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Message from the Commissioner of Official Languages

As Commissioner of Official Languages, I have the honour and privilege to report to Parliament on the state of Canada’s two official languages, including the extent to which federal institutions honour their obligations under the Official Languages Act.

It is my duty to take all actions and measures within my authority to ensure recognition of the status of each of the official languages and to see to it that federal institutions comply with the spirit and intent of the Act in the administration of their affairs, including their activities relating to the advancement of English and French in Canadian society. The actions and measures I take range from investigating complaints to intervening before the courts; from conducting audits of federal institutions to appearing before parliamentary committees; from giving interviews to speaking to conference delegates, students, public servants and parliamentarians.

Agents of Parliament have a duty to be transparent about how we spend the funds granted to us and as clear as possible about how we try to fulfill our mandates. All of us are, in a way, the guardians of Canadian values, values that transcend partisan debate and the policy positions of the government of the day. Linguistic duality is one such value—a value integral to our identity as a country.

In two Speeches from the Throne and its introduction of the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, the Government of Canada has reaffirmed its commitment to linguistic duality as a Canadian value and compliance with the spirit and intent of the Act. The Prime Minister has been exemplary in his public use of both official languages. At the same time, however, the Government has taken steps that have eroded its ability to meet these commitments. There were disturbing signs this year that the Government is not interested in safeguarding its hard-won expertise in official languages. The restructuring of the Centre of Excellence for Official Languages has significantly reduced the ability of the Treasury Board Secretariat to live up to its responsibilities. Naturally, this makes my job harder.

Establishing clear priorities is vital to achieving strategic goals. I trust this performance report demonstrates our determination to continue the work needed to achieve the ideals set out in the Official Languages Act.

Section I: Overview

Summary Information

Raison d’être

Responsibilities

The duties of the Commissioner of Official Languages are set out in section 56 of the Official Languages Act:

It is the duty of the Commissioner to take all actions and measures within the authority of the Commissioner with a view to ensuring recognition of the status of each of the official languages and compliance with the spirit and intent of this Act in the administration of the affairs of federal institutions, including any of their activities relating to the advancement of English and French in Canadian society.

The Commissioner therefore has a responsibility to take all measures within his power to ensure that the three main objectives of the Official Languages Act are met:

• ensure the equality of English and French in Parliament, the Government of Canada, the federal administration and the institutions subject to the Act;
• support the preservation and development of official language communities in Canada; and
• advance the equality of English and French in Canadian society.

The Commissioner of Official Languages is appointed by commission under the Great Seal for a seven-year term, after approval by resolution of the House of Commons and the Senate. The Commissioner reports directly to Parliament.

In this context, the Office of the Commissioner has a distinct mandate under the Official Languages Act. Each federal institution is responsible for implementing the Act within its area of jurisdiction. The following federal entities also have special responsibilities with respect to official languages:

• Treasury Board Secretariat;
• Department of Canadian Heritage;
• Department of Justice;
• Public Service Commission of Canada;
• Canada School of Public Service; and
• House of Commons and Senate Standing Committees on Official Languages.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

In light of its mandate, the Office of the Commissioner has articulated a single strategic outcome, which it pursues via three program activities (two operational and one management):

Strategic Outcome	Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society.
Program Activity	1. Protection Through Compliance Assurance	2. Promotion Through Policy and Communications
	3. Internal Services

Alignment of Program Activity Architecture to Government of Canada Outcomes

The Commissioner of Official Languages is an officer of Parliament who reports directly to Parliament and is thereby independent from government. The strategic outcome and the expected results from his office are detailed in Section II of this Performance Report.

Summary of Performance

The following table displays the financial and human resources managed by the Office of the Commissioner in 2009–2010.

Financial and Human Resources

2009-2010 Financial Resources ($000)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
19,935	22,284	21,286

2009-2010 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
177.5	170.7	6.8

In 2009–2010, the total authorities allocated to the Office of the Commissioner by Parliament were $22.3 million—$19.9 million through Main Estimates (planned spending) and $2.4 million through Supplementary Estimates for collective agreement settlements, severance payments and parental leave payments. The Office of the Commissioner’s actual spending in 2009–2010 was $21.3 million, $1.0 million less than total authorities.

Planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) reflects the Office of the Commissioner’s allocation of total authorities for human resources, details of which are presented in Section II of this report. Actual FTEs represents 96% of planned FTEs, compared with 87% in 2008–2009. Actual FTEs increased by 15.4 from 155.3 to 170.7, with indeterminate employees accounting for 88% of this increase. The staffing shortfall of 6.8 FTEs is related to ongoing challenges in recruiting personnel.

Program Activity	2008-2009 ($000) Actual Spending	2009-2010*
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
1. Protection Through Compliance Assurance	9,537	6,617	6,617	7,284	6,466
2. Promotion Through Policy and Communications	11,630	7,159	7,159	7,612	7,260
3. Internal Services	Allocated between the two approved program activities	6,159	6,159	7,388	7,560
Total	21,167	19,935	19,935	22,284	21,286

* Commencing in the 2009–2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity is displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This affects the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Total authorities and actual spending amounts for 2009–2010 shown above are those disclosed in the 2009–2010 Public Accounts of Canada. Actual spending by program activity may be more or less than total authorities allocated by the Office of the Commissioner, as long as overall actual spending does not exceed total authorities. Additional information by program activity is provided in Section II of this report, and for the Office of the Commissioner in general in Section III of this report, under Financial Highlights.

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

The Office of the Commissioner has a single strategic outcome: Canadians’ rights under the Official Languages Act are protected and respected by federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Act; and linguistic duality is promoted in Canadian society. The following table describes how each corporate priority contributes to the strategic outcome in terms of the planned performance outlined in the Report on Plans and Priorities.

Operational Priorities	Type	Status
1. Implement proactive approaches and strategies to address systemic compliance issues in order to encourage a change of culture within federal institutions	Previously committed to	Analysis of complaints and inquiries received by the Office of the Commissioner illustrates that federal institutions are experiencing certain kinds of problems related to the Official Languages Act that are systemic, leading to recurring complaints of the same nature. Focusing on proactive approaches and strategies, and taking a systemic view of compliance will make for a more efficient use of the public purse to advance protection and respect for the official language rights of Canadians. For example, the Office of the Commissioner produced more than 30 institutional portraits of federal institutions that it will use internally to identify possible strategic interventions to resolve systemic issues. The Commissioner also communicates regularly with the deputy heads via a semi-annual report to highlight both the difficulties and successes in the area of official languages. To renew the Commissioner’s role as Canada’s language ombudsman, the Office of the Commissioner looked for permanent and more efficient resolution of complaints, as well as ways to prevent systemic problems. Some initiatives aimed for a non-adversarial approach, including a facilitated resolution process and a restructuring of the organization that assigned analysts, working in teams, to specific federal institutions to foster more efficient working relationships. Conduct and complete official languages audits that specifically address systemic compliance issues and seek to obtain commitments from institutions to resolve these issues. This year the Office of the Commissioner used its audit process to obtain greater engagement from federal institutions in Official Languages Act compliance issues. Audits focused on such systemic issues as individual training (Department of National Defence) and front-line service personnel understanding their linguistic obligations (Halifax Airport). Use the official languages report card exercise to encourage key federal departments to address systemic compliance issues. A review of the Office of the Commissioner’s report card exercise in 2009–2010 identified refinements that improved its effectiveness as an assessment tool. It remains a results-oriented exercise and this year, 16 federal institutions were assessed. They were selected based on the number of complaints overall, the number of complaints with regard to Part V, the size of the institution and its previous report card performance. For example, the Office of the Commissioner reassessed the Correctional Service of Canada and assessed Natural Resources Canada for the first time, in an attempt to assess more institutions subject to the Official Languages Act. Negotiate and sign memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with certain federal institutions. The Office of the Commissioner’s efforts in other areas obviated the need to develop the planned MOUs with institutions.
2. Promote the knowledge of and respect for Canada’s two official languages as an important element of leadership within federal institutions	Previously committed to	Strong leadership within federal institutions is a key element in moving these institutions toward a culture of respect for the language rights of Canadians and compliance with the Official Languages Act. In 2009–2010, the Office of the Commissioner took several steps to enhance leadership in federal institutions. Monitor the inclusion of official languages components in the Public Service Renewal Initiative. The Office of the Commissioner observed the implementation of Canada’s Public Service Renewal Initiative, focusing particularly on actions taken by deputy heads in making the work environment more conducive to the use of both English and French (as recommended in the Commissioner’s 2007–2008 annual report). Continue to work proactively with regional federal councils. The regional federal councils are an essential channel for championing official languages in the public service across the country. Some highlights of the Office of the Commissioner’s work with them this year included showcasing public service careers in Quebec to English university students, a meaningful discussion with the Nova Scotia EX community on official languages leadership and securing continued commitment to official languages from the Alberta and Pacific federal councils. Examine, through research, the essential competencies required for effective leadership in a bilingual public service. For this research, the Office of the Commissioner undertook 3 case studies, organized 10 discussion groups and consulted about 20 official languages experts to validate the findings. The study is expected to be published in the fall of 2010. Develop a strategy to influence the government in taking measures to address the shortage of bilingual judges in superior courts and federal tribunals. Another important area where the Office of the Commissioner continued its efforts was addressing issues related to the lack of access to justice in both official languages resulting from the shortage of bilingual judges in superior courts and federal tribunals. The Commissioner appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages to speak about Bill C-232, a proposed amendment to the Supreme Court Act that would require judges to hear cases in either English or French without the aid of an interpreter. This appearance contributed both to the parliamentary debate and to public discussion among Canadians.
3. Act as a bridge builder between official language minority communities and federal institutions so that policies, programs and activities support community development	Previously committed to	Given that the organization’s single strategic outcome includes promotion of linguistic duality in Canada, and given the potential of government policies, programs and activities to advance minority language community development, the Office of the Commissioner has made it a priority to create linkages between federal institutions and the official language minority communities that rely on them for enlightened public policy and supportive programming. Monitor the implementation of the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013 and the establishment of the new Language Rights Support Program. The Office of the Commissioner’s bridge building also involved monitoring—regionally and nationally—the implementation of the government’s Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013, including its newly established Language Rights Support Program. This program provides an essential mechanism for the development of official language communities, facilitating their access to the courts as a means of safeguarding their constitutional rights. Drawing on the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, make federal institutions and Canadians in general aware of the role they can play in promoting linguistic duality. The 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act was the linchpin for much of the Office of the Commissioner’s bridge-building work this year. From organizing a national conference on the Act’s history and future, to a travelling cartoon exhibit on language issues that reached more than 100,000 people in 65 communities across Canada, the Commissioner and his Office fostered dialogue on linguistic duality in Canada. Through a participative approach, work with three French-speaking communities in Western Canada to identify indicators and outcomes in key sectors of vitality. The Office of the Commissioner continued its participative research project with French-speaking communities in Western Canada, including Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In February, it published a study that illustrated how French-speaking communities in rural Saskatchewan became more cohesive and entrepreneurial when their agricultural products were recognized and labelled as coming from a single terroir.1 The increased vitality generated by this kind of enterprise was found to support greater cohesion between Saskatchewan’s French- and English-speaking communities. The other studies on vitality indicators were prepared for publication in April 2010. Support enhanced vitality of communities through various initiatives, including discussions with airport authorities subject to the Official Languages Act with a view to improving services in both official languages. The Office of the Commissioner targeted three key airport authorities in 2009–2010, seeking to improve services in both official languages at the airports and to increase the vitality of official language communities in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver.
4. Encourage federal institutions to integrate linguistic duality into the development and implementation of their policies, programs and activities within a diverse Canadian society	Previously committed to	As Canada’s demographic landscape changes, promoting linguistic duality requires active steps on the part of government to safeguard official bilingualism. Monitor the inclusion of official languages in the preparatory work surrounding the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games to ensure it is a truly bilingual event. The Office of the Commissioner monitored the inclusion of official languages in the preparatory work surrounding the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to ensure that it would be a truly bilingual event. An awareness campaign was conducted in early 2009 with 20 federal institutions to bring official languages to the forefront in their preparations for the Vancouver Games. Continue building awareness within federal institutions of their obligations to provide services during the Vancouver 2010 Games. After the Office of the Commissioner met with the officials of the institutions in Ottawa and Vancouver to assess the success of awareness-raising efforts, follow-up interviews were conducted with 11 key institutions involved in the provision of services during the Games. The follow-up to Raising Our Game for Vancouver 2010 was published in September and assessed the preparedness for the Games of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), Canadian Heritage and various federal institutions to meet official languages requirements and the increased demand for bilingual services. The report made specific recommendations for final preparations for the Games. A rapid response system was established to respond to complaints filed during the Games. The Office of the Commissioner’s staff conducted spot checks of services available from select federal institutions, including at various Olympic sites. The Office also devoted a section of its Web site to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the Olympics, the Office of the Commissioner began to follow up on the recommendation to institutions to report on their accomplishments and lessons learned during the Games. Continue to deepen its understanding of the relationship between cultural diversity and linguistic duality through action research. The Office of the Commissioner published a report on the forum it organized in Vancouver last year, where Canadians from diverse backgrounds were invited to share their perspectives on linguistic duality. The next forum originally planned for Montréal during the year was rescheduled to 2012, but an additional forum was planned for Halifax in 2011. Conduct a study on second-language learning opportunities at all Canadian universities. Another important step in the promotion of linguistic duality was the study by the Office of the Commissioner on second-language learning opportunities at Canadian universities. The study recommended that universities play a greater role in the continuum of second-language learning. By bolstering efforts to help university students maintain and enhance their existing second-language abilities, the federal government will not only find it easier to recruit the 5,000 bilingual employees needed annually to replace the wave of public service retirees, but it will also contribute to greater social cohesion through a shared bilingual identity and better understanding among Canadians. A Web map was also developed to identify the second-language learning opportunities currently offered in Canadian universities.

Management Priorities	Type	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)
5. Foster the growth and renewal of OCOL’s personnel and strengthen the application of sound management principles and practices	Previously committed to	As a small organization working in a complex environment and with a mandate to exert influence over a wide range of stakeholders, the Office of the Commissioner needs to rely on state-of-the-art human resources management, sophisticated information management tools and sound financial management practices, despite its modest budget. Continue implementing the three-year Strategic Human Resources Management Plan. In its continued implementation of the plan, the Office of the Commissioner made progress in such areas as succession planning, competency-based selection and training tools, and enhanced professional development for complaints analysts. The organization saw a significant drop in employee turnover, from 22% in 2008–2009 to 11% for the reporting period. Initiate the implementation of phase one of the five-year Information Management / Information Technology (IM/IT) Strategic Plan. Although the Office of the Commissioner had planned to begin implementing Phase 1 of its five-year IM/IT Strategic Plan, a lack of adequate funding made for a slow start this year. The IT infrastructure underwent some upgrades, but the organization is unlikely to benefit fully from them unless it also simultaneously invests in improvements to its IM systems. Much work has already gone into the development of a Treasury Board submission seeking the required funding, but the process takes time. Nevertheless, the Office of the Commissioner continues to ready itself to hit the ground running should the requested funding materialize. Continue to enhance the management accountability framework and management practices of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. The Office of the Commissioner made some progress on its performance measurement framework, collecting baseline data to inform the development of service standards in several of its operations. It also continued integrating risk management into its strategic and operational planning processes, and developed and implemented a risk management template that is now an integral part of each branch’s operational plan.

Risk Analysis

Several factors, outlined below, influence the Office of the Commissioner’s performance and are discussed briefly in the following paragraphs to provide context for this report.

First, the Office of the Commissioner has continued to observe ongoing systemic obstacles to full compliance with the Official Languages Act. As stated in the 2009–2010 annual report, “There are still countless indications that federal institutions continue to see linguistic duality as a burden rather than a value; an afterthought rather than a reflex; a legal requirement to be handled and managed rather than an instinctive behaviour and source of organizational identity and pride.” In 2009, the Canada Public Service Agency was abolished and the various official languages responsibilities were transferred to the newly created Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO). It is now this organization that establishes the terms federal institutions must follow in providing their services in both official languages, maintaining a work environment that is conducive to the use of English and French, and ensuring full participation of both language groups in the public service. To perform its role as leader in the development and monitoring of official languages policies, OCHRO relies on one of its components, the Centre of Excellence for Official Languages. However, this year has seen a marked decrease in resources within this Centre. As a result, the Treasury Board Secretariat no longer provides individual institutions with interpretation of the Official Languages Act or policies that relate to official languages issues that are institution-specific. The changes have strained the Office of the Commissioner’s limited pool of resources as it continues to implement its renewed ombudsman role, develop collaborative relationships with institutions, and promote the knowledge of, and respect for, Canada’s two official languages as an important element of leadership within federal institutions. As a proactive move, the Office of the Commissioner has focused more specifically on systemic compliance issues and working more closely with select institutions to obtain commitments on sustainable solutions.

Canada currently faces challenges on the economic, political and social fronts, and this may give rise to a perception that the Official Languages Act is less important or less relevant in this day and age. The Office of the Commissioner continues to vigorously exercise its monitoring role, acting pre-emptively by intervening at the stage where laws, regulations and policies are developed to ensure that language rights remain a primary concern of leaders. Encouragingly, the 2010 Speech from the Throne reiterated the Government’s commitment to the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013 and reaffirmed Canada’s two official languages as a key Canadian value.

Second, as an officer of Parliament, the Commissioner must maintain his independence from the government to provide unbiased advice and information to Parliament and organizations subject to the Official Languages Act. Officers of Parliament are appointed by the Governor in Council, with the approval of Parliament. These officers are charged with specific statutory mandates—often involving oversight or auditing roles vis-à-vis the actions of the executive branch of government—and report directly to Parliament on the performance of these mandates. The Commissioner of Official Languages applies central agency administrative policies in part or in whole; as such, his independent status may be challenged if it is not well understood. Significant progress has been made in clarifying the principles that apply to officers of Parliament, through a Treasury Board decision in June 2009 to modify a certain number of policy instruments to recognize their independence. The Office of the Commissioner will continue to work with the organizations of other officers of Parliament to clarify and strengthen the role of the Parliamentary Panel as an independent mechanism for funding and oversight of officers of Parliament.

Third, like the federal public service as a whole, the Office of the Commissioner is experiencing unprecedented losses of knowledge and skills as the baby boom generation retires en masse. The system-wide challenge is to retain the knowledge of departing experts while acquiring new specialists in such functional groups as investigations and communications, and in finance and human resources management, areas experiencing a serious shortage of skilled candidates. This year, the Office of the Commissioner implemented year two of its three-year Strategic Human Resources Management Plan and enjoyed a reduction in its employee turnover rate compared with 2008–2009. A focus on staffing and recruitment brought the Office of the Commissioner to full capacity by year-end, but the organization remains in flux, with many employees in training as the Office transitions into its renewed ombudsman’s role. Meanwhile, as confirmed by results from the 2008 Public Service Employee Survey, workload issues remain a key concern of the organization. For this reason, the Commissioner has initiated an A-base review to ensure the most effective use of the public resources that are entrusted to him.

Fourth, the existing functions within the Office of the Commissioner, as well as the new processes described previously, continually require more advanced technological systems and tools to manage information holdings effectively and in a secure environment. This involves specialized skills and an increased capacity to meet growing demands from the organization’s managers. Furthermore, the Office of the Commissioner’s technical infrastructure and its current business applications have become obsolete. Dealing with the potential loss of historical business data continues to be an issue. The organization’s IM/IT infrastructure relies on unsupported operational systems. Corporate financial and human resources data also lack common resource management, information access, data sharing and reporting capabilities. Finally, the Office of the Commissioner’s Internet platform lacks the design foundation for reaching a sustainable level in the delivery of services to Canadians. Just as his Office’s supporting infrastructure is deteriorating, the Commissioner’s way of doing business is evolving, demanding proactive attempts to modernize operations. But all too often, funding earmarked for infrastructure upgrades must be redirected to deal with critical failures in the IM/IT systems.

The Office of the Commissioner has been working to develop a Treasury Board submission to obtain necessary one-time funding required to address these critical shortfalls.

Expenditure Profile

The following chart illustrates the Office of the Commissioner’s spending trend over seven years, representing actual spending for the past three years and the current year, 2009–2010, and planned spending for the next three years.

[D]

The Office of the Commissioner’s actual spending for 2009–2010 was $21.3 million. Compared with 2006–2007, actual spending has increased by 7%. The increase is primarily related to Supplementary Estimates for collective agreement settlements, severance payments, parental leave payments and additional funding received in 2007–2008 for the development and implementation of the access to information function and internal audit function to meet new requirements under the Federal Accountability Act. Both of these new functions further improve the Office of the Commissioner’s ability to demonstrate transparency in its management practices.

The planned spending from 2010–2011 to 2012–2013 reflects Main Estimates only. It does not reflect the impact of measures to restrain spending included in Budget 2010, starting with the 2010–2011 fiscal period. Funding reduction has been estimated by the Office of the Commissioner to be between $150,000 and $200,000.

The following chart shows the Office of the Commissioner’s spending trend over a three-year period. Additional information is provided in Section III of this report, under Financial Highlights.

[D]

Voted and Statutory Items

The following table shows the voted items Parliament approved through the Main Estimates, with its supply bills. The Main Estimates are those supplied by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

		2007-2008 ($000)	2008-2009 ($000)	2009-2010 ($000)
Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	Actual Spending	Actual Spending	Main Estimates	Actual Spending
20	Program expenditures	18,384	19,173	17,849	18,879
Statutory Item	Contributions to employee benefit plans	1,962	1,994	2,087	2,307
Total		20,346	21,167	19,935	21,286

Details in the 2009–2010 Voted and Statutory Items do not add to the total due to rounding.

Actual spending includes expenses for both the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates for collective agreement settlements, severance payments and parental leave payments. Actual spending in 2009–2010 is less than in 2008–2009 mainly because of a reduction in Temporary Help Services resulting from the increased staffing of positions. The contributions to employee benefit plans are greater in 2009–2010: they are set by the Treasury Board.

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