Official Languages Committee on Feb. 15th, 2011

[Catherine MacLeod]

It was really interesting. The commissioner was there and he gave a speech.

It was a chance to bring together the official languages community who work in health and to focus on the research questions, as Madam Yeates was saying, to develop a vision forward. It was a one of a kind event for the communities. There was broad representation and very dynamic discussions around how official languages communities can input in the research questions early on and be a part of the way forward on health.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Was there a report?

[Catherine MacLeod]

We will be able to give you more details after the meeting.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Was a report produced after this symposium?

[Catherine MacLeod]

No, there was no official report.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

There was no official report. Were any recommendations made as a result of the symposium?

[Catherine MacLeod]

No.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Perfect, thank you.

It is important to measure what was put in place. However, I am a bit concerned, because you said in your presentation that you intended to monitor the performance of employees in this area, namely four times a year.

Further, you also said that you would provide this information to employees, and to managers, so that they would find ways to improve their performance. It is a good thing to measure this, but you also have to give people the tools to do so. I am a little concerned to hear that. I hope that tools will be provided and that employees will not simply be monitored.

[Glenda Yeates]

Thank you for your question.

Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to respond.

We completely agree. Once in a while, tools are developed. However, based on the results, you can see that we sometimes do not use them.

I think what we will get from the feedback is whether the existing tools are being used. It may also lead to conversations about tools that should be changed or modified in any way so they are more useful to employees.

We very much take this as a partnership. We have a very strong office of official minority languages, and I think that was another area where the commissioner gave us an A for strong program management. I think we have worked hard, through that office, to support and give the tools to our staff, but we certainly would be open to any feedback that comes back from that process about whether those tools should be improved in any way.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Zarac.

We will continue with Ms. Guay.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good morning to all of you.

I looked at your overall marks. They are good in some areas; but in others, you got an "E" and a "D". You cannot ignore this and you have to try to improve the situation.

Do you really have the human and financial resources you now need to adequately assume your responsibilities with regard to official languages?

[Glenda Yeates]

Thank you for the question.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I believe we have the resources, including a budget for language training, for instance. We are now trying to find more efficient ways to spend the money.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Will you be asking for additional funding if you cannot deal with your problems?

[Glenda Yeates]

Yes. Thank you for the question.

Perhaps, as the commissioner noted, this is a large part of leadership. This is about setting the stage, making it comfortable for people, making it very clear we'll give them the tools, and we will—ourselves, myself, as an anglophone—do staff meetings, answer questions, no doubt make grammatical errors in a second language, but that is something I'm willing to do, that we, as a leadership team, are willing to do. Our sense at this point has been that the leadership things we need to do lie within some of the strategies we're putting in place: monitoring, giving feedback, making it top of mind for people.

At this point, it's not been our assessment that this is something that money will fix, necessarily. This is really about attitude and leadership, I think, and we are trying very hard to create that environment.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Last week, we travelled to the Northwest Territories. You realize that health care is extremely important because it is a first-line service. When people are sick and they do not speak the other official language, that might not be the best time to try to understand medical terminology. Sometimes, people even have to hire interpreters, and they are not health care experts either. All of these medical terms are difficult to understand, and for people who are sick, it is extremely daunting.

Do you intend to change this situation, to improve it, because it really is a serious issue?

[Glenda Yeates]

Thank you for the question.

Mr. Chairman, I agree. Having worked my entire life in the health care sector, I know it is very important to receive services... This is the reason why we have invested $300 million.

I don't have a list with me of the priorities that have been given through these consultations, through the Northwest Territories—

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

It would be interesting for the committee to receive this list.

[Glenda Yeates]

Oui, but we have worked very hard to improve the services with the minority language for precisely the reasons the member notes. It's a critical area. As I say, I don't have list of what we've done in this regard in the Northwest Territories. I know we have some projects in the north, and I will be happy to furnish the committee with that.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

It would be interesting to see your list of future projects, because the situation in that region is truly critical, and it might be that way elsewhere, too. It is therefore important that we do something fairly quickly.

I know that in Quebec, there are English hospitals. If people want care, they can receive care in their own language. The same thing should be available elsewhere, so that people can receive health care in their mother tongue. As I was saying, the terminology is already very complicated in your own language, so when something is explained to you in another language, you don't understand a thing, and this can lead to very serious problems. I think that we need to work on that.

My last question deals with the "E" grade you received for implementing part VI of the Official Languages Act, which deals with equal access for French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians.

Can you explain to me why you got an "E"? What exactly is the problem?

[Glenda Yeates]

Thank you for your question,

and I'm happy to respond.

We've already spoken about the in-person, active offer being not where it needs to be; that's one of the things I think the commissioner noted, and it undoubtedly brought us down.

In the representation area, a particular problem the department has had for some time has been the representation of anglophones in Quebec. We've historically been very low on this point. As a result, the commissioner has noted this over the years.

We have increased our anglophone participation in our Quebec offices, but we are still not where the commissioner feels we should be. We've put in some specific targets for the next year in that regard. And similarly with francophones outside Quebec. We do better with anglophones inside Quebec, but still we are not at the place we need to be, so that is another area where we know we need to improve. There we have a few more tools, and we will be focusing on some targeted recruitment, for example, in francophone universities. There are some ways of using co-op programs and then bridging students of the official language minority into our workforce. So we have some strategies there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Guay.

We will continue with Ms. Boucher.

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

Good morning, everyone.

Ms. Guay asked the question which I was intending to ask. I was also wondering why you got an "E" with regard to equal access for French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians.

When you establish hiring criteria, are there any territorial constraints? For example, in Quebec, only anglophones from Quebec are hired. In Manitoba, are you limited to hiring only francophones from Manitoba? Do anglophone and francophone communities have open access to jobs? If there are not enough resources in one province, is it possible to hire people from elsewhere in Canada?

[Glenda Yeates]

I will ask the Director General of Human Resources, Mr. Étienne, to take that question.

[Gérard Étienne, Director General, Human Resources Services Directorate, Department of Health]

You cannot specifically recruit people based on language. The law encourages departments to establish equitable participation objectives, but the criteria are different from those used in the area of employment equity. In that case, if there is a gap regarding a target group, people can engage in targeted recruiting. Therefore, our strategy is much more based on encouraging recruitment in francophone areas outside of Quebec, or in anglophone areas inside Quebec. However, we cannot engage in targeted recruiting.

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

When you are trying to recruit staff, do the notices you put in newspapers say that candidates must be bilingual? As Ms. Guay said, it is already difficult to express oneself in one's second language, but when you are sick, you want to be able to express yourself in your mother tongue. If you want to be understood, you need someone who understands your language.