Schedule B - Yukon Strategic Plan on French Language Services 2006-2007

• Objective 1 - Strengthen the Policy, Legislative and Administrative Framework
• Objective 2 -Support Service Development, Planning and Delivery in a Priority Area
• Objective 3 - Ensure Formal Communication and Consultation with the Francophone

1. BACKGROUND

   Yukon has been delivering French-language services to its French-speaking citizens since 1988, when the Languages Act was proclaimed. The Canada-Yukon Language Agreement signed in April 1988 assured that Canada would "bear all costs incurred in developing, enhancing and implementing French language rights and services in Yukon."

2. CURRENT CONTEXT

   1. Creation of the French Language Services Directorate: On April 7, 2006, Yukon announced the creation of the French Language Services Directorate to replace the Bureau of French Language Services. This significantly enhances the profile of French-language services (FLS) in the government: there is now an official designation of a Minister responsible for the French Language Services Directorate, the indeterminate staffing of a director (with a community representative on the selection committee), the delegation of deputy minister authorities to the director for financial and human resource management, the direct reporting relationship of the director to the Minister responsible for the French Language Services Directorate and an invitation to the director to sit on the Deputy Minister's Review Committee. The Francophone community believes this structure will ensure French language services are addressed strategically at a higher level in the government of Yukon.
   2. Evaluation report on Canada-Yukon Funding Agreement on the Development, Enhancement and Implementation of French Language Services, 1999-2004: Prepared with the assistance of the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, this report is the result of data gathered within the government of services offered, individual consultations with 9 Francophone community organizations, a questionnaire to employees in the Yukon Government who provide French language services and telephone interviews with members of the Francophone community. The key findings of the evaluation were:
      • While there is an increased request for services in French, many community members are still hesitant about asking for services and would feel more comfortable doing so if there was a more active offer of services: signage offering the services, identifiers on service staff to identify their ability to serve in French; available French-speaking staff at service points so requesters of French-language services do not have to ask for or wait for or forgo services if a staff person is on break, training, sick or vacation leave;
      • There is inconsistency in the level of understanding by government employees of the Languages Act and the Yukon's obligations to provide services in French;
      • The monthly working committee made up of community members and staff at the Bureau of French language services is an important and effective mechanism to address issues;
      • The quality of French translation of the government's communications with the Francophone community through signage, advertising, brochures, publicity campaigns, press releases is very high;
      • There is a need for an increase in funding from Canada to meet its obligations in the 1988 agreement to fund all costs of French language services to enable Yukon to deliver adequately in the priority areas;
      • There is a need for a cost of living clause or other mechanism in the 5-year agreements to enable Yukon to meets its salary obligations in the last years of the agreement without reducing services;
      • There were some specific recommendations regarding French-language training for Yukon Government employees;
      • There is a need for a permanent French Language web coordinator position to create and maintain French content on the Yukon Government's website to meet the increased demand for information and services via the Internet.
   3. Translation: One of the main services that the Directorate provides to the 18 departments and agencies is translation. The requests have increased significantly over the years for the general translation of advertising, promotional campaigns, reports, guidelines, forms etc. This has been compounded with the need for translation and updates for the government website. As a result, a significant backlog exists in the priority areas. The devolution of natural resource management from Canada to Yukon in 2003 has also added demand for translation services. Departments are both "frustrated and resigned" (quote from a meeting of departmental coordinators) at the delays in getting material translated. The Directorate must increase its number of translators from 3 to 4 and plans to do so for 2007-2008. Recruitment for this specialized skill and experience is most often from out of territory and involves significant recruitment costs (advertising, testing, travel for interviews and relocation). The Department of Justice has two full-time dedicated legislative counsels and one support staff dealing with the translation of acts, regulations, ministerial orders and orders in council. Salary costs have been reimbursed to Justice from the Canada-Yukon Funding Agreement on a percentage basis for the last few years. As this is a core cost of meeting the obligations in the Languages Act, full salary costs must be provided. Plans are to do so as of 2006-2007.
   4. Interpretation: The Directorate translators have some training in interpretation and they are able to provide interpretation services for key meetings between the community and the Government (consultations, forums etc). They are not trained in the specialized field of legal interpretation and cannot provide that service to the courts. It is difficult to plan for this service as it depends on the number and types of requests for French language services. In some cases, the legislative counsels in Justice may assist; otherwise specialized interpretation services must be contracted from southern Canada at significant cost.
   5. Staffing: In the past, some departments were reimbursed a percentage of salaries for bilingual positions from the Canada–Yukon Funding Agreement. When this was no longer feasible with the funding available, the reimbursement amounts were capped. In order to address the recommendation in the evaluation report for more bilingual staff and to deal with the question of incentive or compensation for departments, Yukon must develop a staffing policy for the hiring of French speaking staff. This will be done in stages over the next 2 years (2006-2008) via the special project funding from Canadian Heritage.
   6. Training: The French Languages Services Directorate manages the Adult French Language Training Centre which provides training for Yukon Government employees and the general public. Yukon administers the Centre through its own funds and revenue generation. The Public Service Commission provides funding for staff to attend beginners, intermediate and advanced French-language training as well as 2-week immersion. There is a significant increase in the number of employees attending the classes. There is no formal mechanism to translate or account for this training into increased services in French. An analysis of the situation and research will be conducted to provide information and recommend some options to assist the Government in developing guidelines to capitalize on its training investment. This will be done over the next 2 years (2006–2008) linked with the staffing initiative via special project funding from Canadian Heritage.
   7. Language testing for bilingual employees: To date, this is done on an informal basis using the services of the translators or French-speaking staff. A more formal mechanism needs to be developed. Some research is being conducted on options.
   8. NWT court judgment: On April 25, 2006, the Supreme Court of the NWT rendered its decision on the case of La Fédération Franco-Ténoise v. Attorney General of Canada, 2006. While the judgment has no jurisdiction on Yukon and the situation and legislation in NWT are different from Yukon's, the decision is of interest in that it indicates the interpretation that can be given to a territory's obligations to deliver French language services. While Yukon is confident that it has demonstrated both good-will and substantial efforts to meet its obligations, there are areas in service, communications and policy which it needs to enhance. Yukon requires Canada's funding assistance to do so.

   9. Community funding: Yukon has agreed that the use of funds in the Canada-Yukon Funding Agreement are for French language services to the community and should not be used to fund community projects unless the project is specifically for the community to deliver a service on behalf of the Yukon Government. In 2004–2005, the amount of funding that Yukon provided to the Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY) for community projects was $140,000. In 2005–2006, Canada increased the Association franco-yukonnaise's (AFY) funding by $140,000 and left Yukon's funding at $1.35 million thus providing a net increase of $140,000 for Yukon. While this was in place for a year, it was expected that Canada would identify funds to continue this arrangement for the next 3 years of the 5 year cycle. For 2005–2006, this additional funding permitted Yukon to maintain the percentage reimbursement for the 2 legislative counsels in Justice.

3. OUTSTANDING ISSUES Health programs: There were no clauses referring to French language services in the devolution agreements between Canada and Yukon for the Whitehorse General Hospital in 1993 and universal health programs in 1997. The community has long sought a resolution to this issue. In 2002, Health Canada asked Yukon to submit a plan for the implementation of French language services for these 2 areas. Yukon submitted a 5-year plan to Canada in October 2003. To date, there has been no response from Canada regarding the funding of this plan. The community is becoming impatient and is considering going forward with a court case against Canada and Yukon to obtain a resolution. Yukon would like to avoid court action and needs Canada's assistance in resolving this issue as soon as possible.

4. 
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   PRIORITIES FOR 2006–2007
   1. Create the French Language Services Directorate with DM delegations to Director;
   2. Appoint a Minister responsible for the French Language Services Directorate;
   3. Effectively resolve or at least move forward significantly on the outstanding issue regarding funding of the action plan for transferred health programs;
   4. Complete Phase 1 of a staffing policy (or guidelines) for the hiring of French-speaking employees and training guidelines for French language training for employees and continue work on language testing options;
   5. Ensure adequate funding via negotiations with Canadian Heritage to support French language service delivery in the priority areas identified by the community: communications, health, social services, economic development, justice and public safety, as well as in certain fields of education that are not covered under the Canada-Yukon Agreement on Minority-Language Education and Second Official Language Instruction 2005-06 to 2008-09;

   6. Prepare an awareness campaign to highlight Yukon's obligations to deliver French language services to be presented to all GY departments in the 2007 calendar year.

5. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
   1. The community has asked that Yukon address the recommendations in the evaluation report of 1999–2004;
   2. Regular meetings of the Working Group (made up of community and directorate staff) provided input to the development of this plan;

   3. The community leadership have met with the premier and key cabinet ministers in community and individual consultations and have asked that Yukon seek adequate funding from Canada to meet its obligations in providing French language services.

6. STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT
   1. Deputy ministers of departments and presidents of territorial corporations are responsible for the development and implementation of departmental action plans. An updated format will be implemented for 2006-2007 to facilitate planning and reporting on their department's or agency's results based on their identified performance indicators.
   2. A formal evaluation is planned for 2007-2008 so that recommendations can be addressed in the development of the 2009-2014 strategic plan.

Objective 1: Strengthen the Policy, Legislative and Administrative Framework

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Objective 2: Support Service Development, Planning and Delivery in Priority Area

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Objective 3: Ensure Formal Communication and Consultation with the Community

Services - Yukon

• Agreement - Canada Yukon Agreement on the Development, Enhancement and Implementation of French Language Rights and Services 2006-2007
• Schedule A - Administrative Procedures and Conditions
• Schedule B - Yukon Strategic Plan on French Language Services 2006-2007
• Schedule C - Model for the certified final report on outputs and actual expenditures