Official languages commissioner slams Higgs government over ‘opportunity lost’ | CBC News
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New Brunswick’s official languages commissioner took aim at the Higgs government Monday for failing to “make real progress” toward the equality of the anglophone and francophone communities with the revision of the Official Languages Act.
Shirley MacLean described the process around the review of the act and the resulting amendments last summer as “an opportunity lost.”
She made the comments during the presentation of her annual report for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which outlines the 160 complaints her office received, and 109 requests for information.
Although the amendments to the act were adopted in June 2023 and did not occur during the period covered by her report, MacLean said she could not deliver this year’s message without referring to them. The languages law is reviewed every 10 years.
Timing ‘crucial,’ given ‘worrying’ decline
“New Brunswick has missed a clear opportunity to continue progressing towards the equality of our two official languages, by adopting amendments that would have enhanced these rights,” she said.
Progress was particularly crucial at this time, said MacLean, pointing to the “worrying trends” of the 2021 census, which showed the use of French as a first official language is gradually declining in New Brunswick — the only officially bilingual province in Canada.
The percentage of people in the province who speak predominantly French at home dropped to 26.4 per cent in 2021, from 28 per cent in 2016, according to the data from Statistics Canada, released in August 2022.
A language can be lost and a population can be assimilated. These are two very real risks that we must all work actively to overcome in order to protect our unique culture and the many benefits that derive from our official bilingualism.– Shirley MacLean, official languages commissioner
This “slow erosion” should be a concern to all New Brunswickers, said MacLean.
“The vitality of our province’s two official linguistic communities is integral to our collective culture and identity. … It is evidence of a slow, progressive loss, or at least use of a language — a language that helped build this province as we know it today. And a language that is integral to the lives and culture of the fabric of our province.
“A language can be lost and a population can be assimilated. These are two very real risks that we must all work actively to overcome in order to protect our unique culture and the many benefits that derive from our official bilingualism,” she said.
“Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments have since 1969 created and enhanced official languages legislation ensuring equality of our two official linguistic communities,” MacLean said. “Their actions were non-partisan and reflected the work that government is supposed to do, especially here in New Brunswick, where our constitution places a duty on our government to preserve and promote those rights.”
Shirley MacLean says health-care sector complaints come with a myriad of issues.
As an independent legislative officer, MacLean said it’s not her role to take a position on political matters. But it is her role to “ensure that the government is held to account to do the work it is legislated to do.
“I would be failing in my role if I did not state that the response of the government to the hundreds of submissions and representations to commissioners [Judge Yvette Finn and former deputy minister John McLaughlin] was cursory in nature,” she said.
“Many groups and individuals, including myself, made many recommendations and suggestions to commissioners Finn and McLaughlin who were mandated to prepare a report with recommendations to the government.
Other than the adoption of a Secretariat of Official Languages, the only items retained were “housekeeping in nature.”
Meanwhile, the Official Languages Act of Canada saw “significant enhancements” following a similar review by the federal government, noted MacLean.
Higgs responds
In an emailed statement to CBC, Premier Blaine Higgs said his government will take “the appropriate time” to review MacLean’s report in detail.
“As Canada’s only officially bilingual province, we take our obligations under the Official Languages Act seriously,” he said.
Higgs did offer comments on a few “positive notes,” such as the number of complaints dropping “significantly.”
There were 206 complaints filed in 2021-22, with 104 deemed admissible.
The premier also said he shares “the commissioner’s optimism” about the new secretariat. He said it has accomplished “many things” since it was created less than a year ago.
“Most notably,” Higgs cited the second Thursday in September being declared as Official Languages Day in New Brunswick.
“In doing this, we are reaffirming our commitment to bilingualism and the full development of both official language communities for today, as well as future generations,” said Higgs.
During her presentation, MacLean said the creation of a secretariat was recommended in the past by her office and predecessors, while the commissioners recommended the creation of a Department of Official Languages.
“In both cases, the recommendations emphasized the importance of a department or secretariat being headed by a deputy minister who reports directly to the premier,” she said.
“This did not occur, and the secretariat is a continuation of the official languages branch of Intergovernmental Affairs who were already doing that work.”
Asked by reporters whether creating the secretariat changed anything, MacLean said she can’t say.
“I have yet to see changes, but we don’t know what work they’re doing within government when it comes to the linguistic front within government,” she said in French, noting her office has met with the secretariat only once to date.
“We really hope to see that this will centralize the work within government to move forward with the recommendations which we’ve made,” she added.
‘Big miss’ on language of work, boost immigration
MacLean did not make any official recommendations in her report, but one of the biggest missed opportunities with the act amendments, she said, centred around proposed language of work changes — that both official linguistic communities have the right to work and be evaluated in the language of their choice and to have access to language training.
“To me, that would have been sort of a game changer in terms of government institutions and the people that work within them and around them,” she told CBC.
“So I think that was a big miss and I think that that would really move the dial in New Brunswick.”
MacLean would also like to see the government increase its target for francophone immigration to about 40 per cent, up from the current 33 per cent of all immigrants.
“We’re in a situation where the minority language is losing [democratic] weight in the province,” she said.
“We have to be much more aggressive, in my opinion.”
Health-care complaints most concerning
Of the 160 complaints MacLean’s office received between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023, 97 were deemed admissible, with 87 alleging a lack of service in French and 10 alleging a lack of service in English.
MacLean said most of the complaints involve health care and these are most concerning because patients are in a vulnerable situation.
She highlighted one investigation where seven patients at various Horizon and Vitalité health centres between June 2020 and September 2021 were unable to receive forms issued under the Mental Health Act in the official language of their choice.
These forms trigger a process where a patient who is detained in hospital must appear before a mental health tribunal, which determines whether the patient will remain in a psychiatric unit for treatment for up to 30 days without their consent.
It’s critical the patients understand the content of such forms, she said, noting in most, if not all, of these cases, they have no legal counsel.
Many complaints also dealt with technological issues, such as online payments, said MacLean. Service New Brunswick was the subject of many of these, she said.
In one case, a transaction on a person’s bank statement was identified in English only.
“Details like this must be considered when implementing new systems,” said MacLean.
The 109 requests for information her office received represents an increase of almost 40 over the previous year, she added.
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