Government Operations committee  We went from a more centralized system to provide language training for French or English to individual departments deciding how to do it. Some departments do a great job and have in-house language trainers.

Government Operations committee  We should be looking at whether, in some cases, we should perhaps have a bit of money available centrally, but again, that's something we're going to discuss with other departments and—

Government Operations committee  —provide advice.

Government Operations committee  I'd have to look at that, yes.

Government Operations committee  I'd have to look at the data there, too. I know there have been surveys and, in fact, if I remember well, the surveys indicate that the level of awareness actually is lower among younger public servants.

Government Operations committee  Mr. Chair, that's a good question. It does go back to some of my priorities. Also, there's no doubt in my mind that one of those priorities has to be recruiting and renewing the public service by bringing in new blood and finding ways to efficiently and effectively attract young

Government Operations committee  There are many. I talked about language of work, the use of French in particular, and the fact that, as leaders, we need to be able to demonstrate that commitment. I think that, in a world where we're more interconnected, this also applies to the public service. We are increasi

Government Operations committee  I'd have to study what exactly the conditions are. As you know, sometimes casual employment can be used to bring back people who have some skills and can help contribute also to corporate memory transfer. Again, I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, but I think we still have

Government Operations committee  You're asking me to comment on a program for which I don't have responsibility, but I have to say that all senior public servants share in the responsibility to make sure that our employees are paid, and paid accurately and on a timely basis. In our department, in my role, I ma

Government Operations committee  Those are questions that I think need to be addressed to our political masters. I will say, though, that when I was part of the team that created the Department of Canadian Heritage, I had the responsibility of transferring the translation bureau to the then department of publi

Government Operations committee  Again, that's not really within my responsibility. I do know that at the Public Service Commission, we are looking at ways of better using technology to help with language assessment, to give candidates or employees a better chance of quickly being able to assess their level of

Government Operations committee  Exactly. One could draw parallels. To me, respect for hierarchy is somewhat less important. However, you raised an important point in the beginning of your intervention, which was the variety of roles and experiences one can have during a career. I often like to refer to my own

Government Operations committee  I couldn't say. I think they are quite competitive salaries.

Government Operations committee  I have always been in favour of decentralization, to give the regions more roles and powers. In all of the departments I worked for, I found that our regions provided a certain wealth that was not always exploited fully. The Department of Canadian Heritage is not an exception. I

Government Operations committee  One thing I would have to do when in the position is study the data. I've looked at the annual report, and yes, there are some trends there. I'm not sure we've seen a significant increase in casual employment, for example, but we can see that a large proportion of the new entries