Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really apologize for being late. It's inexcusable.
You have introduced my colleagues, who are here to answer your questions once I have completed my comments.
Mr. Chairman, honourable members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. We are here to discuss a topic of great importance for us at the department.
I am here with Marc Grégoire, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Mitch Bloom, Official Languages Co-Champion. We have a second co-champion, who is the regional director general of the Gulf Region, but who is not here with us today. So there are two champions. Mr. Bloom is also assistant deputy minister for the development of official language minority communities. I am also accompanied by Ms. Michaela Huard, assistant deputy minister responsible for service to the public, language of work and equitable participation.
We are here today to discuss the department's work with respect to the Official Languages Act, including our evaluation of the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
As one of the oldest federal departments, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has for decades been a trusted source of service and support to Canadians. The work we do in the country's thousands of coastal communities involves working every day with and for the public and a diverse group of stakeholders. Solid client service is what Fisheries and Oceans Canada is all about. It is at the core of who we are and what we do.
The department's performance with respect to official languages is measured against specific criteria
in five key areas that are evaluated individually,
leading to an overall rating. The department has made progress and is one of the two departments to receive an overall performance rating of good
among the five departments assessed in that regard.
As you know, five areas are assessed in the commissioner's report.
With regard to program management, our department received an "exemplary" rating for the third report card in a row, thanks to our use of an accountability framework and an action plan, the visibility of official languages and an effective complaint-resolution process.
On service to the public, the department received a "fair" rating. This was based on the Commissioner of Official Languages' observations between January and April 2010, as well as our promotion of service availability in both official languages and service agreements with third parties. This rating is an improvement over the previous report card. Although our own telephone assessment, in the form of spot checks, has contributed to this improvement, we must continue to focus on this area, and we know that.
In the area of language of work, the department received a "fair" rating, based primarily on an analysis of perceptions of francophone respondents in bilingual regions. This rating is lower than in the last two report cards, and it is therefore the second area targeted in our action plan.
As for equitable participation, the department received a "poor" rating. The rating is attributable to the fact that anglophones account for only 2.6% of the department's workforce in Quebec. It has been very difficult for our department to improve this rating, I admit, and it will continue to be difficult due to the current evaluation criteria, since we have no offices in Montreal, where there is a large concentration of anglophones. If the rating were based on the anglophone population of Quebec City, which is 1.5% and is where our regional headquarters are located—our other offices are located outside Quebec—we would actually exceed the anglophone representation rate.
And as for the advancement of linguistic duality and support for minority communities, Fisheries and Oceans Canada received an "exemplary" rating again this year. This is due primarily to the collaborative relationships we established with minority communities, anglophone communities in Quebec and francophone communities in other parts of the country, and the activities we have carried out to support their development and promote linguistic duality. For example, a project in celebration of the city of Gaspé's 475th birthday highlighted the contribution of official language minority communities in the fishing industry.
In the last five evaluations by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the department's performance has progressed from "poor" to "fair" and now to "good". We are pleased to see that our performance has improved, but we know we must do more, and we have not let up in our efforts at further improvement.
For example, in late 2009 we carried out random telephone spot checks to ensure we were providing bilingual services to the public. These spot checks showed a marked improvement in our delivery of service in the preferred official language of the caller. In fact, our active offer on the telephone improved from zero in the last assessment to 86% in the current one. As well, a survey carried out by the Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse in the spring of 2009 showed positive results for us in bilingual greetings and service delivery.
Regarding language of work, we actively encourage employees in bilingual regions to use the official language of their choice. Additionally, 94% of supervisors and all executives in bilingual positions meet the official languages requirements of their positions. I am pleased that we continue to demonstrate leadership, for example, by alternating between English and French at each weekly departmental management board meeting.
However, the results of the Public Service Employee Survey show that francophones do have some concerns regarding the preparation of documents in their language of choice, as well as the availability of tools and materials in their official language.
Our next offficial languages action plan for 2011-14 will place emphasis on service to the public and will give special attention to language of work, with a view to ensuring that employees' language-of-work rights are fully respected. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans places a strong emphasis on the management and full implementation of the Official Languages Act. We are proud of our accomplishments and we know that we can and must show continued progress.
Each year we strive to improve our score, not only in the report card exercise, but in all other areas of assessment. We recognize that the assessment of our performance in the area of official languages can also be determined by the number of complaints the department receives and how they are dealt with.
In fact, the Commissioner of Official Languages has noted the professional level of cooperation he receives from our department in the analysis of complaints and the resolution of linguistic issues that are brought to his attention.
I hope that our continuous efforts demonstrate that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans takes its obligations under the Official Languages Act seriously and that we remain committed to serving the public in both official languages in accordance with the regulations, promoting a bilingual workplace where all employees feel free to work in the official language of their choice, and meeting the needs of the official language minority communities.
And now we will be happy to answer your questions.
