Management

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

The Commission does not have an accountability framework setting out all the roles and responsibilities for parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act (OLA). It provides Canadian Heritage with an annual report on the implementation of Part VII of the OLA and an action plan that does not however include specific objectives, deadlines or measures that take account of the needs of the official language minority communities. As well, there are no reporting mechanisms to allow it to assess the progress it has made with respect to official languages (OL). The institution does intend to develop these tools in 2005.

b) Visibility of official languages in the organization

The 2004–2008 strategic plan lays out the CTC's commitment to provide services in accordance with the OLA.

The Senior Vice President, Information, Corporate Secretary and Director of Communications share the role of OL champion. The Corporate Secretary attends meetings of the Board of Directors and of the Management Committee.

The OL Co-ordinator reports to the Communications Director, the other co-champion. The OL are not discussed by the board of directors, but are raised from time to time at the management committee.

The OL are not included in internal audits. Co-ordination for the various parts of the OLA is good, since all the parts are the responsibility of a single person.

c) Complaints

The OL Co-ordinator handles all complaints and responds on behalf of the President. He researches allegations as needed and uses the complaints as an opportunity to educate the parties responsible. Managers have little involvement in the resolution of complaints.

Service to the public - Part IV

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

Services are listed in Burolis but not in the Blue Pages.

While visiting service outlets in the fall of 2004, OCOL representatives noted that Burolis was not up to date, particularly with respect to service outlet 94314.

All communication with the public, whether through the Web site, the 1-800 line or correspondence, is in both OL. The CTC sometimes works with partners in the private sector or other orders of government to conduct promotional campaigns.

b) Findings on active offer and service delivery

According to observations of in-person service made by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in the fall of 2004, there was active visual offer in all cases; active offer by staff was made in all cases, while service in the language of the minority was adequate in all cases.

The telephone service audit conducted by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency showed that staff made an active offer of service 100% of the time, and that bilingual service was available 100% of the time. Because of the small sample size, it was not possible to establish the rate of active offer in voice mail greetings.

c) The service agreements delivered by third parties or in partnership provide for the delivery of bilingual services

The CTC's main clientele is composed of businesses and other stakeholders involved in tourism; the CTC does not deal directly with consumers (potential travelers). Partnership agreements do not include a clause requiring that services be delivered in both OL.

However, the CTC does include a language clause in its advertising contracts in order to encourage its partners to use the minority language press. There are no checks to determine whether its partners observe this encouragement.

d) Bilingual services quality monitoring

There is no formal mechanism to check the quality of bilingual services, although staff are periodically informed of the requirement to provide services in both OL.

Language of work - Part V

a) Adequate bilingual supervision and language of work policy

According to the most recent OL report dated December 31, 2003, 76.0% of supervisors with bilingualism requirements are bilingual.

When the CTC was created in 2001, it developed a basic OL policy that touched very briefly on the need to provide a workplace that is conducive to the effective use of both official languages. The policy is included in the kit given to new employees. There are support measures such as translation, a monthly newsletter that will occasionally raise this issue, linguistic games, etc.

b) Use of each language in the workplace

Managers have not been reminded of their obligations with respect to language of work. Employees were reminded in an internal newsletter in which the President and CEO highlighted the CTC's commitment to comply with the OLA and encouraged employees to exercise their right to work in the language of their choice.

Management committee meetings are held mainly in English, although presentations are sometimes made in French. Meetings of the Board of Directors are held mainly in English, but simultaneous interpretation is always available.

Equitable participation - Part VI

a) Percentage of Francophone participation throughout Canada

According to the most recent data (December 31, 2003) extracted from the OL report, the overall staff of the CTC in Canada, most of whom are in the NCR, is made up 53.4% of Francophones.

b) Percentage of Anglophone participation in Quebec

There are no offices in Quebec.

N/A

Development of minority language communities and promotion of linguistic duality - Part VII

a) Percentage of Francophone participation throughout Canada
a) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take into account the development of minority language communities

Since 2002, the CTC has been providing Canadian Heritage with reports on the implementation of Part VII of the OLA and an action plan for 2001–2006. However, the action plan does not contain objectives with deadlines or clear measures that take account of particular needs of the official language minority communities.

The OL co-ordinator attends meetings of the network of coordinators responsible for the implementation of section 41, and CTC officials would be in contact with tourism industry partners, including representatives from the official language minority communities.

The President and CEO organized a series of round tables on tourism in order to meet with various stakeholders in the tourism industry and find out about their concerns. However, no specific steps were taken by the CTC to include representatives from official language minority communities, although it is possible that some attended these meetings.

The institution confirms that corporate advertising is always done in both official languages. Advertising done with partners is not always done in both official languages, since this kind of advertising is chosen by the partner according to the target audience. However, the CTC always encourages its partners to place advertising in the media of both languages. The CTC is planning to develop a communications policy, which will include the issues of official languages and responsibilities towards the official language minority communities.

An electronic newsletter is now sent each month to employees and this subject will be addressed from time to time.

The CTC supports partnership projects from minority communities as long as these initiatives meet the criteria of the programs involved. However, there are no specific measures to target these communities or support their development.

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

The CTC is one of the institutions required to submit a plan and annual reports to Canadian Heritage with respect to the implementation of section 41 of the OLA. However, these documents hardly mention promoting Canada's linguistic duality.

The institution supported the hosting of the IV Games of La Francophonie and handed out the "Event of the Year" Montfort Award to the Festival international de la chanson de Granby to mark its contribution to the next generation of Francophone songwriters. No examples of internal activities involving the promotion of linguistic duality were provided.

OVERALL RATING