Official Languages committee  Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair and members of the standing committee, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting both General Gosselin and me here today. As you've heard, I am the chief of military personnel and the champion for official languages for the Ca

Official Languages committee  Yes, Mr. Rodriguez. In February, the Borden commander prepared an action plan for the base, but it was sent to headquarters here in Ottawa. Despite the fact that the plan was there, it wasn't until July and October that General Gosselin and I decided to implement it. However, th

Official Languages committee  It is pronounced Sem-ee-an-off.

Official Languages committee  No, I come from Thetford Mines.

Official Languages committee  No, but that's a good question because my father arrived here in Canada—

Official Languages committee  Indeed, that question deals with a number of aspects, Mr. Chairman. First, as a result of all those aspects, there is a new plan. I'm sure that the plan will succeed and that I will be back here in eight months to provide you with details on the plan's success. As a result of th

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, the questions and comments posed raise a number of issues. First it comes down to the issue of commitment. I would like to put this before the committee so that you are aware. Currently we are making many changes across our personnel management system. Starting thi

Official Languages committee  It depends in what measure and what scope. If one looks at the Canadian Forces at large to try to find areas where perhaps there are challenges, the answer is yes, and there were those same challenges through the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, and the nineties. They contin

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, on the two issues, first on the question posed on the abandonment piece, clearly my view is that I see it differently. We haven't abandoned it.

Official Languages committee  Yes, it is.

Official Languages committee  It depends in what measure and what scope.

Official Languages committee  You're addressing your point to Commodore Bennett, I believe, who just last week was appointed the commandant, naval reserve. First, when we say “not bilingual”, if I can get into some of the details, if you look at what she discussed as part of her change of command parade, her

Official Languages committee  The answer is that we believe there may be, maybe not to the same scope and scale as that one found in Borden, but General Gosselin is looking already at the Saint-Jean issue, and we're looking into Gagetown as well and how we can do that. I come back to the question posed here.

Official Languages committee  I'll pass that to General Gosselin, who will focus on the Borden issue.

Official Languages committee  I'd like to make a comment, please, Mr. Chair. To be promoted, Anglophones today have to meet the same requirements as Francophones. To become a chief warrant officer or chief petty officer in 2011, you'll have to have competency BBB. For colonels, captains and generals, it's CB