Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique

Annual Report 2002-2003

> AT the Federal LEVE!, continued

FFCB Response to the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages

As she does every year, this past fall the Commissioner of Official Languages, Dyane Adam, submitted her Annual Report on service delivery. The Fédération des francopho- nes de la Colombie-Britannique attended a presentation by the Office of the Commissioner in which the main results were made public. The FFCB agrees with Ms. Adam’s findings that, although there has been much progress made by the federal government, it is still slow and sporadic.

The FFCB supports the report’s recommenda- tions on allocating necessary funding to solid

actions, such as implementation of the Dion Plan, as well as to providing adequate resources to the Treasury Board so that it can fully realize its role and have a presence in the regions.

However the FFCB was disappointed to read in the report that much of the analysis relates to initiatives implemented in Ottawa that have not yet fully reached the regions. The Fédération believes that there should be more focus on the regions and encourages Commissioner Dyane Adam to ensure that policies developed in Ottawa are actually

implemented across the country. In previous reports, regional details were included, providing solid data for the province as a whole. The Fédération would like to see this formula reinstated.

The FFCB also noted that out of the 22 recom- mendations published in the Commissioner’s report in April 2001, she reported on only four being effective this year. Ms. Adam was disappointed that such measures as increasing the number of bilingual civil servants and reinstating language aptitude tests have still not been implemented.

The Fédération and the Dion Plan

Those behind the plan from left to right:

Claude Provencher (President of the FFCB), Stéphane Dion (Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs),

Yseult Friolet (Executive Director of the FFCB), Robert Asselin (Special Advisor to Minister Dion),

surrounded by representatives from French organizations throughout the province.

On March 12, 2003, the government revealed its official languages action plan, more commonly known as the Dion Plan. The FFCB reacted positively to the federal government’s plan, as it takes into consideration the needs and requirements of minority communities through the granting of new monies in the order of $751.3 million over five years. This

action plan covers areas of major concern to minority community development and will result in more meaningful results in priority areas such as education.

For the FFCB, this is the first time in a very long time that the government has been granted the means to take effective action on official

languages with a solid action plan that covers everything from healthcare to early childhood development, immigration and justice.

In addition to the funding that has been announced, the FFCB is pleased to see the implementation of an accountability frame- work and the maintaining of a position of minister responsible for coordinating official languages. These elements are in keeping with FFCB recommendations, and the Plan’s provisions will help ensure the future of linguistic duality in this country.

Minister Dion presented his Plan at a luncheon organized by the Fédération at the Maison de la francophonie on March 14, 2003 where he met with thirty people representing provincial Francophone organizations.