The recognition and usage of the official languages is a problem that has existed for decades. In 1960 the government introduced a first version of the act who was then revised in 1985. This law establishes the rights for all Canadians to express themselves in the language of their choice, either French or English. The Governmental organization have since the obligations to provide services in these 2 languages.
The establishment of a bilingualism bonus was made to encourage the recruitment and maintenance of skills for officials designated bilingual workers. This bonus was established in 1960 at $ 800 per year, and has never been revised. Today it no longer has the appeal of its original vocation. Accounting for the cost of living, it would have been in the order of $ 2,500 per year.
The law has defined areas of Canada which are considered as Francophone, Anglophone or Bilingual. The need for bilingual staff is often based on these areas and the services an employer must provide, and are then tagged on positions of public servants.
The new reality of teleworking and virtual teams makes the use of zones irrelevant. Mixed, multiregional teams with unilingual workers and supervisors cause great difficulties. There is a vision of transforming the public service to be "functional bilingual", where all public servants would be able to understand the other language (grade B--). Making mandatory bilingual positions introduces limitations and prejudices for those who are not bilingual, cannot or have no interest in learning a second language.
Canada should also give back a place to the aboriginal people who are at the origin of our country. Our institutions should recognize their languages, their culture, but especially facilitate their contribution to our society.
The current government has launched a project to revise the Official Languages Act. The Institute as well as our Task Force on Official Languages contributed to the public consultation process. We must continue these steps to highlight the issues that affect our members, and our concerns about the various options that have been circulated around.
