Yes, some departments are known for their attitude. Departments may have difficulties, shortcomings, etc. But this is understandable. Departments are huge machines providing numerous services. With regard to attitude, I would mention Air Canada, which has shown a great deal of resistance. Some people will say that it is because Air Canada is a private company. But that is not the reason. It has consistently behaved in this fashion, even when it was a crown corporation, since the OCOL was created.
Airport authorities have also failed to recognize their official languages obligations. When institutions do not want to comply with the legislation, the OCOL must consider taking a more forceful approach, such as a legal remedy. We did this with VIA Rail. Air Canada is the institution that is being subject to the highest number of legal remedies, not only by the OCOL but also by complainants.
The Department of National Defence has also been difficult. Toward the end of my mandate, this department was the subject of two or three investigations. We consulted the annual reports tabled by previous commissioner and we were able to go right back to the time of the first commissioner, Mr. Keith Spicer. We noticed that we have been making almost the exact same recommendations for the past 35 years and that the same problems remain. Therefore, this department deserves very close consideration. It is a matter of representation abroad and domestically; military personnel are everywhere.
Obviously, there is also Public Works and Government Services. This department also deserves very close consideration. We had talked about a favourable outcome with regard to the Job Bank, because this file remained unresolved. So there seems to be a desire to change the situation.
The leadership should also be examined. I may sound like a broken record, but if the official languages are not supported by a very strong leadership within government in terms of policy and administration, progress will not occur. The bureaucratic process is cumbersome and it needs a kind of whip, just like the government.
The Department of Canadian Heritage is now responsible for both the delivery of official languages programs and acting as coordinator, whip, for all federal institutions including itself. How it will be able to do both jobs at once if not clear, and I have some concerns in this regard.