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5. Audit Findings and Conclusions
The purpose of this audit was to determine the extent to which the selected offices in Regina (Saskatchewan) for this audit of service to the public are complying with the policies of the Treasury Board Secretariat and with the Official Languages Act, especially with regards to service to the public.
The objectives of the audit derive from Part IV of the Official Languages Act that sets out the obligations of federal institutions and the third parties they use to serve the public. The objectives of the on-site audit are as follows:
In Regina, Saskatchewan, the audit team visited eight offices. These offices were visited between December 1 to 12, 1997.
Before beginning the audit, we contacted the managers of the selected bilingual offices and arranged the dates on which we would be on-site to meet with them and conduct the audit. At the same time, we contacted the internal audit heads of the institutions whose offices were to be audited in order to inform them of the date of our visit to their institution or to coordinate audit efforts and avoid any possible duplication.
The methodology used included the following activities:
Managers Responsibilities
All the managers interviewed in Regina were well aware of the requirements of the Act respecting service in both official languages.
With one exception, all the institutions visited have controls in place to ensure service is always provided in both official languages. Currently, the Canada Post franchise designated to provide service in French is incapable as no bilingual staff are present. Canada Post is on the verge of taking measures to rectify this situation. Controls in place ensure there are sufficient bilingual employees at reception, at points of service and on the telephone, though in some cases, telephone service is provided by either pre-registered messages or employees at remote regional centres. Managers also encourage continuing programs of language training.
Most institutions visited do not have mechanisms to assess client satisfaction. However, among those that do, Canada Post measures client satisfaction at the national level via a "client satisfaction index" developed by a private contractor, the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre (CFRC) uses an applicant questionnaire completed at their counter, and Revenue Canada has a client satisfaction "card" system in place.
Some departments, like Canadian Heritage, Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), Revenue Canada, Canada Post and CFRC , meet with representatives of French minority language groups on a regular basis, while others, like the Public Service Commission, consider this is unnecessary to fulfil their objectives.
The Federal Court mandate is carried out by provincial staff in a provincial institution. Essentially, it is a "post office" type operation in which business is directed to federal operations in either Calgary or Winnipeg.
Organization
Generally, the offices visited (except the Canada Post franchise) have the capacity to provide continuous service in both official languages. In some cases, significant numbers of employees are Francophones while in others, staff may be unilingual but through the use of cue cards, are able to direct inquiries to a bilingual employee immediately. For example, all the staff who provide services to the minority group in Canadian Heritage are francophones, while at the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre, one third of the staff are bilingual. Where, in case where the public may encounter unilingual staff, such as at the RCMP guard house, or at some reception areas at HRDC, cue cards are used by staff to direct inquiries to bilingual employees nearby.
In all cases, work instruments were available on site to provide service in both official languages.
Active Offer
Generally, to ensure that the active offer for service in either official language is made, institutions use either one or separate dedicated lines to serve English and French speaking clients with an automated message. When this does not occur, bilingual service is provided by nearby staff.
In all cases, official language symbols and signage were present and visible at all times.
Where reception areas existed, an active offer was not generally made. However, when in the usually rare instances that receptionists are approached in French, staff are able to use "cue" cards (e.g:. "Bonjour, un instant, s'il vous plaît") to direct inquiries to bilingual staff who are almost always immediately available.
All offices visited have permanent signage in both official languages. In rare instances, temporary signs were in English only.
Service
All offices visited, with the exception of the Canada Post franchise, provided service in both official languages at all times. In some cases, like the RCMP Museum, there might be a delay during the off season when bilingual staff are not immediately available.
In all but two cases, the Canada Post franchise and the Clerk of the Federal Court (where staff were not available for assessment), service provided is comparable in both official languages.
Most departments did not provide services by a third party. At the RCMP where this did occur, a service of comparable quality was provided while it was not the case at Canadian Heritage.
However, while the one-time contractor at Canadian Heritage was not bilingual, the contractor was provided with bilingual support when required.
With the exception of Canada Post, where the concessionnaire is not fulfilling its official languages obligations, departments included in this audit do not use concessionaires.
CONCLUSION
The results of the audit indicate that the federal institutions in Regina, Saskatchewan, are carrying out their obligations regarding service to the public relatively well. The only significant exceptions are with the Canada Post franchise and the Clerk of the Federal Court where the bilingual employee was not available during the audit.
In essence, the audit team found that the vast majority of managers were aware of their responsibilities with regards to official languages.
Except for the Clerk of the Federal Court and the Canada Post franchise, to the extent that problems exist, they centre around the active offer which is not always made. However, managers are aware of this and are addressing this deficiency as it is the case for RCMP.
Managers underlined that the incidence of demand for service in French is generally extremely small in the Regina area and this accounts for their continual struggle to have staff provide the active offer. In addition, some managers pointed to downsizing (e.g. PSC, from 17 to 5 staff), budget reductions and relatively scarce bilingual resources as reasons for why they were not always able to meet all official languages requirements.
That the institutions audited take the necessary measures to correct in each office all of the shortcomings identified in the area of service to the public, especially with respect to the following points:
