Official Languages Committee on Feb. 12th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Good morning everyone and welcome to this 14th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

This morning we will be completing the list of witnesses we had called who replied to our invitation to participate in the study of the Action Plan for Official Languages. We will be going back to the first phase, which is ending, and beginning the study of the phase that is starting.

This morning, we will devote the first hour of our proceedings to the representatives of the Public Service Commission of Canada. Without further delay, I will turn the floor over to them and invite them to introduce themselves.

Mr. Lemaire, you have the floor.

[Donald Lemaire, Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before your Committee to discuss the Public Service Commission's role in Official Languages. The Public Service Commission was last before your committee in November 2004.

I would like to introduce two of my colleagues who are with me today: Mr. Edward Poznanski, Director General in the Policy Branch, and Dr. Henry Edwards, Director, Research and Development, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch.

We would like to update you on the following subjects: the application of merit and official languages requirements; the new Public Service Employment Act; the new Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order; and the modemizing of our language tests. As well, we will update you on our progress on recommendations on recruitment and assessment made by your committee in May 2005.

The Official Languages Act directs that members of the public must be served in the official language of their choice and that public service employees have the right to work in their preferred language in those regions of Canada designated as bilingual.

The Treasury Board, as the employer, sets the official languages policy. Departments are required to identify language levels of each position and determine if positions will be staffed on a bilingual imperative or non-imperative basis. The Canada Public Service Agency sets the standards that determine language proficiency levels. The Canada School of Public Service is responsible for language training.

We have worked with the Public Service Agency and the School in supporting the Official Languages Action Plan. Since 2003, we have made extra presentations on the selection process and language requirements including language testing to more than 4,000 Canadians across the country per year. We created a DVD explaining second language evaluation. We have had a good response and subject to decisions on the next initiative, we could continue with this extra outreach.

The Public Service Commission recruits individuals based on merit. These individuals must meet the essential qualifications for positions, which include official language requirements.

We develop instruments to test an individual's proficiency in the second official language. These skills are evaluated through the English or French versions of the second language evaluation test. The success rate for these tests, expressed as a percentage of the total number of tests administered, is provided in the graph we have distributed.

In 2005 we started the renewal of the existing instruments by replacing them with a new suite of second language evaluation tests that were to be implemented between 2007 and 2009. The first of these tests, the second language evaluation test of written expression, was implemented in October 2007. Early results, which are outlined in figure 4, show a lower success rate, particularly for level C French. We are now assessing those results.

The new second language evaluation test for oral proficiency will be implemented by May of this year, and a new second language evaluation test of reading comprehension will be implemented in the fall of 2009. The development teams include professionals in the fields of test construction, applied linguistics, and employment equity. There is also input from stakeholder consultations.

During our 2004 appearance, we reported on the low success rate for the level C oral interaction French test. As recommended by your committee, we closely tracked the oral interaction pass rate, and in 2006-07 we noted an increase in the pass rate for tests taken in French. The level C pass rate for French oral interaction is at its highest level in five years. However, the pass rate for level C English oral interaction dipped significantly during the past year. Again, I refer you to figure 1.

The Public Service Commission has introduced new administrative features to reduce the test-taking anxiety associated with oral interaction tests. A tripartite review board is now studying the cases of candidates who fail the second language evaluation oral interaction test multiple times, despite extensive language training.

Test volume, as outlined in figure 5, increased substantially in recent years, with an oral interaction test backlog and service delays of up to 20 weeks. We have taken measures that have eliminated those backlogs and delays.

The Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order permits exclusions from language requirements under specific conditions. Your Committee recommended that the PSC ensure that the Order is used only in exceptional circumstances. As reported in our 2006-2007 Annual Report, the number of non-imperative appointments has been falling for the last five years. Details are provided in Figure 6.

The new Order has reduced the number of exclusions from 12 to 3 and capped the length of time that they can be extended. Since a monitoring system for the Order was put in place in 2003-2004, we have noted a reduction in non-compliant situations.

The Public Service Commission statistics, as explained in figures 7 and 8, show that there are many opportunities for unilingual and bilingual Canadians to join the public service.

Mr. Chairman, the Public Service Commission is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. Parliament relies on the PSC to ensure a representative, competent public service that is non-partisan and able to serve Canadians in both official languages.

We welcome the input of members on how we can continue to provide assurance to Parliament of the integrity of the staffing system and political impartiality of the public service.

I would be happy now to respond to any questions.

Merci.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you for your presentation. I would like to request a clarification before we begin. Can you explain what imperative and non-imperative staffing are?

[Donald Lemaire]

Yes. If I may, I am going to ask my colleague, Mr. Poznanski, to provide you with the details.

[Edward Poznanski, Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada]

The Canada Public Service Agency is responsible for official languages policy in the public service. For designated bilingual positions, we have a choice. If we decide that a position will be staffed on a bilingual imperative basis, that means that the candidate must meet the language requirements for the position at the time of appointment. For non-imperative situations, under our Order, a person may be appointed to a position and achieve the language skills needed for the position within two years.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Okay. Thank you for the clarification. We are now going to start our first round of questions. It will be seven minutes per speaker. We will start with Mr. Bélanger.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we talk about the first round, we don't mean a round in the ring, don't worry.

I would like you to help me understand a few things. In the Action Plan for Official Languages there was a whole component devoted to an exemplary public service. At about the halfway point there was an evaluation.

Has there been a recent evaluation, now that we are coming to the end of the five-year plan?

[Donald Lemaire]

We are in the process of completing the evaluation for the last year of the five-year plan and we have begun preparations for evaluating the results of the part associated with the Public Service Commission, which related to awareness and demystification of the meaning of bilingualism in the federal public service.

We are about to do a survey of the people we have contacted, an average of 4,000 people a year, who have agreed to participate in a survey, to see what they thought of the presentations we have done and our awareness campaigns. We are also determining the rate of candidates who report their bilingual proficiency. We ask them to self-identify as to whether they consider themselves to be more or less bilingual. We want to see what impact the awareness campaigns have had on people's perceptions of their level of bilingualism in relation to the federal requirements. That is underway now because we are in the last year of the five-year plan.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

If I recall correctly, the evaluation was to have been done during 2007, so that when we came to where we are now the evaluations would be done and the government could decide whether to renew, expand or eliminate certain provisions. It was not done last year, however.

[Donald Lemaire]

I can't speak to the other components of the plan that are the responsibility of other agencies, but we are in the process of completing our own evaluation.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

When are you going to complete it?

[Donald Lemaire]

We hope to complete it in the spring.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Do you have anything to indicate that there will not be a breach of continuity?

[Donald Lemaire]

I am not aware of whether there will be a breach of continuity in terms of our activities, awareness activities.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Okay. Have you had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Lord, who is conducting consultations about renewing the plan?

[Donald Lemaire]

No.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Have you submitted any remarks or comments to him?

[Donald Lemaire]

No.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Have you been invited to do that?

[Donald Lemaire]

No, not to my knowledge.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Generally speaking, do you think we are making progress?

[Donald Lemaire]

Being an optimist by nature, I would say we are making progress. More seriously, given the level of interest in bilingualism in the various regions, I would say we are progressing.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I am going to go back to a discussion that took place here last week. I would not want it to be misinterpreted by Canadians.

Some members of the committee suggested that the Public Service Commission hire bilingual people to staff bilingual imperative or bilingual positions. Is that the current policy of the Public Service Commission?

[Donald Lemaire]

As we said in our opening presentation, the purpose of the "non-imperative" label is to allow for broader access to the federal public service. People may be perfectly able to acquire the language proficiency required for the position as defined by the manager responsible. We believe that it is important to retain the non-imperative option in terms of accessibility.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

So it isn't a matter of telling Canadians who might want to work in the public service of Canada that unless they are bilingual, they will not be able to get hired for one of the positions that make up a third of all positions. Is that the right figure?