Honourable Lucienne Robillard is
concerned about this problem. The Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public
Service Commission are working closely together to favor recruitment and assure
better integration of Anglophones in the workplace while protecting their
language rights. The Quebec Community Groups Network has been consulted and the
Quebec Council of Senior Federal Officials is closely monitoring the situation.
The linguistic capability of the federal public service has improved in the
past 30 years, but there is still much to do. Currently, some 37% of jobs are
designated bilingual, but only 82% per cent of those who hold these jobs are, in
fact, bilingual.
Despite the substantial proportion of Francophones in the public service,
French is under-used as a language of work, particularly in science and
technology institutions and those ensuring law enforcement. Moreover, contrary
to policy, head offices too often communicate in English with offices in Quebec.
During the 1990s, the availability of service to the public in the minority
official language remained stable or declined, as was noted in reports by the
Commissioner of Official Languages. It is noteworthy that resources supporting
official languages programs across government were cut considerably. This
certainly did not reinforce the message to public servants that official
languages are a priority. These cuts also affected information sharing and
training about the programs. As a result, ignorance and misinformation about
official-language rights and responsibilities are now widespread.
Lasting change, including better service to the public and greater use of
French as a working language, will be possible only if the entire culture of the
public service changes with regard to language. The Treasury Board Secretariat
is currently undertaking a study of public servants’ perceptions and attitudes
towards language in order to better focus its information and communication
programs.
It is all the more important to act now on the public service culture because
it will experience high turnover in the next five to ten years. This is a golden
opportunity to reinforce the language capability of the public service. Efforts
will be needed to recruit bilingual employees and promote language skill
acquisition early in the career process. Efforts must also be made to maintain a
high rate of bilingualism in management ranks.
The public service is not only going through a period of renewal, its work
methods are also undergoing profound changes. The Internet and initiatives such
as Government-on-Line (GOL) and Service Canada have transformed service delivery
to Canadians, with an understandable impact on language of work and
communication with the public. With the Internet, an office’s geographic
location is no longer a determining factor, as government information becomes
accessible to all in the same virtual location. It, therefore, has to be
available in the language of the potential user.
Ms. Robillard openly welcomed the report on these issues, released on June 13
by the Commissioner of Official Languages, with respect to digitization, on-line
publication or direct contact with the public.
As you can see, the President of the Treasury Board is determined to build on
best practices to strengthen bilingualism at all levels in the public service,
starting at the top. The new Clerk of the Privy Council, Mr. Alex Himelfarb, has
made official languages a key management priority, and for a second consecutive
year, senior managers’ performance will be evaluated on their results in this
area in their department.
Ms. Robillard has clearly communicated her intention to give new priority to
official languages. She has been providing remarkable leadership in this area
and will require more resources to put that message into action throughout the
public service. We want excellence in our public service. We demand a public
service that respects official languages and that truly serves Canadians in
their official language of choice. We want a public service in keeping with our
vision of Canada’s future.
To this end, as you heard yesterday from the Assistant Secretary, Official
Languages at the Treasury Board Secretariat, Ms. Diana Monnet, specific measures
will touch on training, modernization, e-government and the language industries.
In fact, it is not just the public service, but all of government, including
ministers, who must have an ongoing awareness of the importance of linguistic
duality. Indeed, this is spelled out in Part VII of the Official Languages
Act, which as you know articulates a fundamental political commitment to
ensure that all programs and policies of the Government of Canada are conceived
and implemented in the context of the unique needs of official-language minority
communities.
We are more than aware of your concerns over the implementation of Part VII.
We recognize that the full potential of section 41 has not yet been realized,
despite the significant measures that have been taken to date.
Working towards greater transparency and enhanced citizen participation is
part of the Government of Canada’s overall management program. In March 2000,
Ms. Robillard tabled in Parliament a report entitled, Results for Canadians :
A Management Framework for the Government of Canada. It included, among
others, a commitment to make citizens our number-one concern in designing,
implementing and evaluating our activities.
Through various departments, the Government has developed a number of
mechanisms to include your communities in policymaking in such key sectors as
health, immigration and human resource development. I understand that Ms. Eileen
Sarkar will be speaking this afternoon about the mechanisms being considered at
the Department of Canadian Heritage to increase cooperation between communities
and government in this area. I am sure you will listen to her with great
interest.
In the past year, I have worked with my Cabinet colleagues to enhance our
capacity to work with communities. Discussions are ongoing on ways to enhance
accountability of ministers and senior officials in this connection. As I have
said, we are working on an accountability framework with the following
objectives :
- sensitize federal institutions and public servants to the needs of
minority official-language communities and their obligations under the law;
- consider the promotion and development of linguistic minorities from the
initial stages of developing and implementing laws, policies and programs,
rather than waiting for the end of the process;
- better inform and consult with minority official-language communities on
programs and activities of the Government of Canada most conducive to their
development and growth.
This brings me to the concept of "due diligence." During my
consultations, there has not been a single community where I did not hear
complaints regarding the new due diligence procedures put in place by the
government, notably in regard to the Support for Official-Language Communities
Program, which provides funding for the network of 350 community groups.
We are aware of the burden that a micro-management approach would place on
groups obliged to provide the same detailed information to different departments
or agencies. On the other hand, checks and balances are needed to ensure that
the programs that serve you are not affected by the management problems
experienced with other federal programs in recent years. Together with your
communities and the departments concerned, we want to strike the right balance
between accountability in allocating public funds and your ability to comply
with the administrative requirements that entails.
Conclusion
I have talked about the consultations leading to the development of a new
action plan, measures already in place and the general direction of the action
plan now being prepared. It remains for me to answer one question in conclusion
: why do we need an action plan anyway? Why should we reinvest in Canada’s
linguistic duality?
Once again, you yourselves have provided a clear answer to that question. I
refer to the document entitled, Agrandir l’espace francophone au Manitoba,
released by the Société franco-manitobaine in October 2001. It states that :
"To occupy a larger demographic, social, cultural and economic space,
the Franco-Manitoban community intends to incorporate the Francophone project
into the social project of the province as a whole."8
[Translation]
What is true for Manitoba is also true for all of Canada: linguistic duality
must be incorporated into the social project of Canada as a whole.
When we look beyond Canada, we see that all humanity is at a turning point
when it comes to languages. The communications explosion has led to increasingly
intense exchanges among cultures. Few cultures are now isolated from contacts
with others. This culture shock leads to two opposing pressures. On the one
hand, the forces of assimilation have increased tenfold and many languages and
ways of life are disappearing. On the other hand, humans are increasingly seeing
it is in their interest to hone their language skills so as to diversify their
communication capacities.
So as the pressures of assimilation are growing, linguistic pluralism is more
valued than ever.
Languages are disappearing at a growing rate. According to UNESCO’s Atlas
of the Worlds Languages in Danger of Disappearing9,
half of the 6,000 languages spoken are in danger. A last user of one of those
languages dies every two weeks. At the same time, the most modern countries are
stepping up efforts to help their populations master many languages.
English is extremely popular, of course, as the dominant language in so many
areas of activity. But French is doing pretty well too. According to the 2001
Eurobarometer study10, the language most
frequently known by Europeans in addition to their mother tongue is English
(41%), followed by French (19%), German (10%), Spanish (7%) and Italian (3%). So
nearly one fifth of non-Francophone Europeans say they know French.
Canada is one of the rare countries that can count on two international
languages as official languages. Canadians know full well that this is an asset
they must not lose, despite the assimilating force of English. According to a
February 2002 Environics poll, 82% of Canadians, including 91% aged 18 to 24,
support the federal official languages policy.
That is why Canada needs an action plan aiming at reinforcing its linguistic
duality, and why it needs you, official-language communities. You not only
return Canada to one of its foundations in history, but are also a key element
of its future and its modernity.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s vision is more topical than ever, as Mr.
Chrétien said after the death of the former Prime Minister.
"In this era of global competition," wrote Ms. Jane Stewart
in her paper Knowledge Matters : Skills and Learning for Canadians,
"learning Canada's two official languages enhances young Canadians'
competitiveness in today's job markets, both at home and internationally. From a
cultural perspective, bilingualism opens the door to a different vision of the
world. From an economic point of view, having dual language skills improves
access to markets and opportunities and facilitates the mobility of Canadians."11
So it is not surprising that the Government is linking the country’s future
to promotion of our linguistic duality, considering the leading role it has
played in this area for decades. But when the Fredericton Daily Gleaner applauds
the new Official Languages of New Brunswick Act unanimously passed by New
Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly, it is a sign that a fundamental awareness is
arising throughout the country. "The advantages to bilingualism are
obvious," wrote the Daily Gleaner (11/06/02). "Those
advantages are key to succeeding in an extremely competitive and increasingly
global economy."12
So yes, we do need to prepare an effective, realistic and reasonable action
plan to reinforce Canada’s linguistic duality. And yes, we need communities to
be active, on their own behalf and on behalf of all of Canada. Together, we can
and must do better. We will do better.
- Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien, Press Release, April 25, 2001.
- Ibid.
- La Commission nationale des parents francophones, Plan national d’appui
à la petite enfance, unpublished document, January 2002.
- Angéline Martel, Rights, Schools and Communities in Minority Contexts,
1986-2002, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, 2002.
- Fédération des communautés francophone et acadienne, Des
communautés en action : politique du développement global à l’égard
des communautés farncophones et acadiennes en milieu minoritaire,
unpublished document, May 2002, p. 50.
- Stacy Churchill, New Canadian Perspectives, Canadian
Heritage, 1998.
- Fédération des communautés, Des communautés en action, p. 18.
- Société franco-manitobaine, De génération en génération :
Agrandir l’espace francophone au Manitoba, October, 2001, p.1.
- Stephen A. Wurm, Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger of
Disappearing, UNESCO Publishing, 2001.
- European Commission, Eurobarometer: Public Opinion in the European
Union, Report number 54, February 2001, pp. 1 and 2.
- Government of Canada, Knowledge Matters, Skills and Learning for
Canadians, 2002, p.18.
- The Fredericton Daily Gleaner, June 7, 2002.
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