OTTAWA — Senior officials have considered offering Indigenous language training to federal employees and possible exemptions for those already speaking from requiring proficiency in English and French, according to newly released documents.
Deputy ministers from several departments discussed the issue last fall.
A memo, released to The Canadian Press under federal access to information laws, reported “growing tension” between official language requirements and Indigenous languages.
Under Canada’s Official Languages Act, federal institutions must provide work environments that allow employees to communicate in French and English and offer services to Canadians in either language.
As such, communication in both languages is expected of senior managers and there are a number of public service jobs where bilingualism is mandatory. However, there is room for an employee to take courses and learn French or English as a second language.
The memo published last fall indicated that a working group had been formed to make changes to the official languages requirements. He said some Indigenous officials from a network of about 400 who work for the federal government have asserted the need for a “blanket exemption.”
“My personal view is that there are possibilities for exemption – if the person speaks an Indigenous language,” Gina Wilson, a deputy minister who advocates for the needs of Indigenous federal public servants, wrote in an email to her colleagues. last November.
“Our GG (Governor General) is a good example.”
The appointment of Inuk leader Mary Simon in 2021 sparked discussion – and some controversy – about bilingualism in Canada’s highest office, given that Simon, the first Indigenous person appointed governor general, spoke English and Inuktitut, but not French.
Simon, who was born in Kangiqsualujjuaq in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, said she attended a federal day school and was unable to learn French.
She pledged to do so after her appointment and took lessons, delivering a few remarks in French in public speeches.
Official Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge said more than 1,000 complaints about Simon’s lack of French were filed with his office after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed her to the position.
Language training has been identified as one of the issues preventing Aboriginal employees in the federal public service from advancing in their careers.
A report written by officials on the occasion of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration recommended that Indigenous people be exempted from official language requirements and instead be given the opportunity to learn the language of their community.
It is unclear whether Ottawa plans to move forward with changes to language requirements, training or exemptions.
A spokeswoman for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said the department and Indigenous Services Canada “do not intend to offer department-wide Indigenous language training,” noting that employees have offered workshops in the past.
He said Indigenous employees are encouraged to talk to their managers about language training.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller, an Anglophone who speaks French and is learning Mohawk, said in an interview that the idea of an exemption is a sensitive issue.
“Inevitably, when you have to make one of these decisions, it’s most often, and almost always, to the detriment of French,” said Miller, who represents a riding in Montreal.
“I don’t think it’s something most people would find acceptable – there are resources to learn it and I think there is the availability to do it.”
In their talks last fall, senior officials suggested ways to address Aboriginal officials’ language concerns.
Ideas included giving more time to learn a second language and even offering Indigenous language training, including to non-Indigenous public servants, as a sign of reconciliation.
“I certainly remember during my French lessons having this nagging thought in my heart that I would be so much more open to this if I had the opportunity to train in my own Algonquin language,” Wilson wrote in his e-mail.
“I had a pretty good foundation in both, but of course my French is much better than my Algonquin now.”
Miller said he supports the idea of Ottawa offering courses, especially to Indigenous public servants who haven’t had the chance to learn those languages on their own.
He said one of the challenges would be to ensure that Ottawa does not alienate language teachers from the communities.
“When you look at the fragility of Indigenous languages across the country, you wouldn’t want to be in a situation where we’re taking really valuable assets – people in many circumstances who are old enough and just pulling dictionaries out of their communities where communities are struggling to regain their languages.”
The same concern was highlighted by government officials. They and Miller said Ottawa is facing calls to ensure it provides services to Inuit in Inuktitut.
“We could do better on that,” he said.
One change Lori Idlout, MP for Nunavut, said should happen — and officials also outlined in the memo — is for Ottawa to expand the $800 annual bonus it pays employees. bilingual to those who speak an Aboriginal language.
The representative said she was approached by a union about federal employees in Nunavut who speak Inuktitut but cannot access compensation because they are not bilingual in French.
“Meanwhile, they provide valuable services to Inuit in Inuktitut,” she said. “It’s a huge problem.”
Idlout said residents of Nunavut face many barriers when it comes to accessing federal services in general, including in Inuktitut.
According to the memo, officials recommend the government explore a pilot project in Nunavut where jobs that require them to speak Inuktitut “would not require second official language skills.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 14, 2022.
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