Backgrounder: Part VII of the Official Languages Act
Backgrounder: Report Cards 2010-2011
2010–2011 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Recommendations
For Immediate Release
Commissioner of Official Languages Graham Fraser is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to amend part of the Official Languages Act to safeguard the vitality of English and French minority communities across Canada and support Canada’s linguistic duality in a context of financial constraint.
“More than five years since the amendment of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, the federal government needs to affirm—unequivocally—that the Act and the obligations and rights arising from it are a priority,” said Mr. Fraser. “I am now recommending that the legislation be modified to allow for a more coherent implementation of Part VII.”
The Commissioner’s recommendation is included in his Annual Report 2010–2011: Leadership, Action, Results. It involves modifying Part VIII of the Official Languages Act in order to give the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat the power and authority to establish policies for the application of Part VII of the Act.
“I am concerned that budget cuts made by federal institutions may have an undue impact on official language communities,” said Mr. Fraser. “It is important to make sure that there are no unintended consequences for Quebec’s English-speaking communities and for French-speaking communities in the rest of the country.”
Part VII of the Official Languages Act is the primary tool for enhancing the vitality of Canada’s official language communities and for fostering linguistic duality, which contributes to our economic, cultural and social development. This year’s annual report focuses on Part VII of the Act because of the inconsistent way it has been applied by federal institutions.
Mr. Fraser added that the legislative changes he is proposing might help prevent situations in which official language communities bear a disproportionate weight of cost-cutting exercises. He pointed out that, just last month, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research quietly announced the elimination of its only official languages support program. “If each department targets some of its official languages programs as part as their budget review, the total impact will be severe,” he said.
Examples of the government and federal institutions making decisions without consulting official language communities or evaluating the impact of the decisions on these communities include the elimination of the Court Challenges Program in 2006, the cuts to CBEF Windsor by CBC/Radio-Canada in 2009 and the replacement of the mandatory long-form census questionnaire with a voluntary survey in 2010.
As in previous years, the annual report describes investigations, reports cards and audits that were used to take a closer look at how a number of federal institutions complied with the Official Languages Act. It also reports on the number of complaints filed by members of the public and employees of the federal public service, which is an indication of compliance issues within federal institutions.
One investigation found that many federal institutions often make do by assigning the minimum linguistic profile to positions without conducting an objective assessment. This led to the Commissioner recommending that a sufficient level of language skills be established to supervise employees in regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes.
“There is no miracle solution or universal panacea to ensure that all federal institutions meet their obligations under the Official Languages Act,” said Mr. Fraser. “Compliance with the Act requires new approaches and new ways of doing things. Federal institutions must take positive measures by undertaking concrete initiatives.”
- 30 -
For more information or to schedule an interview with the Commissioner, please contact:
Nelson Kalil
Manager, Media Relations
Telephone: 613-995-0374
Cellular: 613-324-0999
Toll-free: 1-877-996-6368
