Official Languages committee  The financial evaluation of the program is a regularly recurring question. At the Treasury Board and, more broadly, at the Treasury Board Secretariat, the approach consists—out of necessity, I believe—in saying that the official languages budget is part of operating budgets. In other words, if a department wants a 100-office structure, some of those offices will be required to offer services in both official languages.

Official Languages committee  There is some general information. Some expenditure items are reported.

Official Languages committee  First, official languages are part of the routine in the Government of Canada. In principle, nothing has changed. The president, Mr. Clement, talked about that earlier. At the fundamental level, there is the act and a series of policies that are applicable, and everyone must comply with them at all times.

Official Languages committee  I will not speak directly to the example you cite. The government has put forward a plan of budget cuts. It appears that the departments will be reducing the scope of their services. If the envelope or scope of federal services is reduced, that will simply have an impact on service delivery.

Official Languages committee  Go ahead, Ms. Meredith.

Official Languages committee  Yes. As the occasion lends itself to this, I can refer you to the best practices guide, which is available on a website managed by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development called "Oser! Dare!". Our network of champions annually or regularly compiles and publishes best practices.

Official Languages committee  Part VIII of the act grants us authority to issue policies and directives. The act very generally provides for certain obligations, such as the obligation of active offer. We are required to provide an active offer, but, between you and me, what is active offer? That should be clarified, and it is often through policies that we give departments clearer information on what should be done and the way it should be done.

Official Languages committee  With your permission, Mr. Chair. With regard to the matter of the Auditor General, you will understand that I will make no comment.

Official Languages committee  You are referring to a preliminary comment by the Commissioner of Official Languages, but I have not read it.

Official Languages committee  However, when it comes to the tools that are at our disposal, I am talking about a cycle of change. First we aim to establish a culture of respect for values. A number of commissioners of official languages have urged us to stop talking about rules and to talk more about values.

Official Languages committee  The annual report contains a series of tables and indicators that have been measured for many years now, including participation, incumbents who meet the requirements of their positions, and so on. For each institution, the dashboard brings together this essential information, which is regularly amended and entered in the electronic systems for central public administration purposes.

Official Languages committee  The TBS Centre of Excellence for Evaluation has its own activities. We are aware of some of them. However, it is true that we have not had any direct contact with them. That does not mean that official languages are not part of their projects or that official languages are not being evaluated.

Official Languages committee  That is a good suggestion. We could definitely follow up on it.

Official Languages committee  I would not want to speak on behalf of colleagues. You are talking to the wrong centre, since it is the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat that performs those responsibilities. Although we belong to that organization through the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, there are nevertheless separate responsibilities.

Official Languages committee  Earlier we talked about cultural change. We are establishing a new culture in the organizations. We will have to see what effect that has. We believe that things will improve. We are completing a three-year cycle, and the first annual report in no way indicates that the change of approach has had any harmful effects.