Official Languages Committee on Feb. 15th, 2011

[Gérard Étienne]

Nearly 90% of Health Canada's employees meet the language requirements of the position they are in. There are two kinds of positions: unilingual positions and bilingual ones. Regarding the bilingual positions, we are able to recruit. However, people systematically forget to engage in active offer, and they forget to respond with: "Hello, Bonjour.". They have to be reminded. I believe that the deputy minister was absolutely correct when she indicated that employees must continually be reminded that this is the formula they have to use. However, we do respect the language criteria of our positions.

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

Are some people, some of your employees, still reluctant to speak the other language, be it English or French, that is, the one which is not their first language?

[Gérard Étienne]

I believe the commissioner's report showed that Quebec anglophones, and francophones living outside Quebec, feel a bit uncomfortable as far as the language at work is concerned. My colleague Ms. MacLeod has gone to great lengths since she became the champion. We have done some good things, but there is still work to do. We need to bring about a change in attitudes, because the linguistic ability is there within the department.

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

So it really is a matter of changing the culture and educating people. People should not feel forced to speak the other language.

[Gérard Étienne]

That's what I believe.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Boucher.

We will now conclude with Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to come back to the issue raised by Mr. Généreux and Ms. Guay, namely French services in the Northwest Territories. You may be aware that we were there last week. We met with organizations, and the organization which provides health care services in French told us of a problem relating to translation. Based on what I understood, the translation of medical terms is not adequate, and as a result, people are not receiving appropriate care. The last thing a person wants is bad medical care or the wrong diagnosis.

Madam Deputy Minister, you said a little earlier that the territories provide health care services independently. There is something I would like to have explained to me. Before the territories got their own Parliament, they were managed by the federal government. That was not such a long time ago.

Now that the situation has changed and that the territories have their own Parliament, what is the responsibility of the federal government? In the health care sector, does the federal government have less responsibility in the area of official languages? Has there been a loss of responsibility? I believe that Health Canada can play a role in this regard. The translators themselves said that they are more comfortable dealing with certain subjects than with others. The health care sector, or the medical sector, as Ms. Guay said, has jargon which is difficult to understand even in one's own language.

Today, there are call centres throughout the world. You call one of these centres and you have no idea where the person who has answered the phone is located. It might be in India or Mexico. Are there not federal programs that could meet the needs of the people living in the Northwest Territories? If the service cannot be provided in the territories, perhaps a person in another province might have the skills to do the work for Health Canada. This is worrying. We have to talk about it, because this is an issue which the Commissioner of Official Languages has not studied. Perhaps we will ask him to do so. Entire communities are not receiving health care services in a language they understand, because of a lack of competent interpreters. I am concerned about this and I believe all committee members were concerned. The Conservative Party, represented by Mr. Généreux, asked the question, as did the Bloc Québécois. And now I am asking this question. We were made aware of the situation by the people who live up there. I would like to know what you think of this matter.

[Glenda Yeates]

Thank you for your question.

I think it is precisely this concern about services in your language that has led to the investments and initiatives we've seen—the $200 million and our close working relationship with the minority language communities across the country. We need to understand their priorities. I think we should all be seized of the concern that you raised. When you're sick, when you're at your most vulnerable—that's when having services in your language is probably the most critical.

We have significant responsibilities for first nations people across the country in Health Canada, and we see this same response in trying to support first nations communities. There are some people there for whom English is not their first language, and we try where we can to support them.

Let me come back to your point about minority language communities. It is for that reason that we have made these investments and worked with the communities. For example, we see some provinces and communities who have said they need mental health services, and they want to create that network.

We've supported training so that we would have people who have the curriculum. Sometimes we work with all of the medical schools, some of the nursing schools, and others to create the capacity in their training. People may have francophone abilities, but unless you have the technical knowledge, it may be difficult to practise medicine.

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

What about all those people who don't get the translation right now?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

If you could respond briefly, please.

[Glenda Yeates]

We will certainly work to support those communities to make sure those health providers are available. That's one of the things we are trying to do, and we're trying to work with the provincial and territorial governments, which have the responsibility for providing services, but also to work with the minority language communities to understand how we can support them. In some cases they have told me that we have given them the ability to come together and make their case to the provincial or territorial delivery agency. So I think we have provided support in a number of ways.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Ms. Yeates, if I understood correctly, you held health care consultations in the Northwest Territories, in the Yukon, in the Far North.

[Glenda Yeates]

I know that we have networks in the North. I will see whether we organized any consultation specifically in the Northwest Territories.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Fine. We would appreciate that, since we are currently drafting the report on our trip to Canada's Far North. If you have any information for us, the committee can then choose to include it in its report.

Thank you for having come before committee members this morning. We will suspend our work for a few moments before beginning the second part of our meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We'll get started right away, since we have only an hour with our witness.

Without further ado, we will begin with the representatives from the Department of Transport.

This morning, we will hear from Ms. Yaprak Baltacioglu, who is the Deputy Minister; Mr. André Morency, who is the Assistant Deputy Minister for Corporate Management and Crown Corporation Governance and Corporate Services; Ms. Brigita Gravitis-Beck, who is the Director General for Air Policy, and Mr. Michel Doiron, who is the Regional Director General and Champion of Official Languages for the Atlantic Region.

Welcome to all of you.

Ms. Baltacioglu, you have the floor.

[Yaprak Baltacioglu, Deputy Minister, Department of Transport]

Good morning.

Mr. Chair, I believe that all committee members have received our documents, including our action plan and comments. Since we have little more than an hour, we would be open to beginning with members' questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Very well, than that is how we will proceed.

I now give the floor to the official opposition, starting with the committee's vice-chair, Mr. Bélanger.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to you all.

You say that we received the documents, but I only received them this morning. I am referring to action plan 2010-2011 to 2012-2013 for the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act, your speaking notes, and Transport Canada's official languages action plan 2011-2012. I have not had time to read and get my head around everything. This is a tactic that the department often uses: it tables documents at the last minute so that members are not really able to ask the appropriate questions. Be that as it may, I will ask a first question.

Who sits on the advisory committee that you refer to a number of times in the action plan?

[Yaprak Baltacioglu]

Our official languages champion chairs the committee, and it has representatives from different branches of our organization. If you want the specific titles, Michel Doiron will explain.

[Michel Doiron, Regional Director General and Champion of Official Languages, Atlantic Region, Department of Transport]

The department has two internal advisory committees: the official languages committee and the advisory committee for part VII of the OAL. Both committees are made up of officials from our branches in Ottawa as well as regional representatives. In fact, our five regions have a number of specific characteristics. We meet regularly to draw up the plan and monitor its implementation.

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

Could you please provide me with the membership list of both committees?

[Michel Doiron]

Yes.

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

I would like to know when the advisory group for part VII of the act was created.

[Michel Doiron]

That was probably some time in October. I can confirm the exact date. It happened just before the plan was approved.