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

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Chapter 4 - Consultations

This chapter describes the highlights of our consultations.
 

4.1 Organizations that Represent Minority Official Language Communities

Organizations that represent minority official language communities have generally the same concerns, and their points of view generally reflect a common way of thinking. In their presentations, these organizations dealt mainly with government transformations, Program Review, the changing scope and conditions of federal support for communities, and the federal government's weakening commitment.

The organizations feel that, in making changes over the past few years, the federal government did not take all the necessary measures to ensure the full consideration of language rights.
 

4.1.1 Government Transformations

In its submission, the Société Saint-Thomas d'Aquin of Prince Edward Island said the following about the issues at stake in government transformations:

4.1.1.1 General Comments

Like the Société Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, other organizations speaking for minority official language communities (especially those from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador) were quick to emphasize that the government transformations by means of privatization or transfers to other levels of government left them feeling very sceptical about whether obligations related to official languages and support for official language communities will be met. Indeed, it appears it would already be very difficult to have these requirements met within the federal public service. Therefore, how can one expect more from private corporations and provincial governments? The Association culturelle franco-canadienne de la Saskatchewan (ACFC) stated: "You are familiar with the current situation and the problems associated with the application of the Official Languages Act, so just imagine the situation when these responsibilities are transferred to levels that are even less receptive to the Act." [Translated from French] For its part, the Société des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick (SAANB) said that "the privatization of federal services deals a heavy blow to Canada's visibility in our communities and leads to a reduction of services in both official languages." [Translated from French]

Although they emphasized the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) concluded with the provinces, it is clear that the organizations that speak for the communities are concerned about other changes the federal government has implemented. 

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFAC) said that "some, if not most, of the changes to federal institutions do not guarantee that the federal government's obligations regarding the official languages will be honoured, whether in the postal sector, airports, train stations, labour development, or Air Canada and Petro-Canada." [Translated from French] The FCFAC also showed concern about the Contraventions Act, which, in its view, has brought about changes that dismiss language rights.

The Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique (FFCB) emphasized the difficulty of obtaining services in French at the Vancouver airport since it was privatized, as well as at privatized post offices. The Société des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick also discussed problems caused by the loss of bilingual post offices and the privatization of airport services.

For its part, the Association franco-yukonnaise mentioned the transfer of the management of the hospital in Whitehorse and the devolution of certain responsibilities in the area of health as eloquent examples of the fruitless battles it has fought. "Despite our pressure and despite the assurance that the needs of the Francophone community would be met in the agreements, there is no language clause in them." [Translated from French]

The Fédération Franco-TéNOise referred to the numerous agreements between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories and stated that "the rights of Francophones . . . conferred by federal legislation or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are being diluted or, more frequently, ignored." [Translated from French]

The Association culturelle franco-canadienne de la Saskatchewan invited the Task Force to see what has happened at Canada Post, "where all our official language rights were lost when its offices were moved to private locations such as pharmacies, variety stores, etc." [translated from French]. Comments from Alliance Quebec supported this view: "Devolution can cause major changes in established patterns. Some changes are symbolic, such as the loss of bilingual signs. Others pose a more substantial threat to the language, such as cases where subcontractors fail to keep their commitment to provide service in the language of the minority at Canada Post service points."
 

4.1.1.2 Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs)

Almost all the organizations speaking for minority official language communities alluded directly to this issue. The transfer of responsibilities in the area of labour market development would appear to be, on the basis of comments made to us, the government transformation that posed the greatest challenge for minority official language communities.

Alliance Quebec indicated that the LMDA concluded between the federal government and the Government of Quebec in 1997 contains innovative measures to ensure that services in English are maintained. It said that the agreement was signed following a sustained effort by Alliance Quebec to promote the protection of the language rights provided for in federal legislation and the Constitution. In its submission, the Société franco-manitobaine (SFM) described the extensive effort it made when it learned about the proposed changes, to make the federal government realize the problems the Francophone community in Manitoba could experience as a result of devolution in the area of labour. The SFM stated that the final agreement between the province and the federal government recognizes that the Francophone community needs to be consulted and guaranteed services and programs for it.

For its part, the Association franco-yukonnaise indicated that it had expended a great deal of energy to ensure that the provisions the community wanted were included in the co-management agreement for labour market development, but its efforts paid off.

The Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta (ACFA) stated in its submission that "the transfer of powers [resulting from the LMDA between the federal government and the Government of Alberta] was a makeshift operation. The restructuring of the federal government was not really thought through and planned. It was done without consulting our communities and without taking into account the effects on them." [Translated from French]

In its submission, the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique (FFCB) indicated that it is very worried about the current LMDA negotiations between the federal government and the Government of British Columbia. It is concerned about access to the related programs and services once the province becomes responsible for them. According to the FFCB, the provincial government has no regard for the Francophone community.

The Société des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick said that it was not consulted about the LMDA concluded between the federal government and the Government of New Brunswick.

As for the future of the LMDAs already concluded, Alliance Quebec and the SFM were optimistic. However, the ACFA was very critical and claimed in particular that information on the guarantee that service will be provided in French where there is a reasonable demand seems to have been lost in the maze of the public service, and that, according to some people, "Bill 60, which makes our province unilingual English, takes precedence over the Official Languages Act." [Translated from French] It added that services in French are a veritable patchwork quilt.

In Ontario, where there is still no LMDA, the Association canadienne-française de l'Ontario said that it was worried about the future of services in French.
 

4.1.2 The Need to Consult Minority Official Language Communities

All the organizations speaking for minority official language communities stated unequivocally that the federal government needs to consult these communities about government transformations. According to the organizations, the establishment of an effective process for consulting these communities is an indispensable element of any federal government transformation.
 

4.1.3 Program Review

The organizations do not question the validity of the federal government's Program Review, which was meant to streamline government operations. However, they feel it was a financial exercise that made cost reduction an end in itself and created high expectations that officials had to meet and forced them to make choices. They said the effects of this approach were felt, among other places, in the deep cuts to funding and the significant reduction of the personnel assigned to the implementation of the Official Languages Act at all levels.
 

4.1.4 Federal Funding for Minority Official Language Communities

Organizations speaking for minority official language communities took advantage of the opportunity to broaden the discussion and air their views on the reduction of federal financial support for the communities. They also spoke about the Canada-community agreements and the new rules concerning project-based funding as opposed to core funding of organizations.

According to the organizations, the budget cuts have weakened their capacity to continue their regular work and undertake initiatives to help the communities structure themselves. The Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador (FFTNL) stated that "because of the erosion of federal funding, we are barely able to operate within our own parameters. The whole budget is spent on operations ... Less and less time is spent on developing our communities. The progressive reduction in funding creates instability." [Translated from French]

As for the Canada-community agreements, the community-based funding they include has certainly given community groups a much more important role in the distribution of funds, contributing at the same time to increased accountability on their part. However, according to the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFAC), the fact that the Canada-community agreements came about when the government was beginning to make cuts meant that "the odious task of making the necessary cuts fell to fragile community structures. This situation had very serious consequences for community solidarity and shook the structures of most communities." [Translated from French]

The emphasis placed on project funding, to the detriment of core funding, was severely criticized. The formalities involved in project-based funding are considered burdensome. The organizations also stated that this type of funding takes organizations away from their mission as community rallying points and leaders. All too often, leaders devote their energy to conceiving and developing projects that are eligible for funding rather than on the community development initiatives they think should have priority. The Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador, for its part, stated: "To show how ridiculous the situation is, we sometimes use more human and financial resources on getting projects off the ground than the total project is worth. Every day spent playing the grants game could have been devoted to developing our communities." [Translated from French]
 

4.1.5 The Government's Weakening Commitment

Organizations speaking for official language communities emphasized that the application of the Official Languages Act often poses problems, even when it is the responsibility of federal institutions.

Several organizations speaking for French minority communities objected to having to devote so much energy to ensuring compliance with the Official Languages Act ? energy that should be devoted to community development.

According to the organizations, government transformations, regardless of the form they take, are another source of worry and contribute significantly to the feeling of going backwards that was expressed to us.

The FCFAC ended its presentation by saying that it sensed that the federal government was weakening in its commitment and that a clear change in course was needed to give communities hope with regard to rights being respected. It also emphasized that linguistic duality is one of Canada's basic values, stating that "Canadian society has also agreed to invest in the project of building a society that respects diversity and to raise its linguistic duality to the level of one of its basic values. Over the last 30 years, real progress has been made in this area. To allow this progress to be compromised by government transformations would be a risk to our national identity. The official languages are one of our values, and protecting them should be one of the criteria for determining the desirability of proposed transformations." [Translated from French]

The organizations speaking for minority official language communities stated repeatedly that linguistic duality was an essential element of Canada's identity and that they wanted to see the federal government renew its support for Canada's linguistic duality.

As part of this renewed commitment, the organizations want the government to acknowledge the need to give greater consideration to the needs of minority official language communities when making transformations. They also want to be able to count on well-designed, adequate funding.
 

4.2 Consultations with Federal Organizations and Consultants

The Task Force also heard from senior officials from several federal departments and agencies, and consultants from the private sector. Its members also met with four regional federal councils.

These meetings enabled us to assess the range and diversity of points of view on government transformations, and brought to light the principal questions and key messages. The discussions on the Framework for Alternative Program Delivery and its history, the Contraventions Act, the Labour Market Development Agreements, the government service agencies (Parks Canada, Revenue and Customs), partnerships (Canadian Tourism Commission), the Canada-community agreements, the implementation of sections 41 and 42 of the Official Languages Act, and the way the transformations affect the regions were of great use to us.

These meetings were held as a form of dialogue because the Task Force wanted to learn about government transformations and understand their various aspects. The discussions allowed the Task Force to gain an overall appreciation of government transformations. More specifically, the consultations revealed the complexity and scope of the challenges posed by the transformations. 

 

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