Official Languages committee  I've been working in this area for a long time. In the 1980s, people were already saying that the interdepartmental approach was the solution for meeting the needs of minority communities. The fact remains that each department… [technical difficulties]

Official Languages committee  At one time, that interface was described as "interdepartmental”. When I was involved with community groups, we would be asked to communicate with a variety of departments, depending on the request. When the responsibility for official languages is spread out among different or

Official Languages committee  Very well. I do, indeed, recall what I said. There were two parts to my answer. The first was right, but the second was less so. In the first part of my answer, I said that the principle of Supreme Court bilingualism was essential, of course. Not only is it essential—which is i

Official Languages committee  In the years ahead, I think we will first have to focus on the modernization of the Official Languages Act, more specifically, part VII. Work is already under way on part IV, which deals with service delivery, among other things. Part VII holds tremendous possibilities. It addr

Official Languages committee  All right. The Official Languages Act has to be modernized, and the official languages action plan has to be much better aligned with the needs of minority communities. It's important to make sure that everyone working in the federal public service can do so in the language of t

Official Languages committee  To answer your question, first, there are many people who are in acting positions currently in the office. One of the first things to do is to get a handle on who's actually working there and doing what.

Official Languages committee  Second, I'm sure there are people who will be leaving. As people leave, I think what we have to do—and Mr. Fraser was very eloquent on this. He said he worried more about HR than he worried about policy. He really worried a lot about HR. I think it's very important in the commis

Official Languages committee  I think there are two key roles of the seven that you mentioned. One is what I'll call the audit function, the compliance function. It's extremely important to make sure that if we get complaints, we act on them, we investigate. We have to ensure that the act is respected and imp

Official Languages committee  All right.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  From 1983 to 1985, I was the head of the Société franco-manitobaine during Manitoba's language crisis.

Official Languages committee  I was in charge of the Société franco-manitobaine, and we stood up to the government. We confronted the majority of people, who were completely opposed to the French-speaking minority. As I said in my opening statement on Tuesday, it was a time of plebiscites, public hearings, an

Official Languages committee  Yes, there was also the fire at our office. I would say that that was when my ability to stand up to a government really came through.

Official Languages committee  The short answer is yes. Mr. Fraser frequently said that it was always possible to conduct investigations and make determinations. What consequences would they have, however? In my first appearance before the committee, on Tuesday, I asked what was the point of having an act wi

Official Languages committee  Yes, the committee submitted a report. I think we should seriously consider the last recommendation, which is to give the commissioner the authority to impose sanctions or fines. I know it might be perceived as creating some type of language police, but, as I often say, there ha