SUMMARY
AIRPORT AUTHORITIES
Introduction:
This audit was performed by the Official Languages Branch (OLB)
of the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC)1
as a follow up to an audit conducted in the year 2000 of the Vancouver
International Airport (Vancouver), Calgary International Airport (Calgary),
Winnipeg International Airport (Winnipeg), Toronto Pearson International Airport
(Toronto), Montreal-Dorval International Airport (Montreal), Greater Moncton
International Airport (Moncton) and Halifax International Airport (Halifax). The
goal of this audit is to determine whether services at these airports allow the
public to communicate and receive services in the official language of their
choice in compliance with the Official Languages Act (OLA),
the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public)
Regulations (Regulations) and Treasury Board (TB)
official languages policy.
The Airport Authority (AA) of Montreal continues to be
exemplary in fulfilling its responsibilities under the OLA,
while AA Toronto, Moncton and Halifax continue to
satisfactorily address many of their official language responsibilities.
Although AA Vancouver and Calgary have made some progress
with respect to compliance with OLA, many aspects continue to
require improvement. Finally, AA Winnipeg has done very
little to address the findings of the prior report which denoted that
significant improvement was required.
Language Obligations:
Bilingual services were nearly always available at all airport information
centres. However, AA Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg
are not consistently providing bilingual documentation as well as bilingual
active offer over the telephone, particularly outside business hours. In
addition, the information concerning Health, Safety and Security and Services to
the travelling public on the AA Calgary and Winnipeg web
sites is not available in both official languages. Changes to the AA
Vancouver and Halifax Web sites are not always made simultaneously in both
official languages. All AAs except Montreal and Toronto
did not have satisfactory controls nor monitoring mechanisms to assess client
satisfaction and the level of bilingual services provided.
It is recommended that AA Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg
ensure that bilingual publications are always available and that bilingual
active offer is consistently provided over the telephone. AA
Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax may wish to remind and inform all AA
staff that may have contact with the public (such as volunteers, duty managers,
airport fee collection) of their official language obligations. It is also
recommended that AA Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax
ensure that sections of their Web sites dealing with Health, Safety and Security
and Services to travelling public are translated and that any changes to these
sections are made simultaneously in both official languages.
Signage & Self Service Machines:
In general, all AAs are making concerted efforts to ensure
that all signage at their respective airports are bilingual. In
particular, AA Toronto, Montreal, Moncton and Halifax should
be commended for the extent to which their interior and exterior signage is
bilingual.
However, we noted unilingual signs and signs with translation errors at all
airports visited. For example, all airports visited had parking and car
rental signs that were in English only or that contained translation errors,
particularly at AA Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.
It is recommended that all AAs implement or improve
monitoring mechanisms to regularly monitor postings both inside and outside the
airport, including all self-service equipment, paying special attention to the
quality of the translations.
Contract Services:
AA Montreal and Moncton provide commendable services in
both official languages through contractors, as was noted in the prior
audit. In addition, foreign exchange services are being provided in both
official languages by all AAs, a significant improvement from
the prior audit. AA Toronto is encouraged to continue
the regular monitoring of the application of the language clauses in contracts
with third parties.
It was noted at AA Toronto and Halifax that some of the
services provided by restaurants, duty free shops and car rental agencies were
not bilingual. This represents an overall weakening of official language
services by AA Halifax contractors as compared with the prior
audit. In addition, duty free, restaurant, car rental and air transport
contractors (excluding Air Canada) at AA Vancouver, Calgary
and Winnipeg are providing few services in both official languages, as was noted
in the prior audit.
All AAs except Montreal and Toronto did not adequately
inform their contractors of their official language obligations, and did not
have satisfactory controls nor monitoring mechanisms to assess the level of
bilingual services of contractors. Furthermore, AA
Calgary, Toronto, Moncton and Halifax had inadequate official language clauses
in some of their contracts with tenants that provide services to the public.
It is recommended that all AAs (particularly Vancouver,
Calgary and Winnipeg) establish, implement and enforce documented monitoring
mechanisms and clear official language policies to ensure that contractors
respect the OLA and the language clauses of their
contracts. It is further recommended that AAs hold
regular information sessions and meetings with all contractors that provide
services to the public to remind them of the scope of their official language
obligations and discuss the results of regular monitoring of bilingual
services. Finally, it is recommended that all contracts be reviewed to
ensure they have clear and explicit official language clauses, and that
contracts be revised as necessary when they come up for renewal.
Hotels:
AA Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto have not made
sufficient efforts to ensure their airport hotels provide signage and services
in both official languages, contrary to what was recommended in the prior
audit. It is thus not surprising that hotels have not made any
improvements to services or signage since the prior audit. In fact, hotel
representatives generally had no idea of their obligations under the OLA.
It is recommended that AA Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and
Toronto improve their efforts to ensure that airport hotels respect their
language obligations. For example, hotel contracts should be reviewed and
revised to include appropriate language clauses to ensure that OLA
language obligations are respected. In addition, all signage and
documentation providing instructions to guests should be translated into both
official languages with priority being given to safety and security material.
Health, Safety & Security:
Some of the health, safety and security related signs, standardized
announcements, documentation and instructions of AA
Vancouver, Montreal, Moncton and Halifax were noted to contain errors or were
provided in only one official language, an overall decline from the prior
audit. In addition, health clinics at AA Vancouver and
Toronto are providing services only in English.
As was noted in the prior audit, security services provided by AA
Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax, particularly those contracted with the
Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, are not being provided in both official
languages. In addition, police services provided by all AAs
except Montreal and Moncton do not have regularly scheduled bilingual officers,
but have satisfactory administrative arrangements in place.
It is recommended that AA Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto
review service contracts for those responsible for health, safety and security
to ensure they include or clarify contract clauses regarding official language
requirements for postings and the provision of services in both official
languages. In addition, AA Vancouver, Montreal, Moncton
and Halifax need to perform a comprehensive review of signs, standardized
announcements, documentation and instructions to ensure they are all correctly
and fully bilingual.
Conclusion:
It is recommended that an action plan (including a time-line) be prepared by
all AAs, and forwarded to OLB describing how the denoted
recommendations will be implemented. Action plans for airport hotels
should be included by AA Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and
Toronto. Further details of the above findings and recommendations can be
found in the detailed reports “Audit of Service to the Public in Both Official
Languages in seven Airports Having a Significant Demand” dated February 2005 for the seven above mentioned airports.
1
The Official Languages Branch, which used to be part of the Treasury Board
Secretariat, was transferred to the new Public Service Human Resources
Management Agency of Canada on December 12, 2003.
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