Official Languages Committee on Dec. 1st, 2009

[Paul Benoit]

Exactly, and every time you come—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I ordered coffee at Tim Hortons, and the server answered me: “I don't speak French.”

[Paul Benoit]

Every time you go, you're probably served by a different employee. The turnover rate in that kind of place is 60%. This is a reality, not an excuse. During the Lunch and Learn sessions, we teach employees how good morning is said in French and what the phonetic version is. These are basic notions, but we're working with employees who, in a number of cases, speak neither English nor French.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I don't want to attack all Tim Hortons franchisees, but you have to admit that the words “café” and “coffee” are similar. “Sucre” and “sugar”, “crème” and “cream” are quite similar as well.

[Paul Benoit]

However, it's another matter in the case of a one-week car rental reservation. We're trying to work with what we have. As I told you, our staff is 100% bilingual. Earlier we talked about announcements. When we catch someone at fault, they get a reminder. Announcements are not controlled by the airport, but perhaps it would be a good idea to consider the possibility that they are all our responsibility, as is the case at other airports. That might be a good idea.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Godin.

We'll now go to Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our committee.

As you know, the Olympic Games are very important for our government and for all committee members. It is a priority that these games are a reflection of what Canada is, a country where there are two official languages. The Minister of Heritage, the Honourable James Moore, is categorical on this subject. He wants these games to reflect the two faces of Canada, English and French.

Mr. Benoit, you said earlier that you realize some of your services, particularly voice messages, were offered in English only. You told us you were about to rectify the situation. I would like to know how you are going to do that.

Don't you do this kind of checking systematically, twice a year, for example, or every three months? When you make those changes, will they be permanent or will they apply only during the Olympic Games?

[Paul Benoit]

First of all, as I told you at the outset, I doubt that there will be 50 people going through the Ottawa airport to go to the Olympic Games; it's not a transfer point. The long-term situation for us is very important. It's not just about two weeks in the spring or winter of 2010; it's permanent.

We found an error because we did some checks. If we did checks and the success rate was always 100%, we would know that something is wrong.

The Commissioner did some checks with us and concluded that there was a deficiency in the offer of service. For example, in my telephone introduction, I should say: “Bonjour, vous êtes au bureau de Paul Benoit. Good morning. Puis-je vous aider?” We did a check when I learned that I was invited here. I checked everything. It would be naive not to evaluate what we've done. We realized at that time that, in most cases, the voice-mail messages of a number of my employees were in English. I'm not talking about the general telephone number of the airport or reception, where the message is completely bilingual. If you call our offices today, I hope the situation has been at least 90% corrected and that there is a bilingual welcome message. Some employees are resistant to that. They tell us that they are not bilingual—these are not front-line employees, but rather office employees—and they would be giving a false impression. So, first of all, we have made arrangements so that, if they are unable to record the message, an employee generally does it for them. Second, people who telephone will receive the message in the language of their choice, English or French.

Yes, we do checks. As is the case everywhere, we find mistakes, we admit them, we correct them, and this is not a two-week initiative; it's for the long term.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Do I have any time left, Mr. Chairman?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have a minute and a half left.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Earlier you said that some employees were not bilingual and that they might be resistant to French or embarrassed to speak French. That happens as well. In that case, do you provide training?

[Paul Benoit]

We do it as much as possible internally, but not necessarily... I won't hide the fact, and I'll give you an example: we don't give employees a year to take language courses. We try to help them internally. There are francophone employees who have been denied a promotion at the airport and unilingual anglophone employees who have been denied promotions at the airport. That happens in both cases.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

You nevertheless have good management. When you make changes, it's not just for the short term, but for the long term.

[Paul Benoit]

It's for the long term. There is a requirement for our delegated directors, among others, who are our representatives when we aren't there, to speak both languages. When a passenger has a problem and asks to see the service manager, that manager must be bilingual or else he or she cannot be promoted. Our fire chiefs, our fire captains, our emergency services employees, our paramedics are all bilingual. Our volunteers are mostly bilingual and that is a long-term situation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Boucher.

We'll now begin our second round with Mr. D'Amours.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks to the witnesses for being here with us this morning.

I would like to get a figure from each of you. In the case of each airport, what is the percentage of bilingual front-line employees? Mr. Lennox, you mentioned that it is 75% in Toronto?

[Toby Lennox]

That's right. It's 75%.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

What is the situation in Ottawa, Mr. Benoit?

[Paul Benoit]

With regard to the airport as a whole?

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I want to know the percentage of front-line employees who are bilingual.

[Paul Benoit]

One hundred per cent of port authority employees are bilingual.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

When you say 100%, that doesn't refer just to active offer, that is to say being able to say “Hello, bonjour.”

[Paul Benoit]

No, it means being able to say “Bonjour, hello, comment ça va?” The port authority's front-line employees are 100% bilingual.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Levy.

[Paul Levy]

Most of the airport authority staff aren't front line staff. They're actually in administrative roles, so it's a very small number. But we do it under contract and 20% to 25% of the front line staff are bilingual.