Bilingualism, “the francophone affair” in the federal public service

Since then, the Trudeau government has repeatedly said that French needs more support than English, because the language is down in the country.

However, when we look at the breakdown of the federal public service workforce, it is Anglophones who seem to be favored by Ottawa and by less robust language obligations. In fact, it is in Quebec, the only French-speaking province in the country, where the federal government requires the bilingualism of its civil servants the most.

According to data provided by the Treasury Board Secretariat, 68% of public servants in the province must speak both French and English to get their job, while in the rest of Canada, bilingualism is required for only 13% of jobs, if we exclude the national capital region, Ottawa-Gatineau.

In some institutions, such as the Border Services Agency, almost 100% of positions in Quebec are classified as bilingual, which is far from the case elsewhere in the country, including in the only province with two official languages, New Brunswick.

Bilingualism in the federal government, we are going to tell each other the real things, [...] it's good for francophones. It's a French-speaking affairrecognizes an employee of the Border Services Agency in Quebec, on condition of anonymity.

This source, who is not authorized to speak publicly, admits that many travelers must be served in English when going through customs in his province, but he does not understand why we could not take inspiration from the accommodations that exist in The west of the country.

Indeed, in English Canada, not all border officers are fluent in both official languages. Travelers who wish to be served in French can choose a queue clearly designated as bilingual, where an employee will serve them in their language.

In a place like Montreal-Trudeau airport, where you have 18 lines open during peak periods, if we had one or two exclusively in French, that would not delay operationshe says, stressing that there will always be enough French-speaking travelers to fill them.

In writing, however, the Border Services Agency states thatin Quebec, almost all ports of entry offer bilingual services, so positions must be designated bilingual.

Dozens of complaints to the Revenue Agency

At the offices of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in Quebec City – a city that is 97% French-speaking – several employees also believe that they are subject to higher language requirements than their English-speaking colleagues elsewhere in the country.

In recent years, some of them have complained to the Commissioner of Official Languages, believing that positions are being designated bilingual arbitrarily in their offices, for no good reason.

Example reported by several employees: as soon as there are documents in English in a file, such as an invoice, the Agency considers that it is a bilingual auditor who must process it, even if the taxpayer has completed his tax return in French.

There are solutions to this says a person employed at theBOW in Quebec. If we only speak French, we can, for example, consult one of our colleagues who is bilingual and, sometimes, even if we are not very comfortable communicating in English, we can understand the bill.

If, in Western Canada, there is an invoice in French in a file, will the position become bilingual? asks another person employed by the Agency in Quebec who would be surprised that the English-speaking verifier had the file withdrawn.

In June 2020, Commissioner Raymond Théberge agreed with the employees, judging, in his report obtained by Radio-Canada, that the CRA had not objectively established the language requirements of the positions covered by the complaints. But since then other complaints have been filed. Many employees are even waiting for their case to be heard in Federal Court.

It's very difficult to progress when you're not bilingualconfirms a source at the Canada Revenue Agency in Quebec. We are often stuck in our career, even if we have a lot of experience.

L'BOWwho declined our request for an interview, indicates, in writing, that it determines the language requirements of its positions based on its operational needs and the tasks performed by employees.

But Yvon Barrière, regional executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance, a union that represents more than 20,000 public servants in Quebec, believes that operational needs have a broad back and that theBOWlike other departments, relies too much on Francophones to achieve its bilingualism goals . This is the easy solutionaccording to him.

" It's always up to francophones to make the effort. [...] There is indeed a form of inequity between the official languages. "

The minister is not alarmed

The President of the Treasury Board does not seem at all alarmed by the large number of bilingual civil servant positions in Quebec. Mona Fortier even refuses to acknowledge that there is an inequality between the province and the other regions, or that the language requirements are higher for Francophones.

When told that two-thirds of federal public servants in Quebec must speak English to get their job, she replies, tit for tat: The statistic that I would prefer to be given is that 40% of the public service [au Canada] works bilingually.

" I want to recognize the fact that we have opportunities for francophones who speak both official languages. "

Ms. Fortier points out that Quebec has several regions designated bilingual – for example, Montreal, Sherbrooke or Compton in the Eastern Townships – where there is a significant proportion of English speakers. They have the legal right to work in their language, which could partly explain why, according to her, bilingualism is more in demand in the province.

However, as MP Mario Beaulieu of the Bloc Québécois points out, such designations also exist in northern and eastern Ontario, to protect the francophone minority, which numbers approximately 500,000 people, and despite everything, only 10% of positions are designated bilingual in the province, compared to 68% in Quebec. It makes no sensehe laments.

According to Mr. Beaulieu, if it's always up to francophones to speak in Englishit is clear that Ottawa definitely has a anglicizing impact on the entire population of Quebec.

Mario Beaulieu pleads for French to take precedence over English in the province, even in federal institutions, and for bilingualism to be required only when it comes to serving English-speaking rights holders.

The government of François Legault, for its part, wants Ottawa to keep its word on the approach differentiated promised two years ago: We are of the opinion that as the only official minority language in all of Canada, the French language must benefit from specific measures of protection and promotion.writes Quebec Minister of Canadian Relations and La Francophonie, Sonia LeBel.

The important thing is to understand each other

One solution, to favor French-speaking civil servants, could be to review what is meant by bilingualism, suggests the professor at the National School of Public Administration Jean-François Savard. In the federal government, he explains, we are currently opting for an approach where being bilingual implies being able to speak, write and not just understand the other language.

However, in Switzerland, adds Mr. Savard, French speakers are generally expected to understand German and German speakers French, without necessarily expressing themselves in the other's language.

Such an approach could, in his view, restore a better balance of power between the two official language communities, without however creating unrealistic expectations, especially towards Anglophones, because there are not enough people able to speak French in Canada to have a fully bilingual public service.

One thing is certain, concludes Mr. Savard, although the federal government has been repeating for two years that it wants to better protect French in Quebec and in the rest of the country, it seems above all obvious that what it protects is bilingualism.