Dateline: 10/15/00
In her 1999-2000 Annual Report to Parliament, the Canadian Commissioner of Official Languages slammed the federal government for its performance in implementing the Official Languages Act.
Dyane Adam, the ombudsman for bilingualism in the federal government, said that after three decades federal government offices still have recurring problems in providing services in both official languages, and are showing "persistent inertia." She said that federal institutions are superficial when correcting problems, and are passive at best in their response to complaints.
The Commissioner of Official Languages blamed the lack of commitment to the Official Languages Act on both politicians and senior federal government officials. The Commissioner said that the role of the federal government as the "guardian and promoter" of linguistic duality in Canada, and as the protector of minority language rights, is "critical to the identity of the country."
Official Languages in Canada
The first Canadian Official Languages Act was passed in 1969 and required federal government institutions to provide government services in the official language of choice - to understand and to be understood in English or French. In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms reinforced the language rights of Canadians. In 1988, the Official Languages Act was amended to affirm and specify federal government obligations under the Charter.
Future Focus of Commissioner of Official Languages
The Commissioner gave notice that she will be changing the focus of her activities. While she plans to continue to investigate complaints, she also intends to work on making linguistic duality a central priority for all Canadian federal government institutions. Her report called on the federal government to adopt a comprehensive plan to do just that.
In response to the report by the Commissioner of Official Languages, Prime Minister Chretien issued a statement re-affirming the government's "unwavering" commitment to official bilingualism.
