Management (15%)

a) An accountability framework, an action plan and accountability mechanisms are in place (5%)

The roles and responsibilities for Parts IV, V, VI and VII of the Official Languages Act (the Act) are set out in the Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Forces (CF) Official Languages Strategic Plan, henceforth known as the National Defence Official Languages Program Transformation Model, dated October 25, 2006.

According to this document, the purpose of the Transformation Model is to better align the Official Languages (OL) Program with the requirements of the Act, and DND administrative, organizational and operational requirements. According to DND, the Transformation Model favours a functional approach whereby the CF manage their personnel on a unit, rather than a position basis (as is done in the public service), thereby enabling commanding officers to manage the OL capacity as they would other qualifications. Thus, they take full responsibility for the performance of their unit in terms of service delivery and supervision in both OL.

Approved by the Management Committee, the Transformation Model describes OL measures, identifies persons in charge and deals with performance measurement; it also establishes three specific objectives, along with activities to be carried out, ranked by priority. Senior managers are committed to OL, as reflected in the senior officers' personal development reviews, in which they are required to establish OL performance objectives.

The Transformation Model supports the Action Plan for the Transformation of the OL Program as well as related accountability mechanisms. Priority 1 activities, including the establishment of timelines and performance indicators as well as and persons in charge, have been targeted in order to implement the transformation model in the medium term.

The Transformation Model assigns a larger role to OL coordinators in terms of performance measurement within their respective units or commands and makes them responsible, among other things, for performing OL audits.

A

b) Visibility of official languages in the organization (5%)

The Strategic Plan, the 2005-2006 Performance Report and the 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities reflect the objectives of the OL Program. While internal audit activities do not integrate OL, some internal CF-wide studies will include, as required, questions on OL, including questions regarding spot checks on the quality of bilingual services.

The Defence Management Committee discussed OL on July 14, 2006. The Transformation Model was also discussed at the Chief Military Personnel orientation session on September 13 and 14, 2006, and at the Base Commanders' and Base and Wing Chief Warrant Officers' Forum on November 22, 2006.

There are two OL champions: the Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources - Civilian) and the Chief of Military Personnel (CMP). The institution is also supported by a department-wide OL coordinators network (made up of approximately sixty civilian and military personnel) for which the Director of Official Languages is the functional authority. Moreover, the institution has started to revitalize this network by reinforcing coordinators' duties and responsibilities to better align their support role with the recently announced transformation of DND's OL Program.

The two champions and the Director of OL work closely together since the latter is responsible for the implementation of all parts of the Act within DND and the CF. The Director of OL meets regularly with both champions to discuss the status of OL within DND and the CF. The last meeting with the CMP was held on November 27, whereas the last meeting with the Assistant Deputy Minister (HR-Civ) was held on November 29.

B

c) Complaints (5%)

Complaints are received by the Director of OL and handled by an officer who is in charge of coordinating and following up on all complaints. The Assistant Deputy Minister and OL coordinators are also informed of complaints and the managers responsible are personally involved in determining lasting solutions.

Information on complaints is shared with the Management Team and members of the OL Coordinators Network. The latter raise matters of interest with their commanding officer and his or her staff to reduce the impact of systemic problems in a simple and practical manner.

B

Sub-total:

B

Service to the Public - Part IV (25%)

a) Bilingual services advertised to the public and sufficient bilingual staff (3%)

Note: In the Canadian Forces, only the following units provide services to the public: recruitment centres, search and rescue coordination centres and public affairs offices.

Bilingual points of service are advertised in Burolis and in the blue pages of telephone directories. All changes are made as soon as the Director OL has been informed of the change and the correction request has been approved.

A total of 40% of military personnel in bilingual positions serving the public meet the language requirements of their position (Source: 2005-2006 Annual Review of Official Languages).

D

b) Observations on active offer and service delivery (15%)

According to observations of in-person service made by OCOL between mid-June and mid-July 2006, an active visual offer was present in 88% of cases, an active offer by staff was made in 0% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 76% of cases.

According to observations of service on the telephone made by OCOL between mid-June and mid-July 2006, an active offer by staff or by an automated system was made in 95% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 68% of cases

D

c) Service agreements delivered by third parties or in partnership provide for the delivery of bilingual services (2%)

Service contracts are developed in accordance with official language requirements. During the visits he conducted as part of the Project to Review the Linguistic Designation of CF Units, Civilian Positions and Military Functions, the Director of OL raised awareness among commanding officers (or their executive assistants) concerning the requirement of including a clause specifying the obligation of third parties to provide services in both OL, where required. To that end, an effective mechanism to ensure the compliance of third party service delivery must still be developed, since compliance relies on awareness.

The contracting authority is responsible for monitoring the quality of services provided in both OL. Internal complaints brought to the attention of the OL Coordinator or the Director of OL are the only factors that could serve as control mechanisms.

B

d) Policy on service to the public and bilingual services quality monitoring (5%)

Now that the first phase of the Project to Review the Linguistic Designation of CF Units, Civilian Positions and Military Functions is in the process of being completed, employees of the Director of OL are working on determining the responsibilities for the implementation of the OL Program and of a policy framework which will take into account the requirements for communications with and service to the public. The Framework is expected to be implemented by December 31, 2007, and will be announced through a general message (CANFORGEN) addressed to all DND/CF personnel, which will help raise personnel's awareness of the language of communications with and service to the public.

Until then, the Director of OL will continue providing instructions to personnel through a draft directive reiterating the obligations regarding the use of official languages for communications with and service to the public.

D

Sub-total:

D

Language of Work - Part V (25%)

a) Language of work policy and adequate bilingual supervision (12.5%)

As with the Framework for Communications With and Service to the Public, the Language of Work Framework will cover all requirements regarding language of work. A directive is expected to be available to all personnel by December 31, 2007. It will be announced via a general message (CANFORGEN), which will help raise personnel's awareness of the rights and obligations related to language of work.

Until then, the Director of OL will continue providing instructions to personnel through a draft directive reiterating the obligations regarding language of work. Members of the office of the Director of OL are touring bases and units for liaison purposes to promote OL in the workplace.

There are tools to facilitate the use of both OL in the workplace, such as posters in conference rooms reminding people of their right to use the OL of their choice, and the Director of OL's calendar, which is distributed to all personnel and includes key messages on the importance of using OL in the workplace. In addition, over the last year, more than $24 million were allocated to personnel language training and more than $16 million were allocated to translation services to promote the use of both OL.

For the CF as a whole, 33% of military personnel with supervisory functions in bilingual positions meet the language requirements of their position (Source: 2005-2006 Annual Review of Official Languages).

D

b) Use of each official language in the workplace (12.5%)

The Project to Review the Linguistic Designation of CF Units, Civilian Positions and Military Functions, which is still ongoing, is one of the pillars of the transformation of the OL Program within DND/CF and it contributes to the creation of a respectful workplace. Progress made by this project has been reported in an article published in April 2006 in the CF newspaper, The Maple Leaf (Canadian Forces Personnel Newsletter), on the CF website and internally through weekly press clippings. The purpose was to raise personnel awareness regarding the use of both official languages in the workplace and the new OL Program management methodology in the units.

Under the Official Languages Awareness and Education Program, members of the office of the Director of OL have given presentations in bilingual bases and units on the language of work to remind managers of their obligations and personnel of their rights regarding language of work.

Management Committee meetings are conducted in both OL, as is the meeting of the Human Resources Management Team, which is chaired by the Assistant Deputy Minister (HR-Civ).

The survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of OCOL showed that overall, 39% of Francophone respondents in bilingual units in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario (National Capital Region excluded), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the NCR "strongly agreed" or "mostly agreed" with the language of work regime. In Quebec (NCR excluded), 84% of Anglophone respondents "strongly agreed" or "mostly agreed" with the language of work regime.

C

Specific Problem

The lack of a sufficient number of bilingual military supervisors and military members capable of providing central and personal services in both languages adversely affects the creation of a workplace that is conducive to the effective use of both official languages.

Sub-total:

E

Equitable Participation  - Part VI (10%)

a) Percentage of Francophone participation throughout Canada (5%)

Overall, Francophones account for 27.4% and Anglophones account for 72.6% of the CF staff (Source: 2005-2006 Annual Review of Official Languages). (Note: The CF adopted a national representation model in the early 1970s to reflect the national demographic statistics. Military members are highly mobile and their workplace normally differs from the region from which they were recruited. Consequently, throughout Canada, the representation of the two official linguistic groups will not correspond to the provincial demographic statistics.)

A

b) Percentage of Anglophone participation in Quebec (5%)

Not applicable. (Use of national data only - see preceding paragraph.)

N/A

Sub-total:

A

Development of Official Language Minority Communities and Promotion of Linguistic Duality - Part  VII (25%)

a) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take into account the development of official language minority communities (12.5%)

There are no permanent mechanisms in place to ensure that strategic planning, and policy and program development take into account the obligation to foster the development of official language minority communities (OLMCs).

As a result, the OL Directorate has developed and given a presentation for senior managers at the Base Commanders' and Base and Wing Chief Warrant Officers' Forum to increase awareness of the Official Languages Program. The presentation included a section on federal institutions' obligations and responsibilities stemming from Part VII of the Act. Outreach activities have also been undertaken in the three environments (Army, Air Force and Navy) to raise their awareness of the Official Languages Program and to reinforce the requirement to integrate the needs of OLMCs into strategic planning, and policy and program development.

OL coordinators at all levels of the organization regularly work with OLMCs in the areas around military bases. The linguistic minorities on the military bases are referred to local minority language groups through various social activities, such as the St-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations, which were held at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick in 2006.

The OL Directorate also developed a presentation asking personnel to focus on the needs of communities in terms of Part VII of the Act. This presentation was distributed to the OL coordinators, who actively disseminated the message within their command sector to ensure that greater attention is paid to the needs of linguistic minority communities.

The CF have not begun reviewing their policies and programs to identity those that have an impact on the development of OLMCs.

Military Family Resource Centres compile and maintain records on local linguistic minority infrastructure and businesses. This positive measure facilitates access to health, legal, and educational services by members of the official language minority community on the base in their language of choice. It contributes to the development of local OLMCs, as well as those on the bases, by maintaining links that help sustain and develop the infrastructure and businesses required for their sustainability and development.

The senior management of the CF has not discussed how to take the needs of OLMC into account.

No process has been initiated to develop an action plan for the development of OLMCs and no thought has been given on how to measure results.

C

b) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take linguistic duality into account (12.5%)

There are no permanent mechanisms to ensure that strategic planning and policy and program development take into account the obligation to promote linguistic duality.

The OL Directorate has developed an information session, which was held at the Base Commanders' and Base and Wing Chief Warrant Officers' Forum, in order to inform senior managers of their duties and responsibilities under Part VII of the Act. There is nothing to indicate that discussions took place in that regard.

Outreach activities, such as symposia, briefings and meetings, have been undertaken in the three environments (Army, Air Force and Navy) to inform persons who have a role in the implementation of Part VII that strategic planning and policy and program development must take into account the obligation to promote linguistic duality. The OL coordinators network is responsible for putting in place the initiatives required to achieve this objective, based on local needs and resources.

The Forces have not begun reviewing their policies and programs to identify those that have an impact on the advancement of the equal status and use of English and French.

As an example of a positive measure, the Royal Military College regularly alternates between both official languages, through its “language of the week” initiative. Thus, for the first two weeks of the month, French is used and spoken, while English is the language of choice for the rest of the month. The language of the week is clearly indicated in the student cafeteria to ensure the highest possible participation rate. In Valcartier, a French-language immersion program with local Francophone families is offered to Anglophone residents of the base so that they can increase their knowledge and use of their second language. In Petawawa, a second-language training program is offered to military spouses at the base to help them integrate more successfully in the community and acquire a second language.

No process has been initiated to develop an action plan to promote linguistic duality, and no thought has been given on how to measure results.

D

Sub-total:

C

OVERALL RATING

D