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I have seen some commentary about "discrimination against unilingual Anglophones" in the federal public service. I have a few things to say.
I co-chaired a process in the federal public service a couple of years ago on the state of bilingualism. We consulted widely and issued a report that can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/corporate/clerk/publications/next-level.html
We tried to grapple with many complex issues related to language of work. It isn't a perfect report. We probably didn’t get the recommendations exactly right. It is a product of a bureaucratic process but we tried to find balance.
The report’s diagnosis and analysis are largely right and remain true. I want to highlight a few points...
The federal public service operates largely in English. It is much more difficult for Francophones who are not perfectly bilingual than for Anglophones who aren’t perfectly bilingual. That is simply the reality.
Many senior ‘bilingual’ Anglophone executives cannot carry on a conversation in French. If a Francophone can’t carry on a conversation in English, they will not get to be a senior executive.
In my time at PCO, almost every briefing note, memorandum to cabinet, or presentation to deputy ministers was in English. If you can’t write and present well in English, your career is limited. If you can’t write or present in French, it has no impact on your career.
You have to really ignore reality to see discrimination against ‘unilingual Anglophones’ in the federal public service as the problem.
The alternative is to allow unilingual Anglophones to take on executive positions, forcing everyone who works for them to work in English. That is real discrimination.
Not becoming an ADM because you couldn’t clear a very low French language hurdle is not discrimination.
Not becoming an ADM because you couldn’t clear a very low French language hurdle is not discrimination.
During consultations for our report, we heard from mid career public servants who were concerned that their lack of French limited their career prospects. Many of us had some sympathy for these frustrated public servants. But the answer is for them to learn French.
I would also add a different point: the federal public service at the executive level has a huge diversity problem. This is in part because so many public servants come from the National Capital Region. We need to recruit better from elsewhere.
We need more racial diversity in the senior ranks of the federal public service. And more public servants with more diverse experiences in provincial and municipal governments, other sectors and from other regions.
The leadership of the federal public service is aware of these challenges and lots of good people are trying to make progress.
We are a diverse country and we are a bilingual country. These reinforce each other and can be better reflected in our public service.
We are a diverse country and we are a bilingual country. These reinforce each other and can be better reflected in our public service.
