Evidence of meeting #14 for Official Languages in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was positions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
I would have to look at the statistics.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
As a rough figure, one third of positions are designated bilingual. In the National Capital Region, that proportion is higher, but Canada-wide, one third of positions are designated bilingual. Of those positions, how many would be labeled "bilingual imperative"?
Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Figure 6 says...
Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
...that about 90% of bilingual positions were staffed on an imperative basis in 2006-2007.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Are one third of the 220,000 or so positions designated bilingual?
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Last year, there were 80,000 appointments, which included both internal and external appointments. Of that total, nearly 28,000 were bilingual imperative positions.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Okay. So 90% of those 28,000 positions were bilingual imperative positions.
Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
It was 80...
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
So what I am getting at is that three quarters of the Canadian population, roughly, are unilingual English-speaking or French-speaking.
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Given the number of positions available, there are a lot.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I would not want people to get the impression that unless they are bilingual they have no chance of joining the public service. That is the first thing. Second, once they enter the public service, they would have to learn the second language, at the start of their career and not at the end. You will undoubtedly agree with me on that. Now the comments and criticisms that were voiced were that a very large share of second language training budgets seem to be allocated to people who are close to the EX categories, which correspond to an age group about five years from retirement.
Is that correct?
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
I do not have the information I would need to tell you whether that is true or not. The question would have to be put to the school that handles language training.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Does the Public Service Commission not have that kind of information?
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
No. As I said, in view of the new legislation, we no longer have responsibility for language training. That responsibility has been transferred to the School of Public Service. So we no longer handle it.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
What organization decides who will attend the school? Is it the school or the Commission?
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Each manager determines what language training is required and who has access to it, but it is the school that is responsible for the public service as a whole.
Liberal
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you, Mr. Bélanger and Mr. Lemaire.
We will continue with Mr. Richard Nadeau.
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, gentlemen. In the documents we received to prepare for this meeting, it says that about 15% of designated bilingual positions are still occupied by unilingual people. That is something that catches my eye, particularly when we are living in a region where it is mainly francophones who are penalized, because the language of work is not the language they ordinarily speak.
That being said, when a person holds a bilingual imperative or non-imperative position and has two years to become bilingual, what happens if the person does not reach the desired proficiency level after that period?
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
I am going to ask Mr. Poznanski to explain how the Order works, which will answer the question to a large extent.
Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Mr. Nadeau, since the new Order came into effect, on December 31, 2005, public servants have two years to become bilingual. After that period, if an employee has not attained the necessary level of bilingualism, the department may authorize an extension, for very precise reasons. The extension may not exceed two years. After two years, if the employee has still not achieved the level of bilingualism required by the position, he or she must be transferred or appointed to another position for which the person has all of the essential qualifications, including the language level.
Director General, Delegation, Policy Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
It depends on the level of the position. An employee could be transferred to a position at a lower level, which lower pay.
Vice-President, Staffing and Assessment Services Branch, Public Service Commission of Canada
Ultimately, the employee has to be transferred to a position for which he or she has the qualifications and meets the required merit criteria and qualifications.