Official Languages Committee on March 8th, 2011

[Dominique La Salle]

Well, I...

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

I know there is room for improvement, but I would like you to be honest and to answer my question.

[Dominique La Salle]

The best answer I can give you, I think, is the following: there is always room for improvement, but I believe that the will is there and that we are fulfilling our obligations.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

I am not questioning your will: I simply want you to tell me honestly if you are currently fulfilling all your obligations.

[Dominique La Salle]

As far as I know, yes.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Thank you.

That is all, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Allow me to use Mrs. Zarac's remaining time.

Ms. Forand, you said earlier that 94% of the 3,745 designated bilingual positions were staffed by people who have the required linguistic profile. Do you have any statistics or a percentage for senior executives?

[Liseanne Forand]

Yes, I believe so. I will ask Mrs. Rallis, who is responsible for human resources, to reply.

[Gina Rallis, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, Human Resources Services Branch, Service Canada]

Thank you for your question.

For senior executives, 95% of them have the required linguistic profile.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

When our clerk invited people from the department to appear, the reaction was very interesting. The clerk mentioned that we wished to meet with the champion of official languages, Mr. Dominique La Salle. The clerk was told that the duties of the champion dealt mainly with work within the department. That is what we were told. I saw two people nodding.

[Liseanne Forand]

Yes, the champion carries out his duties almost entirely within the department, with a view to promoting respect for official languages.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Could you explain to me how you perceive the department's responsibility under part VII of the Official Languages Act and the champion's role in this regard?

[Liseanne Forand]

We take our role with regard to part VII very seriously. They are not here today, but we have another branch in the department that looks after part VII for HRSDC in a very proactive fashion. We report to Canadian Heritage each year, as do the other designated departments. Ensuring that there is an awareness within the department of the importance of part VII and of the department's role under part VII are part and parcel of the champions' role in promoting official languages. It is a role that they fulfill very vigorously.

So we have two champions: Dominique La Salle in the National Capital Region, and another champion for the regions. Both of them are responsible for promoting all the relevant parts of the Official Languages Act.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

I am somewhat surprised at your answer, because we see the role of the champion has been not only focused within the department, but definitely focused on the communities, as the act stipulates.

Mr. Godin, it is your turn.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The 2008-2009 annual report has been tabled. When will you be tabling the 2009-2010 annual report?

[Liseanne Forand]

Are you referring to the annual report of Service Canada?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Yes.

[Liseanne Forand]

When Service Canada was created, one of its obligations was to provide an annual report at the end of the first three years of its existence, which we did. We were not required to produce an annual report for subsequent years. We are now considering reporting on our activities in a more public fashion. Obviously, we do this when we table the ministerial report before the House each year. It was in that context that we followed up. We are currently considering producing a report in a more public fashion.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Will you be talking more about official languages and the changes that have occurred in the Atlantic provinces, which were not changes for the better?

[Liseanne Forand]

We will certainly be referring to official languages in all public reports about Service Canada that we prepare.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

You may find that I am belabouring the point, but I would like to come back to the Atlantic provinces. You said that, in New Brunswick, the service was bilingual before the reorganization. But was the administration bilingual?

[Liseanne Forand]

I would not say that the administration was unilingual or bilingual. There were designated bilingual positions in New Brunswick, under the Official Languages Act.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

So the position of director of services for New Brunswick was bilingual.

[Liseanne Forand]

That is true.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

So you agree with me.

I called Mr. Wood, in New Brunswick. He told me that he no longer works there and that he had been replaced by Mr. Doug Johnson, an anglophone. So this means we lost a bilingual position.

You just told me that this position was designated bilingual but the employee was replaced by Mr. Doug Johnson from Newfoundland. This bilingual position is located in the Atlantic provinces and it is no longer bilingual.

Do you acknowledge the step backwards?