Official Languages Committee on March 19th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the 72nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Today is Tuesday, March 19, 2013. We are here pursuant to Standing Orders 110 and 111 to study and discuss the certificate of nomination of Graham Fraser to the position of Commissioner of Official Languages, which was referred to the committee on Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

Mr. Fraser is appearing before the committee today. Welcome; the floor is yours.

[Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, honourable members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, thank you for considering the certificate of nomination extending my term as Commissioner of Official Languages.

The past six years have been marked by important events, including regular meetings with members of this committee. I hope that I will have the privilege of continuing this relationship for another three years.

I would like to underscore the commitment and professionalism shown by the senior management and employees at the Office of the Commissioner during the past few years. You have no doubt gotten to know some of the members of my executive committee who regularly accompany me to our meetings.

But today it's only you and me, just like our first meeting in 2006, the purpose of which was to consider my application for the position of commissioner. Some of you will no doubt remember that, on that occasion, I repeated the question posed by the Laurendeau-Dunton commission 50 years ago this year.

Can English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians live together and do they want to do so? If the answer to this question is still yes, then a results-based official languages policy must be implemented. This is what I said to you six years ago and I still believe it to be true.

The government must continue to make choices and take actions that will allow Canadians to obtain services in both official languages; allow public servants to work in the official language of their choice; allow official language communities to fully contribute to Canadian society; and allow people in every part of the country to learn Canada's two official languages.

I am also judged by the results I obtain as a deputy head. Canadians who file complaints expect effective resolution within a reasonable timeframe. Our interventions with federal institutions must be judicious and lead to lasting changes.

Our partners in official language communities and bilingualism promotion groups count on our support. Our promotional campaigns must reach their target audience. Moreover, the organization must be well managed and must ensure respect for employees and citizens who fund the organization.

The Office of the Commissioner will continue to modernize itself. We are moving ahead with the implementation of new information management systems that will allow Canadians to file a complaint online, and we are now present on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

We now have a facilitated complaint process that's used to handle more than 60% of the complaints we've received. Moreover, we will soon be under the same roof as Elections Canada, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and the Office of the Information Commissioner. This proximity to other agents of Parliament will strengthen our independence and eventually allow us to share some services.

These administrative changes will allow the Office of the Commissioner to tackle upcoming challenges more effectively. I am thinking not only about the program that, I hope, will replace the Roadmap for Linguistic Duality, but also about the many upcoming important anniversaries and events during which Canada's linguistic duality will play a starring role.

My staff has worked closely with the organizers of the 2013 Canada Games in Sherbrooke. They are also already cooperating with the organizers of the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. This is to ensure that we apply the lessons learned during the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Celebrations in 2017 for the 150th anniversary of Confederation will include the inauguration of the new Canadian Museum of History, and will be preceded by many commemorative events, for example, for both world wars and for the 200th anniversary of the birth of John A. MacDonald. These anniversaries serve as the backdrop for a national conversation about our common history and their values.

We need to highlight those historic moments, while recognizing that they were, at the time, a source of bitter and polarizing debate. It would be counterproductive to try to mask the disagreements because we still feel the after-effects today.

Since it was elected, the Parti Québécois government has been concerned about forces that are endangering the status of French. These dangers are very real. In the scientific, international trade and entertainment communities, the dominance of English often reduces the space that francophones have to express themselves. But these dangers do not come from Quebec's English-speaking communities or from federal institutions. This is a message that I will continue to spread.

This is only a glimpse of the work of the office of the commissioner and what the federal government must do over the next few years. Also on the agenda are the following: the vitality of official language communities; issues related to immigration, which is the past, the present, and the future of our country; access to justice in both official languages; and the critical need to improve access to French-language learning. We also need to keep an eye on the changes within the federal public service, both in terms of services and in terms of language of work and support for official language communities.

The Office of the Commissioner will examine these issues as part of four main priorities: first to promote linguistic duality in Canadian society, specifically by encouraging the government to play a more visible role in and improve access to second-language learning; second to ensure that language rights are protected, specifically by monitoring the impact of budget cuts and the use of 2011 census data to determine the language designation of federal offices, while continuing to monitor federal institution performance;

third, to enhance official language community vitality, particularly with respect to immigration; and fourth, to ensure sound management of the office of the commissioner during a period of change.

To meet these objectives, the office of the commissioner will continue to use every tool at its disposal: the work it does with parliamentarians, studies, audits, investigations, meetings with the heads of institutions, promotion and information initiatives, and of course, legal remedies.

We will also continue our work with federal institutions and linguistic minorities and majorities, while providing advice in the areas of health and education, the private sector and the media, as needed.

With your permission, I will continue to be a cheerleader and a nag.

Thank you for your attention. I would now like to take the remaining time to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

We have about an hour and a half for questions and comments.

Let us start with Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, I would like to give notice of the following motion:

That the Committee invite the CEO of the Translation Bureau of Public Works and Government Services Canada, Ms. Donna Achimov, for a two-hour public and televised meeting about official languages in the federal public service between now and June 14, 2013.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin. You may continue.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for joining us, Mr. Fraser.

These days, it is not usual for the Prime Minister to renew someone's appointment. Enough said.

We have some questions for you.

If your appointment is confirmed…

[Graham Fraser]

Mr. Chair, my colleague Jennifer Stoddart has also been reappointed to her position for three years. So other officers of Parliament have also been accorded the privilege.

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

Was she tougher when she came back the second time?

If your appointment is confirmed, what will be your priorities in the next three years?

[Graham Fraser]

I mentioned several of them in my statement.

Certainly, one of our priorities will be to monitor the changes, the transformations, in the government as a result of the budget cuts. There are also the preparations for major sporting events such as the Pan-American Games, and a series of historic events and commemorations in which, I feel, it is very important for linguistic duality to be on display.

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

As you know, several departments have been hit with cuts. The government is patting itself on the back for not having made any cuts to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

You said you wanted to make changes to the technology in your office to the tune of about $6.2 million. In an appearance before this committee, you said that it would affect the work of your office.

Do you feel that it affects your work, yes or no?

[Graham Fraser]

I believe we have succeeded in absorbing the costs. Thanks to the professionalism of our managers, we have indeed succeeded in making our complaints processing system more efficient. For example, in one year, we have reduced the processing time for complaints in our facilitated process from 7.6 months to 3.7 months. That cuts the time by about half. For investigations requiring a formal process, the processing time has gone from 11.4 months to 5.9 months. So we can say that those technological changes have made us more efficient.

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

Let me give you some examples.

One of the complaints was about the library at the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Seriously, in the time you were investigating the complaint, the library had already been closed.

The Canadian Forces recruiting centre in Bathurst is very important. People from as far away as Madawaska go to that bilingual centre for recruiting purposes. I registered a complaint on April 12, 2012. It is now March 19, 2013 and your office has not yet rendered a decision. That is dangerous, because, in the amount of time it has taken to deal with the complaint, the government has already closed the offices. And all that is said is that the government should have consulted.

I remember when they wanted to close the offices in Bathurst and move them to Miramichi, you said that the government did not hold consultations and had broken the law. You are doing the same thing this time too.

How can you say that the situation is improving when that is what we see? It is not a major complaint. You have to find out whether the Bathurst office is really going to close. We know it is, it has already been announced. Francophones from Madawaska are going to have to go to Fredericton. But we are still waiting for an answer. I do not know all the complaints that your office receives, but I am bringing up one that was easy to deal with and it was registered a year ago.

[Graham Fraser]

I cannot comment in detail on the processing of complaints. That is one of the fundamental rules of my role. I am making a note about the examples you are giving me. Actually, the rule that guides me is that I can comment on situations before complaints happen—

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

I do not want you to comment on the complaint itself. I am saying that it is taking some time to deal with it. Before the answer is ready, the offices are closed and it is too late. That is what happened at the library at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Could you have done anything retroactively?

How many times have you taken the government to court? That is one of the powers you have. You can comment on that.

[Graham Fraser]

Yes, indeed, that is one of my powers. We are in court about Radio-Canada and Air Canada. We participated as an intervener in the FCFA's case against the government’s budget cuts and the elimination of the Language Rights Program. That led to the creation of the Language Rights Support Program.

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

Earlier, you mentioned the danger posed by the cuts in the public service. You saw that I gave notice of a motion to have the director appear.

In today’s papers, we read about the cuts at the Translation Bureau, where a large number of positions have been eliminated. That affects translation directly. People are telling us that they are writing their documents in English now. They would never dare to complain to the government for fear of losing their jobs. Everyone has received a letter saying that there will be layoffs. So, if they are good, they stay, if they are not, they go.

Have you started an investigation into that, or do you need complaints to be sent to you directly?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you. Mr. Godin.

Go ahead, Mr. Fraser.

[Graham Fraser]

We have not begun a formal investigation into the matter. But I have had some conversations with Ms. Achimov. As it says in the paper, I have an appointment to meet with Mr. Poirier from the union so that he can brief me on the situation. I find it troubling. Without confirming or dismissing the facts as presented in this morning’s paper, the situation does present some pressures, often unspoken, on francophone employees to not exercise their right to work in French.

Sometimes, there is the body language in meetings. It may be the fact that the manager never uses French in meetings. It may be a phone call from a political staffer. If the political staffer is unilingual and wants to see a document, he has no need to spell out the fact that he wants to see it in English. In some departments, the culture is such that English predominates to such an extent that francophones are very reluctant to write briefing notes in French and to use French in meetings.

That is why I have always stressed the importance of leadership. It is important for managers, senior managers and executives in the public service to not only tolerate the use of both languages—accepting it is not enough—but to actively promote the use of both official languages and to encourage francophones to use French in the workplace.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

Your turn, Mr. Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I understand it, the official opposition will support the government’s decision to renew Mr. Fraser’s appointment to his position.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Do you have a question for Mr. Fraser?

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Six or seven years ago, a prominent journalist wrote a book called Sorry, I don’t speak French. You wrote the book as a professional journalist to really present your vision of our country’s linguistic duality to Canadians. In those six years, during which, I assume, you have had more access to the realities of the linguistic duality, given your position as commissioner, how has that vision evolved?

In Orleans, for example, I can tell you that the only bilingual people used to be the francophones. But the situation has changed a lot. However, I do not want to distract you from the question I asked.

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

[Graham Fraser]

I often go back to the book's conclusion to see whether my ideas have changed, but they have remained the same. I continue to promote the same ideas. I sometimes get the impression that I am doing a promotional book tour, a tour that has lasted six years.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

It is not sold out yet?

[Graham Fraser]

If I was writing the book again, I would be tougher on DND. The documents I used and the books I quoted dated from before the closure of the Royal Military College at Saint-Jean. I feel that closing that college had a very harmful effect.