Official Languages Program Management (15%)

Rating

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has a three-year action plan for official languages, which was approved by the RCMP commissioner and assistant commissioners in January 2008. The plan contains objectives related to Parts IV, V and VII of the Official Languages Act, and sets forth targeted timelines. Many of the plan’s initiatives are under way. Some, such as the review of bilingual capacity, the second-language training and evaluation program for members and the official languages awareness and education campaign, will produce medium- and long-term results in response to difficulties involving various parts of the Act.

On December 8, 2008, the RCMP implemented a new second-language training program for Francophone members entering the Field Coaching Program. This initiative of the action plan was implemented sooner than originally planned in response to a recommendation of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages that new members should achieve level C for oral interaction before being placed in a position where the language of work is different from their first official language. Other initiatives were deferred in response to this change of course.

The RCMP has begun reviewing its linguistic capacity, starting with Federal and International Operations. This is taking place in cooperation with the official languages directorate, and will lead to the development of a process that will be implemented across the RCMP. The Guide on the Linguistic Identification of Positions and a related presentation were developed for the purpose of this review. The RCMP also reviewed its non-imperative staffing and exclusion practices.

Although measures are being adopted, the RCMP must intensify its efforts and actions to improve its capacity to offer services of quality in both official languages at all times, make its workplace conducive to the use of English and French and be more instrumental in fostering linguistic duality and the development of official language minority communities (OLMCs).

Senior management is kept informed of the progress being made in achieving the plan’s goals through director and director general meetings, senior executive committee meetings, national work planning conferences, briefing notes to senior management, discussions with the champion and co-champion, and meetings called by assistant commissioners and the commissioner himself if clarification is required.

Following the audit by the Office of the Commissioner on the delivery of direct health care services to the RCMP, six recommendations were made in July 2007. An action plan was presented by the RCMP and commented on by the Office of the Commissioner. The RCMP responded to the recommendations by implementing various measures aimed at remedying the situation, including the identification of cadets’ preferred language upon enrolment. A follow-up on this audit will be undertaken in 2009, at which time a more in-depth analysis will be conducted.

Information about complaints is provided quickly to the Office of the Commissioner. The RCMP asks its official languages coordinators to provide information to the Office of the Commissioner regarding specific regional complaints. The RCMP does not encourage access to managers involved in a complaint that is received by the Office of the Commissioner. The complaint follow-up is handled diligently and in a timely manner.

C

Service to the Public – Part IV of the Official Languages Act (30%)

According to observations of service in person made by the Office of the Commissioner between June and December 2008, an active visual offer was present in 65% of cases, an active offer by staff was made in 6% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was available in 60% of cases.

According to observations of service on the telephone made by the Office of the Commissioner between June and December 2008, an active offer by staff or by an automated system was made in 100% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was available in 73% of cases.

According to observations of service by e-mail made by the Office of the Commissioner between September and December 2008, the availability of service is comparable for both linguistic groups 90% of the time, and benefits Francophones 10% of the time. With regard to the average response times, they are comparable for both linguistic groups.

C

Language of Work – Part V of the Official Languages Act (25%)

The survey conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of the Office of the Commissioner showed that, overall, 65% of Francophone respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR), New Brunswick and the bilingual regions of Ontario "strongly agreed" or "mostly agreed" with the language of work regime. In Quebec, 68% of Anglophone respondents were of the same opinion.

For both categories of respondents, the satisfaction rate by question is presented below.

D

Participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians – Part VI of the Official Languages Act (10%)

Overall, the workforce is 17.1% Francophone.

In Quebec, excluding the NCR, the workforce is 13.5% Anglophone.

(Source: OLIS II, March 31, 2008)

A

Development of Official Language Minority Communities and Promotion of Linguistic Duality – Part VII of the Official Languages Act (20%)

Through submissions to Treasury Board, which contain a clause on the impact on OLMCs, the RCMP reviews the potential effects of implementing new programs. The RCMP also consults OLMCs in regions directly affected when offices are consolidated or major workforce changes take place, in order to measure the potential impact on them. For example, consultations were to be held in the Madawaska Victoria area of New Brunswick in spring 2009.

The RCMP, with other government institutions, is taking part in a working group on justice-related files. One of the goals of the group is to develop a survey for the purpose of identifying community needs. The survey is planned for 2009. From this working group stems a subcommittee that includes the RCMP and National Defence (chaired by Justice Canada). The goal of the subcommittee is to determine areas of common interest shared by the two institutions and their related mandates. The RCMP continues to contribute to the Canadian Heritage newsletter Bulletin 41-42, even though it is a non-designated institution.

The RCMP continues to implement initiatives identified in the Office of the Commissioner’s 2007–2008 report card, including the National Youth Officer Program, which aims to raise awareness and educate young people, and is part of the National Youth Strategy. The www.deal.org Web site is also part of this program.

The RCMP demonstrates interest in OLMC activities. For example, it took part in the Jeux de l’Acadie and encouraged its members to volunteer for the occasion. Furthermore, bilingual members of the RCMP have been assigned to various events organized to mark the 250th anniversary of the expulsion of Acadians, at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia.

RCMP members assigned to an OLMC receive a kit designed to help them and their families better integrate into their new community. The kit contains various resources and information in the RCMP member’s preferred language, such as the availability of local family physicians and municipal services.

A Francophone member of the RCMP gave a presentation as part of the launch of the Carrières en justice site of the Association des juristes d’expression française de la Colombie Britannique.

These measures constitute a first step, but must be followed by additional efforts to ensure the RMCP plays a more significant role in the development of OLMCs and the advancement of English and French.

C

Overall Rating

C