Apologies, I was on the telephone with the technician to try to resolve my video issues.
Thank you very much for this welcome.
My name is Chantal Fortin, and I am the Alternate Regional Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, National Capital Region. I am a proud Franco-Ontarian who was born here in Ottawa. I am comfortable speaking in both English and French, having lived my whole life in the National Capital Region. Although I am bilingual, my mother tongue is French, and I was educated in French. So it requires more time and effort for me to work in my second language—time and effort that, at work, would otherwise be devoted to my main duties. I have been working for the Government of Canada for 19 years, and I am very concerned about the ability of workers like me to use the official language in which they are most comfortable.
The following is what we hear from PSAC members. Important information is not always sent by managers in both official languages. When documents are sent only in English, management tells us that [Technical difficulty—Editor] French translation. Often, Francophones have the impression that they have to use their second language—