ARCHIVED - Report of the Task Force on Government Transformations and Official Languages

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A Word from the Chairman

Over the past 15 years, the federal government has made major changes to the structure of government in order to modernize and streamline the delivery of services to the public. The scope of these changes is impressive. It could well be said that the changes currently being carried out in the federal public service are as fundamental as those of the post-war era. 

Government transformations affect the daily lives of Canadians. In the case of privatization of functions, service points and even the places where people meet one another are being eliminated. In other cases, public servants are being transferred from one level of government to another. In every case, the users of government services must adjust to change.

The impact of these transformations on Canadians warrants in-depth study. The Commissioner of Official Languages undertook such a study with respect to official languages entitled Government Transformations: The Impact on Canada's Official Languages Program, in which he severely criticized the federal government. In response, the Honourable Marcel Massé, President of the Treasury Board, created an eight-member task force drawn from every region of the country, and from both majority and minority official language communities. I had the pleasure and the honour of chairing that task force. 

In his report, the Commissioner of Official Languages stated that government transformations had resulted in "a subtle but cumulative erosion of language rights" and had weakened Canada's official languages program. After eight months of study, we have concluded that the transformations are indeed affecting all Canadians, and that they have had a particular impact on the language rights of minority official language communities. Accordingly, we, the members of the Task Force unanimously call upon the Government of Canada to strengthen its commitment to linguistic duality and to official language minority communities.

The Task Force is of the view that government transformations should be seen as an opportunity for the government to deliver its services more effectively in the country's two official languages. The government must also seize this opportunity to promote the vitality and development of official language minorities. We want to remind the government that service quality must necessarily include the language in which the service is offered.

A country's strength lies in the vitality of its communities. Canada is made up of two official language communities (Anglophone and Francophone), First Nations peoples and people of many other origins, together forming a unique partnership. The English and French languages are fundamental characteristics of the country. They testify to the existence of an essential duality that Canadians should cherish.

The Task Force is firmly convinced of the importance of respect for official languages as a principle of Canadian federalism. The federal government must ensure that future changes in the structure of government contribute to the development and vitality of minority official language communities, and to respect for the language rights of Canadians from coast to coast. 

As chairman of the Task Force, I would like to express my gratitude to the other members, and to thank them for their dedication and unflagging enthusiasm in working together to fulfil our mandate. I would also like to thank everyone who was kind enough to meet with us, and also to thank the working group from the Official Languages Division that the Treasury Board Secretariat put at our disposal to help us in our endeavour.

The time has come to share the results of our work. 

 

Yvon Fontaine

 

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