Good Practices Forum

In collaboration with Mariam Adshead, Department of Canadian Heritage

On November 29, 2007, the Canada Public Service Agency, together with its partners the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Council of the Network of Official Languages Champions, hosted the third annual Good Practices Forum on Official Languages. A forum of this type provides an opportunity for official languages champions and co-champions from federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations, as well as national coordinators responsible for implementing section 41 (Part VII) of the Official Languages Act (OLA) and public servants responsible for Parts IV, V and VI of the Act to assemble and discuss issues relating to official languages in their respective institutions.

Nicole Jauvin, President of the Canada Public Service Agency, underlined the importance of sharing best practices, particularly in the context of Public Service renewal, which provides an excellent opportunity to anchor bilingualism firmly into the federal Public Service culture. She also announced the launching of four information sheets on official languages, including one for supporting official-language minorities. Invited speaker Judith A. LaRocque, Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage, referred to the Guide for Federal Institutions, developed on the enhanced Part VII of the Act, and to the "positive measures" expected of all federal institutions. She made special reference to the internal policy concerning official-language minority communities and linguistic duality adopted by Health Canada, a similar one being developed at Canada Post Corporation, as well as the Canadian Radio-Television Commission taking these communities' needs into account in the development of its policies.

Guest speaker Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, stressed that it was good to highlight success stories rather than dwelling on criticisms, to underline the concept of respect for language rights as part of human rights, and that it was necessary to strengthen Part VII of the OLA. He emphasized that the lack of a definition for positive measures actually opens the door for federal institutions to be creative and proactive.

The following are examples of good practices presented:

  • Air Canada conducts mini-training courses for its employees who are not bilingual to enable them to carry out simple conversations with passengers about the most familiar aspects of air travel;
  • two national committees on human resources and economic development (one for Francophones outside Quebec and one for Anglophones in Quebec) have been successfully combining the efforts of several partner departments with minority-community representatives to produce best practices involving community development;
  • the Translation Bureau has been working on improving federal written communication so that it is clear and effective and understood by the Canadian public, including those with low literacy levels;
  • the federal regional councils of the Atlantic provinces hosted a symposium on Part VII of the OLA in Prince Edward Island;
  • Natural Resources Canada has an in-house language training program integrated into the work lives of its participants; and
  • the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority offers financial incentives in order to recruit more bilingual screening officers.

All in all, a successful forum with a high participation rate, giving everyone something to think about for improving official languages awareness in their federal institutions!

[ Previous Page | Table of Contents | Next Page ]