Good morning to you all.
Our study today is on volume 2 of the Commissioner of Official Languages annual report as it relates to your department. I do note that you have received some very good ratings. However, there is the issue of part VII, which my colleague Mr. Bélanger has just raised. You will have to roll up your sleeves and do some very important work in that regard.
We are talking about official language minority communities as they concern your department. In that regard, I have a particular interest in Canada Post. Closing a post office often means shutting down a village or hamlet where people live. In order to avoid the disappearance of the rural world, key links have to be maintained. We are talking about transportation, but there is more than that. Your department covers many sectors.
With regard to your workplace and more particularly your employees, I see that you obtained a good rating in terms of language of work. The commissioner gave you a "B". For the benefit of the other departments that received shabby ratings in that area—for example, in the case of Health Canada, which was raised earlier—I would like you to tell us about the measures you implemented. How do you ensure that the employees throughout your department feel free to use their official language of choice at work—and in this case, I am referring to French because it is the minority language throughout Canada, even though it is the majority language in Quebec—to speak, and especially to communicate in writing?
On page 27 of the commissioner's report, I note that you were unable to put your employees at ease with regard to job security, and that they have to report to managers who neither understand nor read French; they cannot be sure that writing to their superiors in French will not be frowned upon; and they receive translated documents dealing with substantive matters, but that do not express what was stated in French because of a loss of nuances and subtleties in the process.
What will you do to improve that situation? What are you doing so that your employees feel free to speak, work and write in French within the very large department that is Transport Canada? What are you doing for those communities and groups?