ARCHIVED - VIA Rail Canada 2004-2005
The Standard on Web Usability replaces this content. This content is archived because Common Look and Feel 2.0 Standards have been rescinded.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
2004-2005 Fact Sheet
Factors and criteria | Summary of substantiating data | Rating |
---|---|---|
Management | No accountability framework, action plan, or management accountability mechanism is in place for OL. | ![]() |
b) Visibility of official languages in the organization | Official languages are not part of strategic documents. | ![]() |
c) Complaints | OCOL complaints are sent directly to the OL co-ordinator and subsequently involve the responsible manager. Until the recent creation of the internal cross-functional OL committee, there was no mechanism in place to ensure organizational learning happened so that OL complaints could be prevented from re-occurring. | ![]() |
Service to the public - Part IV | VIA's 74 bilingual points of service (train stations and bilingual routes) are listed in Burolis. On the trains, bilingual employees wear a pin identifying themselves as bilingual. VIA has a bilingual 1-800 number that is published nationally in the White Pages. | ![]() ![]() |
b) Findings on active offer and service delivery | According to observations on in-person service made by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in the fall of 2004, overall, active visual offer to the public was present in 75.0% of cases, active offer by staff was made in 33.3% of cases, while service in the language of the minority was adequate in 58.3% of cases. However, for routes on the eastern "triangle" i.e., the Montréal–Ottawa–Toronto route combinations, OCOL's observations confirmed 100% for each of the three criteria verified. | ![]() |
c) The service agreements delivered by third parties or in partnership provide for the delivery of bilingual services | Contracts contain the bilingualism requirement and the Contracting Division is responsible for policing contracts. However, VIA acknowledges that there is an ongoing problem with unilingual concessionaires in the one station that VIA still owns, the one in Ottawa (i.e., unilingual signage and employees), which VIA has not fully resolved, despite training given by VIA's OL Director. | ![]() |
d) Bilingual services quality monitoring | The service manager on the train is responsible for ensuring bilingual service by the team. The service manager briefs his or her team (of conductors and train crew) before the team gets on the train. VIA frequently sends out train inspectors who ride the route, note any discrepancies and monitor the service manager's performance. | ![]() |
Language of work - Part V | According to Table L2 in VIA's 2003–2004 Annual Review of OL, 66.7% of supervisors who were required to be bilingual met the linguistic requirements of their position on March 31, 2004. A comprehensive written policy exists but it tends to focus particularly on the train maintenance shop in Montréal. The corporation recognized the need to create an updated version and put it on the intranet. | ![]() |
b) Use of each language in the workplace | No formal management mechanism exists to remind staff of their language of work obligations (supervision of subordinates, bilingual central services to employees, etc.) except for reminders that are sent out to managers and employees when internal language of work complaints are received. Similarly, no mechanism exists to actively encourage the use of the minority OL in the designated regions. | ![]() |
Equitable participation - Part VI | According to Table P1 in VIA's 2003–2004 Annual Review of OL, 41.2% of VIA's employees in Canada are Francophone. VIA's national headquarters is located in Montréal. | ![]() ![]() |
b) Percentage of Anglophone participation in Quebec | According to Table P1 in VIA's 2003–2004 Annual Review of OL, 21.9% of those working in Quebec are Anglophone. VIA's national headquarters is located in Montréal. | ![]() ![]() |
Development of minority language communities and promotion of linguistic duality - Part VII | VIA does not have a mechanism to ensure that strategic planning and policy and program development take into account the development of official–language minority communities. Indeed, the company acknowledged that often the only time they think about the economic and social development obligations of Part VII is when advertising in the minority press. | ![]() |
b) Strategic planning and the development of policies and programs take into account the promotion of linguistic duality | Apart from the fact that the company is a major corporate sponsor of public events, many of which have an official languages dimension, there does not appear to be a clear mechanism to ensure policy and program development take into consideration the promotion of linguistic duality. | ![]() |
OVERALL RATING | ![]() |