Management

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

An official languages (OL) accountability framework describing the roles and responsibilities of the deputy minister, the official languages champion, and other employees responsible for the implementation of the Official Languages Act was approved by the members of the Transport Canada Executive Committee (TMX). This framework was distributed to all Transport Canada (TC) employees on June 30, 2005, and is also available on the Intranet site.

The framework sets out mechanisms and identifies individuals responsible for ensuring that the Department's activities under Parts IV to VI of the Act are fully and effectively coordinated with the planning and that they take into account TC's linguistic obligations, including Part VII.

Each year, members of Transport Canada's Executive Committee (TMX) approve departmental OL priorities as part of the Department's OL strategy. Following approval of the objectives, each responsibility centre manager is then required to self-assess his or her organization's performance by completing a detailed self assessment guide. The guide is an assessment tool developed by TC. A copy of the responsibility centre's results to date and of proposed corrective actions is sent to the regional Director General (RDG) or sectoral Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) concerned. The roll-up of the corrective measures that must be undertaken for the next year, with measurable activities and deadlines, remains with the RDG's or ADM's office, and is monitored there, rather than centrally from the national OL office in Human Resources. The sum of these roll-ups of all corrective actions is what constitutes the regional or sectoral OL action plan each year. The departmental action plan is comprised of the individual plans for each branch. The head of each branch closely monitors the progress of the activities set out in the branch's plan.

For its part, the national OL office submits the Department's consolidated results achieved to the Department's Deputy Minister for approval in the form of the Annual Review of OL. The Annual Review is then distributed to all members of TC's Executive Committee and a message is sent to all employees inviting them to consult the document on the Intranet.

The deputy minister holds senior managers responsible for implementing the departmental OL strategy by including commitments in the accountability agreements of TMX members and making the departmental implementation of sectoral/regional plans a collective responsibility of the TMX. The TMX annually reviews the OL strategy.

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

Since 2003, OL have become increasingly visible at Transport Canada. For example, in 2005 Transport Canada moved the OL site on its Intranet to the home page.

The 2004-2005 Departmental Performance Report discussed TC'S OL Program, as did the 2005-2006 Report on Plans and Priorities.

The internal audit cycle targets OL approximately every five years. The Department does not include OL in the other internal audits. In 2005-2006, TC's national OL office conducted a follow-up of the telephone service spot-checks conducted by the Department the previous year. The results will be shared with TMX in early 2006. Furthermore, in 2005, Consulting and Audit Canada (CAC) conducted a language assessment of the Intranet and Internet sites to ensure that the quality and content of TC's English and French Web sites are equal, in order to make ongoing improvements.

The champion, a regional DG, is part of the TMX and has solid support from the Deputy Minister on OL issues. In addition to times when OL are formally included in the agenda (twice since January 2005), the TMX discusses OL on a regular basis.

A regional OL champion was appointed for Quebec Region, and Ontario Region will be appointing one in coming weeks to increase visibility and guide the implementation of regional OL objectives.

For now, TMX provides coordination between Parts IV, V, VI and Part VII. There is an ongoing dialogue between the champion and functional OL authorities on all OL matters, and they are in regular contact with the person in charge of Part VII. Under the Official Languages Accountability Framework, the departmental OL champion "provides leadership to ensure that OL obligations are taken into account in all TMX decisions."

c) Complaints (5%)

Transport Canada has a good OL complaints management system. Complaints received from OCOL are reviewed and forwarded to the responsible director general with a copy to the appropriate ADM. The manager concerned, in consultation with the advisor in the regional human resources office and the national OL officer, determines the measures that will be taken to rectify the situation and ensure that it does not recur. The OL officer does regular follow-up until the corrective measures are applied.

There are mechanisms for building on lessons learned. Twice each year, the national OL office analyzes complaints by region and by program/sector. It shares this analysis with the champion, who raises the issue at TMX meetings, if necessary, or individually with the Branch head concerned. In 2005-2006, mandatory information sessions on OL, dealing also with language of work, were provided in several sectors of the Department where OL have been most problematic.

For years, there has been a systemic problem with OL at TC concerning the Department's failure to guarantee that safety information and instructions are available in both languages at all times on board commercial flights. OCOL considers this problem to be serious.

Service to the public - Part IV

a) Bilingual services advertised to the public and sufficient bilingual staff (4%)

TC provides a wide range of services, some of it to a limited clientele whose language preference is known. The telephone numbers of all offices are listed in the Blue Pages of telephone directories. Bilingual offices are also listed in BUROLIS.

87% of incumbents of positions that are bilingual for service to the public meet the language requirements of their position. (Source: Position and Classification Information System (PCIS), March 31, 2005)

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

According to observations of in-person service made by OCOL in the fall of 2005, active visual offer to the public was present in 82% of cases, active offer by staff was made in 27% of cases, while service in the language of the linguistic minority was adequate in 82% of cases.

According to observations of service on the telephone made by the OCOL in the fall of 2005, 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 92% of cases.

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

TC contracts now contain a language clause that the Department developed. TC has also drafted a policy on service delivery by third parties. Since January 2006, the policy has been part of the departmental Procurement and Materiel Management Guide. The different courses that deal with contracts were updated to reflect the new policy. Also, all TC managers and employees were informed about the new policy through the Department's employee information bulletin Inside TC.

Although neither the Department auditor nor the OL Directorate is currently overseeing the implementation of the policy, a memo specifying contractors' OL responsibilities was sent to all supervisors and managers in December 2005. Local management is therefore responsible for monitoring compliance with the linguistic obligations described in the contract. TC includes a new pamphlet on contractors' OL responsibilities with all the contracts issued on a national basis.

d) Bilingual services quality monitoring (4%)

Employees are now reminded at least once a year of their responsibility to greet the public and provide service of equal quality in both OL. Similarly, in departmental newsletters, TC produces communiqués to employees about the importance of providing services of equal quality in both OL. Policies, guidelines, guides and other work tools are available to employees. New employees are given an overview of the Official Languages Program as part of their orientation. In addition, the basic TC management course includes a component on official languages for managers.

In 2005, the deputy minister sent a written reminder to managers about the importance of having sufficient bilingual capacity at all designated bilingual offices in order to ensure that service of equal quality is available at all times in both official languages. It also asked them to record in the human resources information system all positions that provide service to the public and are located in a designated bilingual office.

In 2005, Consulting and Audit Canada (CAC) conducted a language assessment of the Intranet and Internet sites to ensure that the quality and content of TC's English and French Web sites are equal, in order to make ongoing improvements. The departmental Web management council presented the results of the departmental assessment to groups, sectors and regions.

Like last year, the departmental official languages unit carried out an in-house audit of telephone service to the public at their 106 points of bilingual service. During these calls, the addresses of the service points were verified, and the necessary changes were made to BUROLIS.

Ontario Region (which had poor results during the 2004 telephone audit conducted by the national OL office) conducted a regional follow-up telephone audit to ensure that the corrective measures identified in 2004 had been implemented. Then, in early 2005, this region provided employees who serve the public with training on making an active offer and providing service in the client's OL of choice. The Region is planning to repeat this exercise in the fall, if necessary.

Language of work - Part V

a) Adequate bilingual supervision and language of work policy (12.5%)

88% of executives holding bilingual positions are bilingual, while 82% of supervisors in bilingual regions meet the language requirements of their position. (Source: Position and Classification Information System (PCIS), March 31, 2005)

The current language of work policy is essentially the same as that of the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada, except that it includes guidelines specific to the Department's initiatives and circumstances. The policies, guidelines, reports, and work tools are posted on the Intranet.

There are a number of support measures for the language of work policy: text revision services are available in both OL in each sector; new employees are given the brochure "Simply a Matter of Respect," which describes employees' OL rights and responsibilities (this publication is also available on their Intranet site); and new employees are asked their language of preference for written correspondence. The Department is currently working on a departmental language development program in the National Capital Region (NCR). In 2006, it will begin offering language training courses through a private supplier, in addition to the training offered by the Canada School of the Public Service.

Furthermore, in the NCR, where more than 50% of Transport Canada employees work, workshops were offered and tools were developed (supervision, work tools, instructions for oral and written communications, as well as meetings and conferences) to help create a bilingual work environment. To date, some 20 workshops have been offered and close to 500 managers and employees have participated.

b) Establishment of an environment conducive to both official languages (12.5%)

In order to create a work environment that is conducive to the use of both official languages, employees continually receive memos on this subject. For example, in 2005, all employees received questions and answers about their language of work obligations when communicating with employees in bilingual and unilingual regions. Notices/reminders are published five or six times a year in Inside TC, TC Express and on the What's New page of the Intranet site to provide employees with information about their roles, rights and responsibilities regarding OL. New employees are given an overview of the OL Program. Similarly, the basic TC management course includes a component on OL for managers; in other management courses that cover the Department's mandate and policies, it is pointed out that OL is a departmental priority. The champion has met with the management committees of the Policy Group and the Safety and Security Group to discuss the OL situation in their groups as well as the implementation of the OL strategy.

Other measures used to remind employees of their rights include: posters on bilingual meetings and cards with common expressions to use during bilingual meetings/teleconferences in all meeting rooms; a workshop providing practical tools for chairing effective bilingual meetings; as well as a number of new promotional items (pins, felt-tip pens with the OL logo, etc.).

Mandatory information sessions on OL were held in 2005-2006 in several sectors of the Department where OL have been most problematic. These sessions were intended to increase organizational awareness and learning regarding OL, including language of work. The Department started work on the official language quality management system pilot project between the Quebec Region's Safety and Security Group and the same Group in the NCR. The purpose of the project is to improve use of OL and improve communication between Anglophones and Francophones in bilingual regions. In 2005-2006, the Technology and Information Management Services Directorate will also be participating in this project.

The Deputy Minister actively encourages members of the TMX to use both official languages at Executive Committee meetings, and both are used.

As a monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the OL policy, the Department used a survey to assess the satisfaction of all employees vis-à-vis central services, including the availability of these services in the employee's OL of choice. As the theme of the survey was only central services, it did not include elements such as bilingual supervision, availability of professional training in the employee's language of choice, or other factors related to creating a workplace conducive to the use of both OL. The survey results will be presented to the TMX by the end of fiscal year 2005-2006. Apart from this survey, however, there do not appear to be any other monitoring tools used by management to help ensure the creation of an environment conducive to the use of both OL.

Equitable participation - Part VI

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

Francophones account for 30.2% of TC's workforce as a whole. (Source: PCIS, March 31, 2005)

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

Anglophones account for 7.2% of TC's workforce in Quebec. (Source: PCIS, March 31, 2005)

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

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

All members of the TMX are responsible for ensuring that Treasury Board submissions and Cabinet memoranda issued by their program include an assessment of the impact of the program proposal or change on official language minority communities.

In early 2005-2006, a director (in the policy sector) was designated to monitor compliance with Part VII. His project this year was to develop an internal plan for Part VII, even though the institution is not on the list of designated organizations that must report to the Department of Canadian Heritage. However, the position became vacant in October 2005, and a replacement had just been named in early February 2006. The Department expects the plan to be implemented for 2006-2007. TC has not yet consulted with OL minority groups, but it may plan to do so in its Part VII action plan.

TC claims that it is aware of the Communications Policy and the Department confirmed that it ensures equivalent OL media are part of any media plan submitted to PWGSC for approval.

Currently, creating employee awareness of official language minority community needs only occurs around service to the public and as part of ensuring that staffing competitions take into account official language minority communities in their area of selection.

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

In the past, Transport Canada did not consider promotion of linguistic duality in its Treasury Board submissions and Cabinet memoranda. Now, the Official Languages Accountability Framework stipulates that the Department will take linguistic duality into account when preparing these documents. The TMX members are individually responsible for actively advancing the equal status of English and French in Canada during operational planning and organizational policy development. This document also states that the TC headquarters policy sector is responsible for providing advice and recommendations to senior executives and managers on issues surrounding advancement of English and French in Canadian society.

Within TC, promotion of the equal status of both languages is beginning to occur nationwide, often with the aid of the regional federal councils. For example, the Regional Director General of Transport Canada, Pacific Region, has taken on the role of Pacific Federal Council OL champion for this fiscal year.

Twice a year, during Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie and National Public Service Week, the Department organizes activities that promote linguistic duality, such as crossword games with prizes. A number of new promotional items (i.e. pins, felt-tip pens with the OL logo, etc.) are used to promote linguistic duality within the Department.

The new internal action plan for Part VII will include even more activities to advance linguistic duality.

OVERALL RATING