Official Languages Committee on March 8th, 2011

[Liseanne Forand]

I would not say that. According to what I...

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

Come to our province and you will see that it is a step backwards.

[Liseanne Forand]

Mr. Johnson is senior director for processing services. As far as I know, this is an EX-3 position. Mr. Johnson has taken second language training. I don't know whether he currently meets the requirements for a bilingual position.

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

Whether he meets the requirements or not, you said earlier that the position was not designated bilingual.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

I will let you finish your answer. Do you know whether or not he meets the requirements?

[Liseanne Forand]

It is true that he is not in a bilingual position at this time, I think. We will provide you with the information on all bilingual or unilingual positions in the Atlantic region.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

And the names of those who do not meet the requirements.

Excuse me, Mr. Godin.

[Liseanne Forand]

Yes, as well as the names of those who do not meet them.

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

Then, there was Mr. Ferguson, who was replaced by Ms. Louise Branch. She was bilingual but she was replaced by the lady who is now taking French courses. When I spoke to her for the first time, she apologized and told me that her assistant would speak to me because she personally did not speak enough French. She is the director of the employment insurance processing services for the Atlantic region.

Earlier, in New Brunswick, it was bilingual. I have been the MP for Acadie-Bathurst for the past 14 years and it has always been bilingual, but since the new reorganization, you say the Atlantic region is not designated as bilingual.

[Liseanne Forand]

As an administrative region, the Atlantic is not designated bilingual, but the positions in New Brunswick that must offer assistance because of the demand and the supervisory responsibilities are designated as bilingual.

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

If the administration is not designated as bilingual, the francophone employees in New Brunswick who want to communicate with management cannot do so in the language of their choice.

[Liseanne Forand]

I will ask Mrs. Rallis to give her comments on the issue of the language of work. However, as I said earlier, there are language requirements when you are in charge of supervising people who occupy bilingual positions. Supervisors must be able to communicate with them in their language.

Let me ask Mrs. Rallis, who is responsible for the language of work, to answer your question.

[Gina Rallis]

Thank you very much for your question.

As for a supervisor residing in a place that is designated as unilingual under the legislation, but who directly supervises employees in a region that has been designated bilingual, the position that the supervisor occupies must also be designated as bilingual. Therefore, that person must take a training course.

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

I do not want to harp too much on Mr. Carson's case, but since he was the supervisor for the Atlantic region, was his position designated bilingual?

[Gina Rallis]

According to part V of the act, which deals with the language of work, if the person holds a position where there are employees who hold bilingual positions in a bilingual region, such as New Brunswick, their position must be designated bilingual. This person will then have two years to meet the requirements of the language profile of their position, and they will have access to language training.

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

And francophones have to wait on a list for two years.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Are there any circumstances where a given position must be designated bilingual imperative?

[Gina Rallis]

The vast majority of the positions that we staff in the department, that is to say 86% of the positions, must be designated bilingual imperative.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Mauril Bélanger]

Perhaps we could also know which ones are not, if you have a list.

Mr. Nadeau, I give you the floor for one last intervention in this round, which will probably be the very last one.

I know that Mr. Galipeau also wants to speak, and that he is the only one who did not ask any questions. So, unless there are objections, we will give the floor to Mr. Galipeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Just now, Mr. Généreux said something about the outreach service that seems very important to me. However, my remarks have more to do with what Ms. Boucher was proposing. When someone comes to an outlet to get a form in French, given the Internet and the technology we have these days, can the person get the form in French, even in a unilingual English office, or does the person have to drive all over the place for kilometres in order to get it?

[Liseanne Forand]

Normally, with written documents, we provide them in both languages.

I will ask Mr. Nixon to answer your question about a specific form rather than a publication that we keep on the shelf.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Let us be clear. When people come, they come to obtain a service.

[Liseanne Forand]

I'm thinking about a passport application form, for example.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

They come to obtain a service that has been recognized and that is provided. So if they want to have a form that is part of that recognized service, can they leave with the form in French?

[Charles Nixon]

If it is available in the office, people can have it.