New Brunswick still has 'a long way to go' for language equality, says watchdog

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that New Brunswick still has "a long way to go" to achievereal equality between the two official languages, according to the province's languages watchdog.

In March, during the first month of the pandemic, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received "many" complaints related to the provincial government's news briefings on COVID-19, said commissionerShirley MacLean, whotabled her annual report in Frederictonon Wednesday.

The complaintswere mainly related to the government's failure to provide messagingin French, she said.

"In times of crisis, it is important to ensure equal treatment of the province's two official languages," she wrote in her report, entitled Protecting and Promoting New Brunswickers' Language Rights.

The report, MacLean's first since she took on the role in January,outlines 133 complaints her office received between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020.Of those, 62 were deemed admissible, with 53 based on a lack of service in French and nine based on a lack of service in English.

MacLean did not provide a total number of COVID-19-related complaints, but did note 10 were filedagainst the premier's office between March 23-29.

Overall, theyexpressed "dissatisfaction" with the fact Premier Blaine Higgsspeaks "little or no French," that he asked a francophone reporter on one occasion to pose her questions in English, and that Englishis used predominantly during the briefings that are broadcast live through the government's social media accounts, "showing a lack of respect for the French language."

Although Higgsdoes speak some French during the news conferences, he mostly speaks English and relies on simultaneous interpreters when reporters ask questions in French. The other main participant in the news conferences, Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health, is fluently bilingual.

It is not acceptable for English to be the main language used and French to be accessible only through simultaneous interpretation.- Shirley MacLean, commissioner of official languages

MacLean, the firstanglophone to hold the languages commissioner position since it was created in 2003,saidshe deemed the situation "urgent" and contacted the premier's chief of staff on March 25 and 26.

In a follow-up letter to Higgsdated March 27, she acknowledgesthe master of ceremonies now invitesreporters to ask their questions in the official language of their choice.

But MacLean urges news conference participants to speak French more often and suggests they speak more slowly to enable the public to understand the simultaneous interpretation clearly.

On Wednesday, MacLean commended Higgs for his efforts to speak Frenchbut told reporters it would be "preferable" for the primary spokesperson to be "completely bilingual."

If Higgs is "not capable" of that, she said, pointing out politicians are not obligated to be, then he should appoint someone who is.

"It is not acceptable for English to be the main language used and French to be accessible only through simultaneous interpretation," MacLeanstates in her report.

The current practice reduces the impact of the government's message to francophones, she said, vowing tocontinue to advocate for the use of a French-speaking spokesperson during government news conferences.

Other COVID-related complaints involved border checkpoints, hospitals and COVID-19 testing sites, said MacLean.

Just over halfthe 62 admissible complaints came from the Fredericton/River Valley area, likely because "the machinery of government" is based in the capital, she said, whileabout one-third were from theMoncton and southeast area.

Horizon aware of 'shortcomings'

Four complaints were filed against the Horizon Health Network, the province's English-speaking regional health authority, and one was filed against the Vitalit Health Network, the province's French-speaking regional health authority.

One of the Horizon complaints involved13 incidents that occurred mainly at the Moncton Hospital's psychiatric unit between February and June 2019.

An investigation by MacLean's officefound the complaint regarding alack of an active offer of service in both official languages and deficiencies in the delivery of service,both in person and over the telephone,was "in large part founded"in 12 of the 13 incidents.

Although Horizon appears to have the necessary "measures, tools, and protocols" todeliverservices in both official languages, some employees haven't developed the "reflex" of making an active offerorof using a contingency plan if they're unable to speak the language of the recipient's choice, such as immediately finding a bilingual co-worker to help, she said.

"More seriously still, employees of the institution insisted that the complainant speak English" and the violations occurred over more than three months, said MacLean.

Horizonis "aware of its shortcomings"andis taking action to correct the situation, according to the report.

MacLeanhas recommended Horizon's official languages departmentconductmonthly audits of the Moncton Hospital's psychiatric unit and send the resultsto the unit's director as well as to Horizon's CEO. The CEO should forward the results to the language commissioner'soffice every six months so she can monitor their progress, she said.

In addition, MacLean recommends that Horizon review the psychiatry unit's contingency plan and that satisfaction surveys dealing with official languages be made available to visitors in the unit.

Vitalitacknowledges violation

With the Vitalit complaint, the complainant called the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital in May 2019 and an employee answered in French only. When the complainant asked about her right to receive an active offer of service in both official languages, the employee replied that Stella-Maris-de-Kent is a French hospital.

"Without an active offer, the whole dynamic changes," said MacLean. "It is up to the citizen to request service in his or her language and the person often hesitates to demand this right."

She said Vitalit recognized not having made the active offer was in violation of the Official Languages Act, which she referred to as the OLA.

"It is incumbent upon the institution to ensure that all employees understand not only the importance of the OLA, but also, in the spirit of the act, that they have the utmost respect for the language rights of all New Brunswickers."

MacLean recommends Stella-Maris-de-Kentcontinue to conduct unexpected audits, on a regular basis, to ensurestaff are fully compliant with the act, andif the audits continue to demonstrate "a lack of conformity" regardingthe active offer of service, that the hospital develop a strategy to addresses thematter.

12 recommended changes to act

MacLean's report also makes 12 recommendations to improve the Official Languages Act, whichmust be reviewed by Dec. 31, 2021.

Some of the recommendationsinclude:

• Clarifying the obligations of police departments.
• Legislating the right of provincial public servants to work in the official language of their choice to "once and for all" compel the government to take the necessary measures to allow francophone public servants to work in and be supervisedin French.
• Implementing measures to improve compliance with the OLA, including imposing specific deadlines for replying to investigation reports and authorizing the use of enforcement agreements for institutions that contravene the OLA on a regular basis.

MacLean hopes to see a review committee appointed before Jan. 1.

The review process should be transparent, she said, andanyonewho wants to make submissions to the committee should be given an opportunity to do so.

"It's the piece of legislation that covers our language rights in New Brunswick and it should be open to the public."

The last review of the act wasin 2013.

Another priority for MacLean is the creation of an official languages secretariat to support the premier in implementing the act, as recommended by her predecessor.

"It is the the opinion of my office that the failure to gain any real traction with regard to the [2015] officiallanguages implementation plan stems from a lack of structure and adequate resources to help the premier, who is ultimately responsible to implement the provisions of the Official Languages Act," she said.

There is no department ordeputy minister whose chief responsibility is official languages.

"We believe that the creation of an official languages secretariat within government would help streamline this important work."