Official Languages Committee on Oct. 30th, 2023

[Commr Michael Duheme]

New employees are always hired full-time.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Right.

Do they have an obligation, or are they subject to specific conditions? What are the criteria? You know that we increasingly need bilingual officers. Have you changed how you do things?

[Commr Michael Duheme]

It is done by recruiting, for one thing, and Ms. Huggins and I have discussed the importance of recruiting more bilingual people in order to fill the positions and prepare the organization for the change that is coming in two years, when the number of positions will increase in several detachments.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Can you explain the hiring process to the committee?

[Commr Michael Duheme]

Are you talking about the process for entering the organization? I am going to let Ms. Huggins explain it very briefly, because we could spend one hour on that.

[Nadine Huggins]

Some of our employees handle attracting people to our organization so they will apply. Our preselection process enables us to ensure that the people are able to perform the necessary work.

We always try to get a certain number of bilingual graduates from Depot. We have also started increasing the number of bilingual classes. Normally, there are two a year, but we have already arranged to have three this year. We are planning to increase that number.

We have bilingual personnel and francophone personnel. Some people decide to join the anglophone personnel, even if they are bilingual or francophone.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Since March 18, when you were made aware of the changes or procedures relating to bilingualism requirements, do you deal with candidates who are applying in the same way as before?

[Nadine Huggins]

We follow the same process for everyone.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

So the process has not changed when it comes to bilingualism.

[Nadine Huggins]

No.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Right.

Do you go looking for candidates or do you just deal with the candidates who apply?

[Commr Michael Duheme]

There is a recruitment strategy in place. I would point out that fewer and fewer people are interested in working in policing. The pool of candidates is therefore smaller than it was, and this has an effect on bilingualism among the troops.

However, I can tell you that according to the recent figures I have seen, in Montreal, a lot of people want to become members of the RCMP. What we want to do is try to fill the vacuum that has been created over the years.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Iacono, your speaking time is up.

The next round of questions will begin with the second vice-chair of the committee.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here, Commissioner.

Does the RCMP have to follow the Official Languages Act?

[Commr Michael Duheme]

Yes, we have to follow the Official Languages Act. However, in the environment we find ourselves in at present, there is a gap, in terms of bilingualism, between senior managers and new employees. That gap has grown over the years and that is exactly what we are trying to correct with the plan we are proposing.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Should the RCMP not set an example for following the Act? If not, does that mean that the Official Languages Act is less important than other laws?

The RCMP has not been following the Official Languages Act for years and years now.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I would say that for all the positions we are trying to staff in the organization, we are looking first and foremost for bilingual candidates. Sometimes the candidates available for key positions, for which we need expertise in a certain field, have not had the opportunity to learn French or a second language. That is what puts us in this position.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

What I don't understand is that even in the Radio-Canada article, it says that you hire unilingual anglophones who hold senior ranking positions but are not taking French training. They do not speak a word of French and are also not taking training.

It seems to me that there could be minimum requirements for these people to take French courses. The exceptions for specialist positions should account for a tiny minority.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I would like to clarify some details regarding our senior executive committee. It is composed of ten people. I can assure you that of those ten people, four have a valid profile, two are in the process of renewing their profile, which has expired, and three do not have a valid profile. Of those three positions, one is in British Columbia and the other is in Alberta. Formerly, those two positions did not have to be bilingual, since they were in anglophone environments.

Given the change to the Act and relating to assistant deputy ministers and persons with equivalent rank, those two provinces present a challenge, since they are the ones with the largest number of members.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

What is complicated is that the bilingualism problem does not affect only the senior ranks; it seems to exist everywhere in the organization, whose culture does not respect French.

In 2016, we learned in the media that 16,000 RCMP positions required English, 19,000 were bilingual, and 19,000 required knowledge of French. However, in 2019, all 21,134 regular members of the RCMP held positions designated as not requiring knowledge of French. Some of those positions required knowledge of English, but no positions required knowledge of French, which does not suggest that the RCMP intends to follow the Act.

Normally, when jobs require knowledge of French, it means that the people supervising them will have to know French. However, everything seems to have been arranged so that it is not necessary to speak French in the RCMP.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I was reared by anglophone parents in a francophone community. I think of myself as having been spoiled, to have become bilingual at a very young age, and I do not hesitate to promote French in the organization. I encourage people who aspire to climb the ranks in the organization to learn French.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Those are good intentions, but are you committed to there being positions designated as requiring knowledge of French?

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I believe there are in Quebec.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

There are not even any in Quebec.

I know a former officer who works with an association of former RCMP officers and really believes that French is laughed at in the RCMP. He makes complaints and gets no response. It is difficult to understand why no position requires knowledge of French in Quebec.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I am going to do some checking. There are unilingual anglophone positions in Canada and I do not understand why there would not be unilingual francophone positions in Quebec. I undertake to have this question followed up.