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The language of public life

Éditorial - You'd think that 30 years of heavy-handed language policies would be enough. But no, the federal government is trying to redouble its efforts to compel the country to speak in both official languages.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion is again saying that the City of Ottawa should be officially bilingual. This comes a year after the new City of Ottawa Council came up with its own bilingualism policy that provides French services where there is a demand. At that time, Mr. Dion pushed for the Ontario government to force the city to be officially bilingual, and it refused, saying it would leave city services to elected city councillors.

Perhaps it's understandable that the federal government would latch onto the language issue as a key one for Canada, built upon the agreement of the founding English and French peoples. But it's such policies as rigid "official bilingualism" that helped create the national dread of "Ottawa." In the case of the City of Ottawa, we've got a policy where top city managers must learn French by 2009 and the total number of required bilingual jobs is about 1,000. People are not complaining about this policy, yet here is a federal minister cherishing the idea that the city will reach some pinnacle of governance with official bilingualism.

How would this happen: By wasting millions of dollars on unused language training? Mr. Dion would be wise to listen to the advice of our Liberal Ottawa mayor, Bob Chiarelli, and leave the city's bilingualism policy alone because it's working fine.

The federal government's renewed push for bilingualism has Official Languages Commissioner Dyane Adam suggesting that bilingualism should simply be part of the job qualification for people wanting to work in the public service, just another education requirement. As it is now, federal employees are often hired for jobs, then given language training. Those who do become bilingual get an $800 bilingual bonus that she proposes to end.

But this, too, is a sweeping language initiative that will invite contempt. There are scientists with PhDs who struggle with French or English. Are we saying that their contributions to national research projects aren't wanted by the federal government? Do we want to say to provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia -- where French education is less prevalent -- that young people need not apply for federal government jobs? As Mr. Dion himself noted in a speech in June, the hiring of francophones to bring the use of French into the public service has reached 31 per cent of the public service, higher than the 25 per cent of the population that is francophone. We don't need more ironclad rules that discourage entire provincial populations from seeking federal employment.

Running any government, whether it's the federal government or a city government, is a complex business with needs for all kinds of skills. Nycole Turmel, president of the Public Service Alliance, notes that federal employees on the west coast, for instance, may be especially valuable because they speak Chinese or Japanese.

Even in the national capital region, where 63 per cent of federal workers are in bilingual jobs, there are many government jobs currently posted with the Public Service Commission -- chemist, nurse, computer expert, scientist, land surveyor -- where language is just one of many that a sensible employer would be seeking.

Sensible flexibility, rather than sweeping new bilingualism edicts, is in order.