Midterm Report
1.
Why is a Midterm Report being
prepared on implementing the
Action Plan for Official
Languages,
and what are its conclusions?
The
Midterm Report on implementation of the Action Plan for Official
Languages is an Action Plan commitment.
It will be followed by a final report in 2008, based on a formal
evaluation to be conducted in 2007.
So the Midterm Report is not a formal evaluation of Action Plan results. It
covers fiscal years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 and reveals general trends.
To ensure transparency, the Government of Canada has offered to
present communities’ assessments of the situation, so the Report
reflects their views on the implementation.
Their comments are generally positive.
The Midterm Report establishes that departments and agencies have put in
place the required infrastructure. Dialogue
has increased between federal institutions and their partners; minority
official-language communities in particular are being consulted more
often and on more files.
It notes a slow start on the education front:
discussions with the Council of Ministers of Education,
Canada
are ongoing but the negotiations are not going smoothly.
The Report highlights progress that has been made for communities,
especially in the areas of early childhood development, health and
justice. The basic
infrastructure now exists to foster immigration to Francophone minority
communities, and recent trends indicate an increase, from 3.1% in 2002
to 4.9% in 2004.
Communities
have more information on federal economic development programs, and they
are using them. The language
industry has launched its association; the Language Technology Research
Centre is under construction in Gatineau, on the site of the Université du Québec en
Outaouais.
On the public service front, Action Plan measures are beginning to have
an influence on services to the public and the use of both languages in
the workplace. Nevertheless,
many public servants still have a limited understanding of the Official
Languages Act and what it means for them.
In addition, the
School
of
Public Service
is still grappling with the problem of waiting lists for language
training.
On horizontal coordination and accountability, the Midterm Report
describes the new horizontal management framework which now underpins
the Official Languages Program, that is, everything the Government is
doing to comply with the Act and fulfil its commitments to promote
linguistic duality in Canada. The opportunity to report
on the impact of investments in this field much more thoroughly and
clearly is especially important to me.
Implementation
of the Action Plan for Official Languages is proceeding apace, generally
speaking, albeit sometimes unevenly, and there is still a ways to go.
The Government of Canada is determined to build on our successes
and fix what is working less well.
The
next steps will be the formal evaluation of the Action Plan in 2007 and
the release of the final report in 2008.
Horizontal Result-based Management and
Accountability Framework (HRMAF)
2.
What implementation strategy
will PCO pursue to strengthen
horizontal coordination of policies
and programs that advance
linguistic duality and
directly affect
minority official language communities?
The
Official Languages Branch of the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat
of the Privy Council Office will continue to support the Minister
responsible for Official Languages in his efforts to coordinate the
implementation of the Action Plan and the Government’s official
languages policy.
The
cornerstone of the implementation strategy is the Result-based
Management and Accountability Framework (HRMAF), formalizing
interdepartmental coordination for the Official Languages Program. It
explains how resources, authorities and outputs at all levels are
aligned to advance the objectives and goals of
Canada
’s official languages program. The Framework is also intended to
reinforce commitment to the spirit and purpose of the Official Languages
Act and to ensure that official language minority communities have
meaningful input into the planning and execution of policies and
programs that affect their well-being.
An interdepartmental committee is working to develop an
appropriate reporting structure and to plan an evaluation strategy,
including establishing the necessary links to a Post-Censal Survey,
evaluations and audits related to federal initiatives in the Action Plan
and the Official Languages Program in general.
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