Management (15%)

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

Note: Of the more than 23,000 people who work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), about one-fifth are federal public servants who fall under the Public Service Employment Act. However, only employees hired under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act (i.e., regular members and civilian members, not public servants) are the subject of this assessment exercise, including the statistics.

The RCMP has not yet drawn up a document describing the roles and responsibilities of the various players responsible for official languages (OL). It also does not have a document setting out how these obligations are to be fulfilled (e.g., specifying organizational structures or coordinating processes) that management could use to ensure OL are integrated into ongoing operations. However, the OL Directorate (OLD) expects an accountability framework that will do so to be in place by April 1, 2007.

The RCMP does have an OL action plan that was approved by the previous RCMP Commissioner and his deputies in the form of a directive sent out by him in August 2006. It contains a series of objectives linked to Parts IV and V of the Official Languages Act (the Act) and mandatory timelines. A letter was sent to managers at the end of February 2007 asking them to report their results to the Deputy Commissioner of Human Resources in relation to these objectives for 2006-2007 so they could be included in the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency (PSHRMAC) 2006-2007 Annual Review on Official Languages.

At the present time there is no monitoring by senior management of progress on the OL plan, in the form of, for example, regular discussions on the action plan by senior management committees, regular meetings between the OL Champion and all managers responsible for implementing the plan, or regular written reports to the Senior Executive Committee (SEC) about OL achievements.

However, management has put a mechanism in place to measure managers' contact with official language minority community (OLMC) representatives under the Detachment Performance Review (DPR). The DPR is a computerized balanced scorecard that tracks organizational performance, and the updated electronic version of this system, incorporating new OL indicators, was rolled out across the country in March 2007. This system makes OLMC consultations a mandatory part of the tracking process for managers at the detachment commander level and above and will allow superiors to determine how well their subordinates are meeting some of the OL objectives the force has set itself.

C

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

OL do not figure explicitly in the RCMP's written strategic plan. However, as noted above, the previous commissioner sent out a directive to all senior managers in August 2006 outlining the five specific measures that constitute the force's OL Action Plan. Because of this directive and the link it created between OL and performance pay, the visibility of OL has increased significantly within the RCMP's management.

The RCMP's Report on Plans and Priorities for 2006-2007 and 2005-2006 Performance Report do not explicitly include OL objectives.

The RCMP's Internal Audit Group does not yet include OL in its audits. The timing and subject matter of internal audits are based on risk management principles. The last audit that examined OL was conducted in 2003 and concerned the bilingualism bonus; however, the RCMP uses the results of audits carried out by external organizations, such as the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) in 2006 and PSHRMAC (carried out recently in British Columbia, Alberta and the Atlantic Region).

While not a frequent subject, OL are discussed at meetings of the Commissioner and her deputies, as needed. Normally though, OL are dealt with by management committees below the SEC level.

The Deputy Commissioner of Human Resources is the OL Champion. She reports directly to the Commissioner and is a member of the SEC, which meets once or twice a month. The Director of OL reports directly to one of the other two OL Co-Champions, and all three work closely together to keep the Deputy Commissioner up to date on all OL matters. This framework allows for both top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top coordination on OL within the organization. At present, the RCMP's efforts to coordinate its obligations under Part VII with those of the other parts of the Act are quite recent, as it continues to determine what the November 2005 amendments to the Act mean for the institution. It should be noted, however, that when the amendments were made to the Act, a full-time policy analyst was hired to coordinate the RCMP's new responsibilities under Part VII.

C

c) Complaints (5%)

There is a mechanism in place to deal with the complaints filed with OCOL: the national OL policy centre receives all complaints from OCOL and addresses those it considers to be systemic or to affect the institution on a national level; otherwise, they are referred to the regional OL officer in question, who works with the specific unit or units involved to resolve the issue. Most routine complaints are resolved by the responsible supervisor in cooperation with the regional OL coordinator. The regional OL officer, who is a senior manager, is made aware of all complaints within his or her region and intervenes when necessary. Information about the nature of complaints and the measures taken to resolve them is not sent to SEC members.

For the past year, the OLD has regularly shared best practices and challenges it has encountered while resolving complaints with the Regional Official Languages Co-ordinators' (ROLC) network and the Regional Official Languages Officers' (ROLO) network to avoid similar situations from occurring again.

The annual meeting between the ROLC and the ROLO with the Director of OL and her Ottawa staff is another opportunity to share information about problems and systemic complaints. The annual meeting is complemented by videoconferences or teleconferences several times a year during which information is also shared.

B

Sub-total:

C

Service to the Public - Part IV (25%)

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

The public is aware of the RCMP's bilingual services through Burolis and its listings in the blue pages of local telephone directories.

A total of 88% of employees in bilingual positions serving the public meet the language requirements of their position. (Source: 2005-2006 Annual Review on Official Languages, Table 3, July 2006.)

B

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 79% of cases, an active offer by staff was made in 14% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 56% 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 54% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 58% of cases.

E

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

Contracts or agreements with third parties include clauses that clearly set out the language obligations with which the third party must comply. However, no systematic monitoring mechanism has been put in place to ensure adequate quality of service is indeed provided in both languages.

C

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

The RCMP has a formal policy on bilingual service to the public that sets out requirements in regards to communications and service delivery. Currently, employees who provide bilingual service to the public are not consistently informed on how to offer and deliver services in both OL. However, by the end of the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the OLD was expected to have developed a mandatory on-line course for the commanders and front-line staff of bilingual detachments about active offer and services in both OL.

Since 2004-2005, the RCMP's Strategic Policy and Planning Branch has conducted annual surveys, usually in February, of the RCMP's non-policing partners, for example, local community associations, minority language associations, and federal and provincial government partners, to monitor their level of satisfaction with the force's services. The 2006-2007 survey once again includes a question about language of service in order to obtain feedback from OLMCs on the force's compliance with the Act.

C

Sub-total:

D

Language of Work - Part V (25%)

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

The RCMP has a policy that specifies the rights and obligations related to language of work. Most of the support for this policy is in place, such as language training and editing and revision services. As a corporate entity, the RCMP has provided for and confirmed its budget commitment for language training so that designated employees can receive the language training they need. The OLD provides information sessions on language of work upon request.

A total of 86% of supervisors in bilingual regions who must supervise employees in both OL are able to do so. (Source: Data from the Annual Review on Official Languages and the Official Languages Information System [OLIS II], March 31, 2006).

B

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

The RCMP did not provide examples of reminders sent to employees and managers about managers' language of work obligations, nor of employees' rights regarding the language of work policy. However, changes to the DPR process are expected to have a positive impact in terms of creating work environments that are more conducive to the use of both OL in the workplace.

Executive committee meetings are not regularly held in both languages.

In order to monitor the implementation of its language of work policy, the OLD uses a human resources database, as well as other relevant linguistic data, to monitor the bilingual capacity of the RCMP's supervisors and managers. This indirectly helps management determine whether or not workplaces are conducive to the effective use of both OL.

The survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of OCOL showed that 66% of Francophone respondents in the National Capital Region, New Brunswick, and bilingual regions of Ontario “strongly agreed” or “mostly agreed” with the language of work policy. In Quebec, 70% of Anglophone respondents “strongly agreed” or “mostly agreed” with the language of work policy.

E

Sub-total:

D

Equitable Participation  - Part VI (10%)

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

Overall, the workforce is 18.0% Francophone. (Source: OLIS II, March 31, 2006.)

A

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

In Quebec, the workforce is 12.6% Anglophone. (Source: OLIS II, March 31, 2006.)

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%)

Since his arrival in June 2006, the Part VII policy analyst has been working on developing a formal mechanism to ensure that the RCMP's implementation of its programs takes into account their impact on the economic and social development of OLMCs. Since July 2006, the implications of Part VII have been taken into account when drawing up most Cabinet documents and Treasury Board submissions.

The Director of OL, the co-champions and the OL Champion have begun raising awareness among the RCMP's senior management about their obligations as a result of the amendments to the Act in 2005. They have ensured that certain policy development centres, such as the National Youth Strategy, have begun to take Part VII into consideration. In November 2006, the Part VII policy analyst made a presentation to all criminal operations officers (the second-in-command to divisional, i.e., provincial, commanding officers), and in January 2007 he began establishing a partnership with the National Staffing and Recruitment Services to incorporate Part VII into the force's recruitment policy, plans and procedures. Moreover, in June 2006, the Director of OL made a presentation to the Champion's Human Resources Management Committee about the amendments to the Act. This committee includes senior human resources managers and regional Human Resources Officers (HROs). As a follow-up to this meeting, it was decided that the OLD would chair an internal committee of HROs to further advance the implementation of the force's responsibilities under Part VII. Nonetheless, because of the size of the RCMP, the majority of sector or program management committees (i.e., those headed by an assistant commissioner or equivalent) have not yet been exposed to this awareness campaign.

As already noted, the Part VII policy analyst is responsible for helping the Human Resources Management Committee implement the new requirements under Part VII. He has also been identified at the national level as a future liaison with OLMC national representatives and advocacy groups. Although at the present time there is no liaison with OLMC representatives at the national level, such liaison has occurred at the local level for some time. Managers are now being evaluated explicitly on their outreach efforts to OLMCs. The RCMP's ongoing liaison with local OLMCs across Canada is aimed at meeting the specific needs of these communities. Through its community policing initiatives, the RCMP conducts consultations with most communities at the regional level (e.g., mayors and town councils of Francophone municipalities). As already noted, the DPR specifically targets OLMCs.

The OLD has opted to take a staged approach towards raising awareness and training staff involved in designing and developing national policies and programs. This involves building outward from the OLD to specific audiences. The OLD has identified a list of sectors within the institution for the first stage of the awareness plan, which will begin in 2006-2007. This includes the national recruitment policy centre—so that the force's recruitment processes will eventually reach all of the country's OLMCs—and, as already mentioned, the employees of the National Youth Strategy group and the divisional criminal operations offices. These efforts alone will help RCMP employees begin to take Part VII into account when working in communities across the country and will ultimately have an impact on the members of OLMCs.

Beyond determining how section 41 could be linked to youth and youth crime, which is one of the force's five main strategic priorities, and recruitment, the RCMP has not yet begun reviewing its existing policies and programs to determine which ones may have an impact on OLMCs. It has also not begun developing an action plan or thinking about how it will evaluate its efforts to enhance the development of OLMCs in the regions.

C

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

As stated previously, the Part VII policy analyst has been working on developing a formal mechanism to ensure that the RCMP's program implementation consciously takes into account its obligation to promote the equal status and use of English and French. Since July 2006, the implications of Part VII have been taken into account when drawing up most Cabinet documents and Treasury Board submissions.

Senior management has been made aware of the organization's new obligations under Part VII and have designated a Part VII co-ordinator (the OLD's Part VII policy analyst), who will eventually become a national liaison between the RCMP and relevant organizations. However, below the senior management level, less progress has been made in raising awareness among employees at headquarters about the need to promote the equality of status of English and French. Similarly, the RCMP has not yet begun reviewing its policies and programs to determine their impact on the promotion of the equality of English and French.

The RCMP has taken a number of positive measures in the past year to foster the full recognition and use of both OL, both internally and in Canadian society. For example, the OLD has created several Web pages on internal and external web sites that promote the equality of both OL. In addition, the autumn edition of the Quarterly/la Trimestrielle, which is widely read by current and former RCMP employees across the country, contained a detailed article on OL. The RCMP Gazette, which is sent to police forces all across Canada, also had an article on the subject, and articles on OL also appeared in internal publications such as the Pony Express. As a result, it can be said that the RCMP is taking measures to promote the equal status of English and French in Canadian society.

Another example of a positive measure is the RCMP Academy, Depot Division, where French-speaking and English-speaking recruits are brought together for an extensive basic training, thereby giving them a chance to interact with cadets who speak the other official language. As well, the force employs bilingual staff in numerous French-speaking countries, such as Haiti, Somalia, and Côte d'Ivoire, thereby providing advice and assistance to the national police forces there and reinforcing Canada's bilingual image on an international level.

The RCMP celebrates Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. It also clearly projects a bilingual image to Canadians through its uniforms and signage on its physical assets (e.g., police cruisers and buildings).

The RCMP has not yet started developing an action plan to promote linguistic duality.

C

Sub-total:

C

OVERALL RATING

D