Official Languages Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2017

[Carl Trottier]

Self-evaluation is mentioned a great deal as regards official languages, and that is also an aspect of management now. Deputy ministers are responsible for that. We ask them to be transparent, knowing that what they report will have to be consistent with other findings. We consider the information about official languages that deputy ministers provide to be reliable and accurate.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

You were the one who said that there are still challenges.

[Carl Trottier]

Yes, and they tell us that. We are not—

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

So there are still challenges. Do you ask the institutions how they will meet the challenges and what steps they will take?

Let me try a different tack. Does each department have an action plan in order to comply with the official languages requirements?

[Carl Trottier]

Unfortunately, not all departments have an action plan, but the majority of them do.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Who has the power to require them to have one? Is it you?

[Carl Trottier]

It is the deputy minister, the delegate, who is responsible for the action plan. Once we see that it is systematic and that too many departments do not have one, we consider that to be a horizontal problem. Then we create working groups and try to work with the departments to make sure they develop an action plan.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Is it a requirement or a suggestion for each department to have an official languages action plan? I hope you say a requirement and not a suggestion.

[Carl Trottier]

Yes.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I might be dreaming in technicolour, but I hope not.

[Carsten Quell]

Specifically, there is a cycle of policy, evaluation and support.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Okay.

[Carsten Quell]

We start with a policy. The last time it was updated was in 2012. An evaluation is then conducted every year and we meet with the departments and crown corporations in the context of support activities in order to make improvements.

Let me give you a specific example. In 2012, we added to the policy the requirement that each institution must have official languages governance. In other words, each institution must have an official languages champion.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

That has been done. We have official languages champions.

[Carsten Quell]

We did that because we saw there was a need.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

You saw a need.

[Carsten Quell]

Yes, exactly. We saw a need.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

So there is a policy, evaluation, and support, but monitoring must also be included. You have to build in accountability. That bothers me a bit. Accountability seems to be random.

[Carl Trottier]

It is not random. It is required by deputy ministers, deputy heads.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

There are some who agree, others who agree more or less.

[Carl Trottier]

Departments have very different realities, we know that.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I see.

[Carl Trottier]

Some departments are very successful in some regards but have problems in others. They try to find ways to meet the challenges.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

That is what I want to know.

[Carl Trottier]

No department has ever said no to us.