Official Languages Committee on Feb. 1st, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Good morning everyone. I would like to call to order this 40th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

This morning, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the orders of the day are the 2009-10 annual report, volume II, of the Commissioner of Official Languages referred to the committee on Tuesday, November 2, 2010.

This morning, we will be hearing from two groups of witnesses. First, we will hear from officials from Passport Canada. Then, at 9:45, we will hear from officials representing Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Just before we begin, I would like to welcome you all back to Parliament, after the holiday recess. Welcome back. Also, there are some new faces around the table. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Luc Malo, Ms. Sylvie Boucher, who is a committee regular, and to our new parliamentary secretary. Welcome to the committee, Mr. Gourde.

Without any further ado, I will ask our two witnesses to make their presentation. We have with us this morning the Chief Executive Officer of Passport Canada, Ms. Christine Desloges. Welcome, Ms. Desloges. With her today is the Chief Human Resources Officer, Ms. Danielle Marquis.

I invite you now to make your opening statement. After that, committee members will have questions for you.

[Christine Desloges, Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Honorable members of the committee, Ms. Marquis, our Chief Human Resources Officer at Passport Canada, and myself, would like to thank you for your kind invitation to appear today. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy new year.

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to discuss the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages, and I'm here to answer your questions with respect to the official languages program at Passport Canada.

I am proud of the results that Passport Canada has achieved in recent years. However, before going into detail with respect to our response to the report, I would like to take this opportunity to provide some information about our organization, which is unique within the Government of Canada.

To begin with, we are not financed in the same way as most of the government departments. Passport Canada is a special operating agency that functions on a 100% cost-recovery basis. That means we are financed by the fees that are paid by Canadian passport applicants, and not by federal tax revenues.

As a cost-recovery special operating agency, we strive to balance service delivery standards with the need to maintain the integrity and the international reputation of the Canadian passport, while, of course, delivering our services in as cost-effective a way as possible.

We provide one of the most visible services that are offered to Canadians by their government. Last year we issued more than 4.8 million passports to Canadians at home and abroad. What this means is that roughly 60% of all Canadians now have a valid passport. Like you, millions of Canadians depend on us for internationally recognized travel documents, and we take this responsibility very seriously.

Service delivery is a key priority for us in both official languages. Our latest client satisfaction survey showed that 97% of our clients were satisfied in terms of receiving service from Passport Canada in the official language of their choice. Nous avons 34 offices across the country that deliver front-line service to Canadians, in addition to two production centres, two call centres, and also our headquarters in Gatineau.

We currently employ 2,732 people across Canada, and 80% of all our employees are dedicated to service delivery to our clients. The proportion of bilingual employees in our offices compares favourably with the presence of official languages in the general population. We ensure that our employees are equipped with the required tools and resources to work in both official languages and serve Canadians in the official language of their choice.

Our focus on service delivery is reflected in the strong ratings we achieved in the 2009-10 official languages report card. We received an A in participation of English- and French-speaking Canadians, and we scored Bs in the areas of language of work and service to the public.

Much has been accomplished. The report card and the feedback from Canadians confirm our commitment to excellence in providing services to Canadians and supporting our employees. Online, in person, and through telephone services, as well as our network of receiving agents, Canadians can access passport services in both languages anywhere in the country. Our products, our application forms, our communication materials are produced and simultaneously issued in both official languages. Our client-oriented website is completely bilingual and offers equal access to information and services in both official languages.

Technology also plays an important role. For example, we have Q-Matic, a customer flow management system, which we use in all the Passport Canada offices to direct clients to the correct counter to receive service in the official language of their choice.

Between March and September of 2009, we conducted 133 mobile passport clinics, where we offered passport services in both official languages to remote areas and border communities.

In January 2010,

we took part in Canadian initiatives following the earthquake in Haiti. There was bilingual support for our missions aimed at assisting Canadians in Haiti.

Internally, the 2008 survey of federal public servants indicated that our employees are grateful for the fact that their language rights are respected. Indeed, the latest report of the Commissioner of Official Languages has confirmed that. This success is due in part to the fact that we ensure that our senior managers are bilingual and that managers in those regions designated bilingual are able to manage the work of their employees in both official languages. Furthermore, our executive committee includes the largest number of bilingual managers of any that I have had the pleasure of working with. I must say it's fantastic to attend meetings where participants pass seamlessly from French to English, and vice versa, during substantive discussions.

Our managers are also taking initiatives with a view to improving the language proficiency of their team members. I could cite the example of our office in Vancouver, where our manager has set up a group for the purpose of maintaining their proficiency in French. The employees get together several times a month to speak French and to maintain their level of language proficiency. Open discussion sessions, national manager conferences and other presentations—indeed, pretty well all of our communications with employees—are prepared and distributed in both official languages.

Our Internet site includes a vast array of resources and information in both official languages aimed at all our employees. One example I could cite is La Source, which is an important reference tool for our counter staff, as well as for our managers and call centres. It is available in both official languages and allows us to ensure the consistency of our messaging, both in English and French, through our various modes of service delivery. In addition, our centralized training budget enabled more than 200 employees to be trained in their second official language in the last fiscal year.

We take the Commissioner's report very seriously and we know that bilingualism is essential to meeting our service delivery goals. We also know that Passport Canada plays a crucial role in the promotion and monitoring of compliance with official language requirements.

Members of our executive committee have reiterated their commitment to improving Passport Canada's official languages program. I would just like to mention a few examples of the action that has been taken. One example is the renewed commitment to implementation of official language activities as part of a formal, consolidated plan of action that allows us to measure progress, in order to obtain concrete results. I would also note the buy-in and active participation of regional directors across the country, as well as confirmation of the role and responsibilities of the official languages champion and co-champion.

With a view to strengthening the organization's leadership with respect to official languages, we will also see to it that our performance management agreements include more direct statements and more precise performance measures. Those agreements will enable us to track, maintain and improve 2011-2012 outcomes. The co-champion and myself will use this new framework to promote all the positive measures being taken with respect to official languages and resolve issues identified in the last report.

Although it fell just outside of the reporting period of this last report card, last spring Passport Canada made some great efforts to engage Canadians across the country as part of the User Fees Act consultation. Consulting minority groups was part of our plan, and we invited the Quebec Community Groups Network and the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada to participate in the consultation.

We asked Canadians for their ideas for improvements, and in total we received input from more than 7,000 Canadians through the bilingual online surveys we had, the round tables, and a letter campaign. This enabled us to pinpoint the services that Canadians expect.

This input will help us with designing a new fee-for-service structure in preparation for the introduction of the new enhanced security electronic passport that we will deliver to Canadians in 2012-13.

As part of this process,

we also held four information sessions with MPs in English and in French.

As is the rule when we organize activities, communications were fully bilingual.

Moving forward, we recognize that Passport Canada needs to develop a targeted approach to ensure that it meets the needs of official language minority communities across the country today and in the future.

We are considering partnerships with other departments and federal agencies in order to promote linguistic duality and enhance support for minority official language communities. We are exploring the possibility of including minority official language minorities in our upcoming consultations, to be sure that we are effectively meeting their needs.

In closing, I can assure you that at Passport Canada, we are proud of all that we have accomplished with a view to ensuring that Canadians are able to receive services in the official language of their choice. We also know that service improvement, whatever service may be involved, is never over because, as they say: in service improvement, the job is never done. You can always improve. Over the coming year, we are determined to make additional progress in the area of official languages.

Thank you. I would now be pleased to take your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Desloges.

Without any further ado, we will begin the first round with Mr. Bélanger.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I was preparing to do something that could be a criminal act, so I guess I won't. The fact is that I have heard rumours that the government is preparing a government bill to prohibit people from wishing each other a happy new year after January 31. So, I won't do that. I will just say: welcome back.

Thank you for being here this morning and for your presentation.

Ms. Desloges, whom do you report to?

[Christine Desloges]

To the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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

Are official languages part of your organization's performance evaluation? Are there performance criteria relating to official languages?

[Christine Desloges]

The criteria relate to service delivery to Canadians and, naturally, that includes official languages. Part of our service to Canadians, as I mentioned, involves providing equivalent service to communities across the country. It's a transactional service that…

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

Yes, I understand all of that. What importance is given to official languages in yours and Passport Canada's performance evaluation?

[Christine Desloges]

We are required to provide equivalent service in both official languages. We review complaints. Out of 9.2 million transactions in the last two years, we received 15 complaints. We take steps to revolve any complaints effectively. We resolved all of the above complaints, including three that were made to the Commissioner of Official Languages.

I also have an obligation to our employees. In that respect, it's a matter of seeing that our management team assumes its responsibilities with respect to official languages and official languages promotion in the workplace. I myself act as official languages champion for the executive committee.

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

I see. Do you have a mandate or mandate letter given to you either annually, or in some other fashion?

[Christine Desloges]

In my case, it's not a mandate letter. It's a performance agreement setting out objectives which include official languages in relation to employee management.

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

Are official languages mentioned in that performance agreement?

[Christine Desloges]

Not specifically, but I can guarantee you that next year, they will be under the approach I outlined earlier, as well as in my own performance agreement.

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

There is something I would like to understand. Overall, I'm satisfied with what Passport Canada is doing; however, I am not satisfied, overall, with the focus on official languages across government. I'm trying to establish that official languages are not part of the mandates given certain agencies, as you have just confirmed. However, you will be including this next year.

[Christine Desloges]

That is part of our mandate. You specifically asked me whether the words “official languages” appear in my performance agreement. And it is one of the items.

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

But it's not specifically mentioned.

[Christine Desloges]

No, it isn't. However, it is part and parcel of our obligations under the Act.

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

Can you tell me whether you have an action plan that covers all the different parts of the Act under which you have certain obligations?

[Christine Desloges]

We do have an action plan. I brought it today. It is a three-year action plan covering all the areas subject to the Official Languages Act.

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

Can you tell me generally what activities are set out in your action plan with respect to Part VII of the act?

[Christine Desloges]

The first one was consultation with minority groups in order to identify their needs. We began by contacting Canadian Heritage to secure a list of organizations. As early as last year, we consulted the minority groups I mentioned in my presentation. That was part of our consultation process on user fees. I also contacted the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to see how we could improve our performance, as well as the Network of Official Languages Champions to see how we could get involved in certain networks, particularly the Network of Stakeholders Working in the Field of Justice and Security, to see how we could cooperate with these partners. I also had discussions with our regional directors to look at how we could establish better communication with minority groups in the regions.

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

How far back does your plan go?

[Christine Desloges]

Our plan was drafted last year. Naturally, following the report of the Commissioner, we took steps to ensure it responded to the comments made and problems that were identified.

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

Was there one previously?

[Christine Desloges]

We did not have an official, consolidated action plan but, as you noted, our performance speaks for itself. We did receive an “A” for participation of both Anglophone and Francophone groups, all across Canada. According to the official languages report, we received a “B” for language of work and service to Canadians. I think that reflects the fact that, even in the absence of an official plan, we took very constructive measures for the communities all across the country.