On October 31, 2022 PIPSC submitted its comments in writing to this Committee regarding Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts. This was prepared by our internal Task Force on Official Languages.
We support the protection of both official languages and Aboriginal languages; the right of all employees to work in the official language of their choice; the obligation to provide services in both official languages; and the modernization of the Bilingual Bonus Directive to better encourage the use of both official languages in the federal public service.
Our concerns:
- The federal government is failing to promote respect for language rights in the public service by failing to adequately fund language resources and resources and language training for its employees;
- The tools used for day-to-day activities are not always available in both official languages (documents, teleconferencing systems, software and applications, etc.);
- Inequality in the designation of language requirements of positions affects career progression and training;
- The evaluation of second official language skills is problematic;
- The lack of a coordinated and well-funded language strategy for federal public service members compromises our members’ career opportunities, especially in light of recent developments in the areas of telework, pan-Canadian virtual teams, distribution of national portfolios and digital service delivery.
We submitted several recommendations to the Committee on this issue that affects all federal public service employees.