[lg policy] Ottawa region increasingly representative of Canada=?windows-1252?Q?=92s_?=linguistic duality, language watchdog says

Thu Oct 18 15:27:19 UTC 2012

Ottawa region increasingly representative of Canada’s linguistic
duality, language watchdog says

By Robert Sibley, Ottawa Citizen October 16, 2012

OTTAWA — After nearly half-a-century of official bilingualism, Ottawa
is much improved — and gradually getting better — as a French-friendly
capital city, according to Canada’s official languages commissioner.
“The bilingualism of businesses in tourist areas is Ottawa’s best kept
secret,” Graham Fraser said Tuesday in releasing his annual report.

That positive tone regarding the state of Canada’s linguistic duality
was generally reflected throughout Fraser’s report, which covers the
2011-2012 fiscal period. Despite some concerns about how the federal
government’s deficit cutting may unduly affect French-speakers and
over the Conservative government’s appointment of unilingual
anglophones to the Supreme Court and the deputy ministership of the
auditor general’s office over the last year, Fraser found bilingualism
to be in reasonable shape across the country, albeit often
“invisible.”

“Despite the fact that the Official Languages Act is now into its
fifth decade, Canada’s linguistic duality too often remains
‘incognito’ When everything runs smoothly, bilingual services go
unnoticed — they are just part of normal, everyday life. Only in their
absence do they attract attention. Failure is obvious, success is
invisible.”

Fraser’s office received 518 complaints about bilingualism in the last
year — a far cry from other years. And while only 17 per cent of
Canadians can be considered bilingual, there is, at the same time, an
increasing demand from employers for staff able to speak both official
language, Fraser said, calling on the federal government to boost the
pool of its bilingual workers by focusing on young people, doubling
the number of exchange students and urging universities to offer more
programs in a second language.

“It is still a challenge for some to recognize linguistic duality as a
Canadian value and as a key element in Canada’s identity,” the
language commissioner said. “It is important that the government do a
better job of stressing the importance of Canada’s official languages
and increasing the opportunities for second-language learning by
working with post-secondary institutions, the provinces and the
territories.”

This year’s report devoted considerable attention to the state of
bilingualism in the nation’s capital, offering an analysis of “a
typical visitor’s experience in the National Capital Region.” The
objective was to determine whether it was possible to be served in
French at various locations throughout Ottawa and in English in
Gatineau.

Last summer, Fraser’s staff visited a variety of federal institutions
in the capital, as well as Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier International
Airport, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Centre and the Sparks Street
Mall, looking for evidence as to whether French-speakers could readily
expect to be served in their own language. The visitations generated a
number of often hostile headlines and media stories questioning
whether Fraser was stepping beyond his mandate.

For his part, Fraser found the exercise worthwhile. “I was surprised
at how well the private sector did in terms of offering French
services to customers,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday
afternoon. While there is often little visual evidence — signage,
notices, etc. — on the streets or in the stores to indicate that
bilingual services are available, the reality is that many Ottawa
businesses, particularly in the downtown area, including restaurants
and hotels, can provide such service.

“Our observations showed that while there is a substantial bilingual
capacity for visitors to Canada’s capital, it is often invisible,”
said Fraser. “Few employees of these businesses use the ‘hello,
bonjour’ bilingual greeting to show customers that they are proud to
provide service in both official languages.

“For example, in downtown Ottawa, nearly all hotel employees can
converse in both official languages, yet they often greet guests in
English only,” he said in the report. “This gives the impression that
service is available only in English.”

The report notes that 88 per cent of Ottawa hotels offer service in
French, while banks score 86 per cent and restaurants 67 per cent.
It’s even better in Gatineau, where, according to Fraser,
English-language services in banks, hotels and businesses score in the
high 90s.

On the other hand, “employees of federal institutions, for whom
bilingual greetings are a legal obligation, are doing better.” Indeed,
Fraser found that, generally speaking, federal institutions such as
the National Arts Centre, the Museum of Civilization, the Museum of
Nature and the National Gallery, among others, score high on offering
both visual and in-person evidence of the availability of
French-speaking services.

“All these institutions do extremely well in making bilingual services
available,” he said in the interview.

Not every federal place does as well. The Ottawa airport, for example,
scores only 57 per cent on its provision of French-language services,
while the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority registers 55 per
cent.

Fraser also singles out Canada Post, Elections Canada and Air Canada
as among those federally-regulated institutions that consistently fail
to meet their legal obligations when it comes to bilingual services.

Ottawa-area hoteliers, meanwhile, greeted Fraser’s findings with
pleasure and pride, although some also pointed out that they do not
have an official policy requiring their front-line staff to use the
‘hello, bonjour’ greeting.

Daniel Laliberté, general manager of the Ottawa Marriott, said that
his front-line staff may use the ‘hello-bonjour’ salutation, but they
also use their best judgment as to whether that is appropriate. “We
have a policy to have bilingual people in guest-contact positions.
They will greet you in French or English and then switch to the
language that you prefer.” Signage on the walls throughout the hotel
indicate that services are offered in both official languages, as well
as in Chinese. As well, the hotel’s website is fully bilingual.

Laliberté also pointed out that a one-greeting-fits-all-circumstances
policy doesn’t always work and, sometimes, isn’t necessary. Hotel
staff will often know the language preference of an arriving guest by
the name in guest registry. But even that is not infallible since,
according to Laliberté, francophones often respond in English even
when greeted in French. “From my experience, a lot of the French
people will speak in English.”

Most of the major hotels in the area follow a similar policy,
according to Laliberté, who is also the president of the
Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association.“It is the same in most large
hotels. Most are able to provide services in both languages.”

That seems to be the case at the Fairmont Château Laurier. The hotel’s
director of publicity, Deneen Perrin, said front-line staff aren’t
officially required to use the ‘hello-bonjour’ salutation, but some
will as a matter of long practice. In many cases, staff often
recognize guests from previous visits and will greet them in their
language. Generally, though, guests are greeted English and then staff
switch to French if the guest responds in that language.

“Our front desk agents can speak to any guest in both English and
French,” Perrin said, noting that the hotel requires a bilingual
capacity from those it hires for ‘front-of-the-house’ duties, and 88
per cent of these front-line staff are bilingual. As well, the hotel
keeps a list of staff who speak other languages — everything from
Spanish to Cantonese — and are available to help guests.

“I’m pleasantly surprised to hear (Fraser) is pleased by the
bilingualism in Ottawa,” Perrin said. “And I would agree with his
statement that it is so good. We sell the fact that we are a bilingual
city and we’re proud of that.”

Julie Bélanger, general manager at the Four Points by Sheraton in
Gatineau, echoed that sentiment, pointing out that her establishment,
by the nature of its location, caters to a bilingual clientele. “It is
our goal, and, I believe, our achievement as well, to offers services
in both French and English,” she said. “We hire bilingual staff here
as much as possible. All employees in contact with guests are
definitely hired to be bilingual.”

Such testimony is, no doubt, what Fraser wants to hear, noting that
Ottawa will play a key role in celebrating the 150th anniversary of
Confederation in 1867. “It is critical for the government of Canada
and its partners to continue to pave the way linguistically so that
the capital can truly rise to the occasion,” he said.

“Ottawa is more than capable of serving as a bridge between English-
and French-Canadians, and of realizing its potential to become a truly
Canadian symbol.”

Still, Fraser acknowledged that Ottawa has come a long way since 1970
when, as his report noted, citing the Royal Commission on Bilingualism
and Biculturalism, services in the national capital were “almost
universally available in English, but far from universally available
in French.”

“Unquestionably, from my point of view, there’s been dramatic
improvements,” he said.

With files from Canadian Press and Postmedia News

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Ottawa+region+increasingly+representative+Canada+linguistic+duality+language+watchdog+says/7400278/story.html

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