CHAPTER 4 COMMUNICATIONS WITH AND SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

General

1. This chapter provides both qualitative and quantitative information related to National Defence’s performance with respect to Part IV of the OLA (Communications With and Services to the Public).

Statistical Performance

2. As of January 2005, a total of 3,961 National Defence positions were designated as providing Communications With or Services to the Public. Of these, 2,390 were civilian and 1,571 were military. The success rates with respect to the filling of these positions are provided in Table 13 below.

Table 13: DND & CF SUCCESS RATES - FILLING POSITIONS PROVIDING COMMUNICATIONS WITH AND SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

Source: ADM (HR-Mil), PeopleSoft Feb 2005 (94152 & 95185)

3. It should be noted, however, that many of these positions have been erroneously designated. Within National Defence, only three types of units actually have a specific mandate to provide Communications With or Services to the Public. These are Recruiting Centers, Search and Rescue Coordination Centers and Public Affairs Offices. Furthermore, Recruiting Centers and Public Affairs Offices are not required to provide bilingual service in all cases -- only where there is a significant demand for minority Official Language services, and that is determined by the size of the Official Language linguistic minority residing in the area served by the office. Nonetheless, hundreds of civilian and military positions have been designated as providing Communications With and Services to the Public that are not located in offices with a related mandate.

4. Table S1 (Appendix 4 to Annex D) provides Official Languages Information System II (OLIS II) data related to military personnel serving in points of service currently identified as providing Communications With and Services to the Public. The prevalence of positions located in offices without a specific designation (“00000” or “99999”) demonstrates the scope of the challenge that exists with positions being incorrectly designated as providing Communications With and Services to the Public when they are not located in offices whose mandate it is to provide such services. The Project to Review the Linguistic Designation of CF Units, Civilian Positions and Military Functions is reviewing the designation of all positions and functions currently listed as providing Communications With and Services to the Public.

5. The over eighty (80) National Defence “Points of Service” that are currently (and correctly) mandated to provide Communications With or Services to the Public are listed in the federal BUROLIS database. All National Defence entries have been thoroughly reviewed during the past year in concert with the Official Languages Branch of PSHRMAC. Moreover, the Director of Official Languages (DOL) continues to work with the Official Languages Branch/PSHRMAC to make certain that National Defence data that appears on the database remains accurate and current. All bilingual offices appearing on the database are periodically contacted and reminded of their obligation to provide services in both Official Languages.

6. To promote awareness of individual rights and obligations related to Part IV of the Act (Communications With and Services to the Public), the Director of Official Languages (DOL) continues to expand and develop the departmental Official Languages awareness program. The requirement has been identified to improve the overall level of understanding of all parts of the Act and related policies throughout the Department. It is our belief that education is the key to accomplishing this.

Support to Military Linguistic Minority Communities

7. The CF considers its support to CF members and their families (“Military Linguistic Minority Communities”) to be an important Language of Work issue. In our view, it is extremely important to ensure that CF members and their families, serving within Canada and abroad, receive the support they require in their preferred language within the communities in which they live. In cases where CF families reside in areas dominated by an Official Language that is not their preferred or First Official Language, they may experience difficulty coping linguistically and culturally. This can place considerable stress upon military personnel and their dependants.

8. Providing appropriate and adequate support in both Official Languages is central to the CF’s ability to successfully carry out its operational role. It is recognized that members of the Army, Navy or Air Force may have difficulty concentrating properly on their work-related tasks if they know that their families are having difficulty coping linguistically (or otherwise) in the local community. National Defence does all that it can to mitigate such situations. Specific examples of the type of support that is provided are outlined in Annex B. The list is demonstrative rather than all-inclusive.

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