Memorandum of Understanding between Canadian Heritage and Treasury Board
Memorandum of Understanding Between the Minister Of Canadian
Heritage and the President of the Treasury Board Regarding the Implementation of
Section 41 of the Official Lanuguages Act
Preamble
WHEREAS the Government of Canada, pursuant to section 41 of the Official
Languages Act, is committed to enhancing the vitality of the English and French
linguistic minority communities in Canada and supporting and assisting their
development, and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and
French in Canadian society;
WHEREAS to that end, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, in accordance with
section 42 of the Official Languages Act, shall encourage and promote a
co-ordinated approach to the implementation by federal departments of this
commitment;
WHEREAS the Government's decision of August 1994 created an accountability
framework for the implementation of sections 41 and 42 of the Official Languages
Act, which requires key federal institutions to consult with the official
language communities, develop action plans and identify the results achieved,
and requires the Minister of Canadian Heritage to submit an annual report to
Parliament;
WHEREAS the Government Response to the Second Report of the Standing Joint
Committee on Official Languages (Implementation of Part VII of the Official
Languages Act) states that:
"The Government recognizes the need for more rigorous accountability
and this requires a role for the Treasury Board Secretariat, the central
agency responsible for the review of departmental Business Plans. To this end,
the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Canadian Heritage will
formalize an agreement to set out new, more accountable approaches to the
implementation of sections 41 and 42 of the Act."
CONSEQUENTLY, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the President of the
Treasury Board hereby agree that the following statement of objectives and
arrangements relating to the implementation of section 41 of the Official
Languages Act shall constitute the present Memorandum of Understanding.
1. Definitions
In this Memorandum of Understanding,
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1.1
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"Official-language minority community" applies to both of Canada's
official-language minority communities, i.e. Francophone communities in
provinces other than Quebec, and in the territories, and Anglophone communities
in Quebec;
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1.2
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"Official-language minority community" applies not only to a
linguistic community in a designated geographical area but also to a linguistic
community scattered across a region, such as a province or group of provinces,
as well as to everyone who lives in a minority situation and speaks one of the
two official languages;
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1.3
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"Business Planning Process" applies to the process and to resulting
documents which identify the medium and longer term strategies for the core
activities of a department or agency, focussing on how the department will reach
its objectives within the available budget. It normally includes commitments to
perform major tasks, identifies levels of service and provides the basis for
measuring and reporting performance.
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1.4
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"Action plan" refers to the annual or multiyear document submitted
each year by key institutions to the Minister of Canadian Heritage in accordance
with her mandate under section 42 of the Official Languages Act;
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1.5
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"Key institution" refers to any institution appearing on the list of
27 institutions established under the accountability framework, announced on
August 16, 1994, for the implementation of sections 41 and 42 of the Official
Languages Act (Appendix A and Appendix B); this list can be reviewed
periodically to add or subtract other institutions, as the case may be.
2. Joint Objectives
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2.1
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To encourage the federal institutions, which are first and foremost responsible
for implementing section 41 of the Official Languages Act within their spheres
of jurisdiction in accordance with the statutory framework applicable to them,
to include in their annual strategic planning, reporting and evaluation
processes those activities aimed at fostering the development of
official-language minority communities, in accordance with the government's
commitment under section 41 of the Official Languages Act.
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2.2
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To facilitate and encourage efforts at sensitizing ministers and senior
officials in the key institutions, and in any other institution which declares
itself involved in implementing section 41 of the Official Languages Act, to
their responsibilities.
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2.3
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To define the role played by the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Department
of Canadian Heritage with regard to the implementation of sections 41 and 42 of
the Official Languages Act, in accordance with the Government response of
November 18, 1996.
3. Responsibilities of the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Department of
Canadian Heritage regarding the implementation of section 41 of the Official
Languages Act.
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3.1
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Treasury Board Secretariat: The role of the Treasury Board Secretariat shall be
in keeping with the following:
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3.1.1
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the relationship prescribed by the Financial Administration Act with the federal
institutions in question, taking into account their status as either a
department or agency (Appendix A) or as a Crown corporation (Appendix B) and the
substantial differences in the accountability framework that these different
statuses imply;
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3.1.2
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the role it plays in terms of providing the departments and agencies with a
management and accountability framework, which requires it to work with them to
enhance their Business Planning Process;
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3.1.2
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the role it plays in terms of providing the departments and agencies with a
management and accountability framework, which requires it to work with them to
enhance their Business Planning Process;
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3.1.3
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its role in reviewing and in discussing with departments and agencies their
general direction as identified in their Business Plans;
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3.1.4
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its responsibility in terms of establishing and communicating a system of
policies and guidelines to help the departments and agencies meet their planning
and reporting obligations.
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3.2
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Within the framework set out in subsection 3.1 and through ongoing
communications with key institutions, the role of the Treasury Board Secretariat
consists in encouraging key institutions to:
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3.2.1
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take into account their particular responsibility for implementing section 41
of the Official Languages Act in their departmental Business Planning Process,
including the component relating to audit and evaluation, and when reporting to
Parliament on their activities;
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3.2.2
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consider how they will report to Parliament on their implementation of section
41 of the Official Languages Act;
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3.2.3
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ensure that their action plan for implementing section 41 of the Official
Languages Act is in keeping with the overall departmental strategies.
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3.3
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The Treasury Board Secretariat and Canadian Heritage will work together, in
cooperation with the key institutions, to develop and improve instruments which
can be used by key institutions in reviewing their contributions to the
implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act.
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3.4
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As appropriate, the Treasury Board Secretariat will include in its briefings on
departments called to present their business plans to Treasury Board ministers
an overview of their contributions to the implementation of section 41of the
Official Languages Act.
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3.5
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The Department of Canadian Heritage: In accordance with the objectives set out
in article 2, the Department of Canadian Heritage shall play the following
role:
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3.5.1
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The Department of Canadian Heritage encourages and promotes a co-ordinated
approach to the implementation of section 41 of the Official Languages Act,
including the submission to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, by the ministers
responsible for key institutions, of the annual or multi-year action plan. The
Minister of Canadian Heritage reports annually to Parliament on these action
plans
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3.5.2
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The Minister of Canadian Heritage reports to Parliament on the results achieved
over the previous year, as reported by the key institutions.
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3.5.3
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The Department of Canadian Heritage identifies, as appropriate, in light of its
analysis of the action plan of each key federal institution, certain strategic
priorities likely to support the development of minority communities, which the
Secretariat will, as the case may be, recall to the institutions concerned.
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3.5.4
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The Department of Canadian Heritage undertakes to sensitize the Regional
Councils of Senior Federal Officials as appropriate to the government's
commitment to support the development of official languages minority
communities. This is consistent with the role of the Councils which bring
together senior representatives of federal departments in each province in
co-ordinating implementation of high priority federal initiatives.
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3.6
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The Minister of Canadian Heritage and the President of the Treasury Board will
report on the implementation of this Memorandum of Understanding when they table
their respective annual reports to Parliament.
4. Review of the Memorandum of Understanding
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4.1
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The Department of Canadian Heritage and the Treasury Board Secretariat agree to
jointly review the appropriateness of the Memorandum of Understanding after
three years.
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4.2
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This review is to take place in consultation with major organizations
representing official language minority communities.
5. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have signed this Memorandum of
Understanding this day of 1997.
_______________________
Minister of Canadian Heritage |
_______________________
President of the Treasury Board |
______________________
Witness |
______________________
Witness |
Appendix A - Departments and agencies
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Canadian Heritage
- Canadian International Development Agency
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- Foreign Affairs and International Trade
- Federal Office of Regional Development - Quebec
- Health Canada
- Human Resources Development Canada
- Industry Canada
- Justice Canada
- National Film Board
- Public Works and Government Services Canada
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Statistics Canada
- Status of Women Canada
- Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat
- Western Economic Diversification Canada
Appendix B - Crown Corporations
- Business Development Bank of Canada
- Canada Council
- Canada Post Corporation
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Canadian Film Development Corporation (Telefilm Canada)
- Cape Breton Development Corporation
- International Development Research Centre
- National Arts Centre
- National Capital Commission