By T.J. Goertz
Canada’s official bilingualism policy is limiting job opportunities for Ottawa anglophones.
Recently, the federal government designated 75 per cent of the public service jobs in the Ottawa-Gatineau region as “bilingual imperative,” meaning that dual-language skills are mandatory to qualify for a job.
This poses barriers for people like James Treadwell, 22, a Carleton University political science student, who isn’t bilingual but wants to enter the public service workplace in Ottawa. Treadwell grew up in Niagara and took French classes in high school, but describes his skills as “horrible.”
He says that having free intensive language training for people from non-bilingual areas would be a good idea.
“Obviously, if they don’t
provide language training, it puts people from bilingual towns like Ottawa or Montreal at an advantage over other Canadians,” says Treadwell.
Presently, public service employees across the country, and not just in bilingual areas like Ottawa, are being forced to take intensive language-training courses.
Some, according to Ed Cashman, a spokesman from the Public Service Alliance of Canada – the union representing all of Canada’s public servants – are even being nudged towards early retirement.
The 2001 census reported that out of a total population of just under 30 million, about 20 million Canadians speak English alone. Four million speak French, while around five million are bilingual.
According to the union, 79 per cent of the federal public service prefers to work in English, while 21 per cent prefer French.
However, the problem that is emerging in the public service has nothing to do with the number of francophones or anglophones. Instead, it lies in the upper echelons of government bureaucracy, where bilingualism is becoming a necessary component of all management positions, regardless of whether or not the job actually requires the use of both languages.
Bilingual policies are creating an elite force of public-service workers whose primary advantageous skill is that they can speak two languages. It doesn’t matter if an applicant has great skills in areas other than language, such as public relations or computers. If they don’t speak French, there is a defined ceiling on how high they can go in the federal work force, according to Cashman.
He says language-training programs should be available to all federal applicants, if they demonstrate an ability to learn another language.
“All Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast should have an equal opportunity, whether they are currently bilingual or not,” says Cashman. “As long as they have an ability to learn the other language, that should be sufficient.”
There is nothing wrong with federal services being offered in both official languages. There are more than enough francophones in Canada to merit official bilingualism in the federal service. What needs to change is the way in which French-language education and training are encouraged in areas that aren’t as bilingual as Ottawa or Montreal.
In St. Catharines-Niagara, where according to the 2001 census only 31,630 out of 371,400 people were bilingual, the French language is virtually invisible. While there are French-immersion programs available, they aren’t encouraged by school boards or teachers.
The regular elementary and secondary French classes don’t go much beyond doing crosswords and watching French videos. Learning French in an area like Niagara can be an almost impossible feat, and requires a strong aptitude for linguistics.
This could all be changed if a government initiative was developed to provide intensive language training for all Canadians, regardless of whether they live in Trois-Rivieres or Kamloops.
There are federal programs like Explore, which allow students as young as Gr.11 to travel to a community and experience another language for five weeks. Explore is federally funded and accommodations are provided. But it’s only for students and not citizens in the workforce.
Ottawa currently has a large number of private organizations that provide language training at a cost. Among them is Alliance Française, an international organization that specializes in teaching French. Tuition can get expensive but the classes are intensive and very successful, says Alexandru Szabo, the Alliance’s co-ordinator of education here in Ottawa.
Szabo says the classes can be tailored to meet anyone’s needs, regardless of their skill level. There are group courses, as well as more expensive private lessons. The Alliance regularly trains federal government employees, some of whom have their lessons paid for by the government.
But the average citizen should have access to language programs through federal funding even if they aren’t on their way to being hired by the government. If the public service is to accurately represent the make-up of Canadian society, it shouldn’t exclude those who haven’t had the opportunity to learn French.
People who grew up in bilingual areas or homes have an unfair advantage when it comes to snagging government jobs. The playing field needs to be leveled.
All Canadians should have an opportunity to work for the one institution that affects every single one of us.