Evidence of meeting #43 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was departments.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
And that database is provided to you by these 200 or so administrators, correct?
Director, Policy and Legislation, Treasury Board Secretariat
No. We have the human resources data, the data on public service employees. The information on employees who meet the language requirements is verified with the Public Service Commission of Canada. That data is based on the language tests. It covers all of the central public administration.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
I will word my question another way. What is the role of these deputy heads?
Director, Policy and Legislation, Treasury Board Secretariat
The role of the deputy heads is to apply the act within their...
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
That is correct.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
And how many deputy heads are there, approximately?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
There are approximately 200, that is to say one deputy head per institution.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Do we know who they are? Do you know the names of the people who fill out this assessment and send it to you? Is that information public?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
That information is already public.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
That's fine.
Can you tell me how bilingual these deputy heads are, generally speaking? Without naming anyone, can you tell me, for instance, if there are three bilingual managers, 50 unilingual francophone managers, and if the rest is made up of unilingual anglophones? Can you tell me that?
Director, Policy and Legislation, Treasury Board Secretariat
Most of the deputy heads are appointed by the Governor in Council. Treasury Board policies do not apply to people who are appointed by the Governor in Council.
Liberal
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
There are a few exceptions.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Could you answer me with yes or no. Is it possible that the information sent to you by these deputy heads is being sent by people who are for the most part unilingual anglophones?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
Unfortunately, it is impossible for us to know that.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
We do not know.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Fine.
I'd like to go back a bit. During your last visit on November 29, the second question put to you by the committee concerned a list of organizations considered problematic regarding bilingualism—you were asked whether you could provide it—and what percentage of institutions were not doing their work. I read your presentation at the outset carefully. It is nice, but I'm not satisfied. In my opinion, you have the clear mandate to answer that question and your organization should not flood us with documents we are supposed to plow through by ourselves. I really got the feeling that we were told to go and sort through all of this information on our own.
Mr. Chair, I don't know if this is possible, but I would like to reword that question. I would like us to be provided with a list of those institutions that are performing under par regarding bilingualism, and the percentage of those who do not do their work. I would like the secretariat to give us the answer and not bury us in documents. I want an answer; I believe it is its role to provide it. Once we have that, perhaps we can then make recommendations.
Would that be possible, Mr. Trottier?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
If that list existed, I would have it today and I would give it to you with a big smile.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Trottier, the list does not exist because you have not drawn it up. Because you have not done so, the office is closing its eyes to an essential point, that is to say evaluating the level of compliance with official language requirements among federal departments.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
However, we measure that annually and we support the departments to ensure that they meet the requirements and that there is continuous improvement regarding official languages. What—
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Forgive me for interrupting you, Mr. Trottier, but I have very little time.
You say that you cannot answer my question. And yet, it is your role to know whether this obligation to respect official languages in the federal departments is being fulfilled or not. You are not able to tell me that today. I do not want to point the finger at you personally, but your organization is incapable of telling us today if we are on the right track or not. You say that is impossible. Is that really what you are telling me?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance, Planning and Policy Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat
No, not at all. I think we are headed in the right direction.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
If I have the committee or the chair's authorization, I will ask you to provide an accurate response to the following question: Will you provide a list of the institutions that seem problematic to you?