New official languages champion
For the past several months, the Department of Canadian Heritage has had a new official languages champion: Nicole Bourget, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Public and Regional Affairs Sector, succeeding Jean-Pierre Blais. We recall that, back in 1998, the Treasury Board Secretariat asked each federal institution to appoint an official languages champion. Nicole Bourget's role, as for all champions, is to raise the visibility of official languages in the Department and provide support to the Deputy Minister to ensure that the Department respects its obligations with regard to official languages as well those of the government. One of her key responsibilities in this regard is presiding over the Working Group on Official Language at Canadian Heritage.