LANG Committee Report

Dissenting Opinion of the New Democratic Party:

New Democrats believe that a comprehensive effort is needed to reinforce bilingualism and the use of the French language in the public service, both for Governor at Council positions and the wider public service. The government, by adopting Modernization of the Official Languages Act, has acknowledged the decline of French, and now the Treasury Board has to act accordingly.

Workers and Unions such as the PSAC and PIPSC have been clear about the challenges in the public service when it comes to bilingualism. The bilingualism bonus has not meaningfully increased since 1977, reflecting that successive Liberal and Conservative governments undervalued second language skills and particularly have discounted the value of the French language leading to its decline in Canada. Increasing the bonus will lead to more public servants pursuing bilingualism. This will then in turn increase the potential pool of bilingual candidates for senior management positions in the federal public service and to Governor in Council appointments. To recruit senior public servants that speak both languages, both languages should be fostered and rewarded.

Both PIPSC and PSAC support a substantive increase to the bilingualism bonus.

As stated by Alexandre Silas Regional Executive Vice-President, National Capital Region, Public Service Alliance of Canada): “If the government really wants to support official languages, PSAC believes it must raise the bilingualism bonus to acknowledge the value of work done in both official languages.”’^[1]” We in the NDP believe this will have a trickle-down effect of also making sure the private sector values bilingual employees, revitalizing the French language in Canadian workplaces.

In their written statement PSAC stated that “Over the past 50 years, the bilingual bonus has been deemed the most appropriate way to recognise the additional value of speaking both official languages. However, the bilingual bonus has become nothing more than a symbolic payment. It should genuinely reflect the value of the additional skill and the actual service rendered. If this initial amount had been indexed to inflation, the bilingualism bonus would now be worth approximately $4,000.”^[2] The NDP agrees.

While some witnesses questioned the need for a bilingual bonus, the NDP wants to echo the view of PSAC that “ Past committees and witnesses have expressed that the knowledge of the two official languages should be considered a professional skill that is reflected in the salaries of federal employees. However, this view does not consider the complexity of the classification system in the federal public service. Under the current classification system, multiple positions are lumped together under single groups and levels which makes it simply impossible to differentiate between unilingual and bilingual employees.”^[3] The NDP feels that the Treasury board, in light of this evidence, must increase the bilingualism bonus up to 1977 levels that match inflation.

Jennifer Carr, President of the PIPSC echoed this view and talked about how employees currently not eligible for the bilingualism bonus should be considered “  We need to revise the bilingual bonus. In this assessment, we also need to ask whether the public servants in question are providing a service to the public. There are many public servants who are bilingual, but who occupy a unilingual position, not a bilingual one, and who therefore do not receive the bilingual bonus.” ^[4]

A problem identified by unions is the use of outsourcing of language training. It is the view of the NDP that any outsourcing of language services that can be done by good public union-paying jobs is unacceptable.  We agree with Jennifer. Carr that “We're also concerned about how the use of private contractors is making things even worse. Contracting out is being done outside of the normal rules the government has set for itself, ignoring the language and diversity requirements that our government says are its priorities. This means that on top of runaway costs and the damaging loss of institutional knowledge, contracting out is hurting the government's ability to offer quality services in both official languages.”^[5] Outsourcing language training is just another example of the devaluation of the French language.

This view is echoed by PSAC “ We also want the Treasury Board to stop outsourcing language training to subcontractors and focus on creating its own training program. This would involve public service workers, who can adapt to the specific demands of the federal public service.”^[6]

Another issue that was raised in testimony was consideration of making Indigenous languages eligible for the bilingualism bonus, which is supported by the PSAC and PIPSC. “We're also proposing an indigenous language allowance for federal workers who speak an indigenous language. That would be an important step towards reconciliation.

Data collected from departments by the Joint Committee on the Use of Indigenous Languages in the Public Service, which included Treasury Board and PSAC representatives, established that several hundred federal workers use indigenous languages in the course of their work. These workers deserve to be recognized for the value they bring to the federal public service.”^[7]

Many public servants find it necessary to communicate in an Indigenous language to do their job properly, which should be valued both in senior positions and in the wider public service.

Therefore New Democrats recommends:

1. That recommendation 5 be changed to: To attract more bilingual employees to the public service and encourage their progression into management positions, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat must heed the calls of public service unions to significantly increase the bilingualism bonus from $800 to $4,000 which would better reflect the value of bilingual employees' additional skills and the services they provide, aligning the bonus with its 1977 salary level when adjusted for inflation.
2. That the Treasury Board expand the eligibility of the bilingualism bonus, at large within the public service, including unilingual positions, in order to strengthen the French language at all levels of government.
3.  That the Treasury Board implement a language allowance that would recognize the role that federal government workers play in supporting the delivery services and programs in Indigenous languages.
4. That the government must provide comprehensive, accessible and flexible language training opportunities for all employees.
5. That Treasury Board stop outsourcing language training to subcontractors and focused on creating its own training programs.