The Canadian government is not doing enough to promote the use of Canada's two languages, the country's Official Languages Commissioner has said.
The Official Languages Act was enacted in 1969 to ensure that both English and French are preserved in Canadian law and federal public services. In a report released last week, however, Graham Fraser accused the Harper government of a "laissez-faire" approach to the issue.
Fraser cited a "massive loss of expertise" in public agencies, due to declining support from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the body appointed to help government in its statutory responsibilities.
"I think it's a shame that these changes were adopted without consulting, for example, those responsible for official languages in the federal departments and agencies," said Mr. Fraser. "It's not a good start for an initiative that is fundamentally risky."
He called on senior managers in federal public services to step up with a "clear plan to ensure results."
He also criticized the work culture of public institutions, saying that a unilingual work culture "hinders the public service's efforts to offer quality bilingual services to the public."
Fraser said that federal support for bilingualism was so poor that in some instances, senior managers of public agencies working to strengthen languages had been forced to use their own credit cards to pay expenses.
Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore has promised to take action on funding delays.
The Quebec Community Groups Network, a non-profit organization assisting English-speaking communities in Quebec, says it "impatiently awaits" the results of Moore's promise.
QCGN President Robert Donnelly said, "The most important thing is that the principles of the Official Languages Act are respected and acted upon."
30 May 2010
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