Report on Results 2009-2010 Implementation of Section 41 of the Official Languages Act

B. Consultations (Sharing ideas and information with the OLMC)

Expected Result

Creation of lasting relationships between the federal institutions and the OLCM; the institution and the official language minority communities understand each other's needs and mandates.

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

The members of the Departmental Network of Section 41 Coordinators and the members of Team 41 continued to build lasting relationships with the Communities by participating in their annual general meeting and other meetings organized by the Communities.

Outputs
Progress made in achieving the expected result

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

The Office of La Francophonie organized a meeting of the Advisory Sub-Committee on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages.

Output

The meeting of the Advisory Sub-Committee on Access to Justice in Both Official Languages was held on November 23, 2009 in Ottawa. The purpose of the meeting was to generate ideas for partnerships in line with the recommendations of the Canada-Wide Analysis of Official Language Training Needs in the Area of Justice.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

On June 10, 2009, the Justice in Official Languages team met with the Director of the Francophone Affairs Branch of the Office of the Provincial Secretary in Saskatchewan and the Executive Director of the Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise. They discussed the implications and opportunities related to certain departmental programs for the Saskatchewan government and the province’s francophone network.

Output

Dialogue on the Department’s programs and the approach developed by Justice Canada on access to justice in both official languages.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

The relationship between the Department and the Saskatchewan representatives is strengthened. The representatives are impressed by the consistency of the interventions made by the Department, the provincial government and the official language minority communities. This type of coordinated approach should serve as a model.

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

Encouraged the development of partnerships between designated PLEI agencies and the associations of French-speaking jurists and Quebec’s anglophone community.

Output

A joint meeting took place between the Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) agencies and the Associations de juristes d'expression française (AJEF) on January 12, 2010.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

Partnerships between some Public Legal Education and Information agencies and associations of French-speaking jurists such as the Community Legal Education Association of Alberta (CLEA) and the Association des juristes d’expression française du Manitoba (AJEFM) were strengthened.

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

Since September 2008, the Department has been using a working group to improve the coordination of its public legal education and information activities. In this context, the Department adopted a Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) policy.

Output

On November 5, 2009, the Department's Senior Management Board approved the policy, and an article was published in JustInfo in early December. The policy includes a section on the Department’s commitment to taking positive measures to promote access to justice in a way that enhances the vitality of official language minority communities and promotes the full recognition and use of French and English.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

The Department's Public Legal Education and Information policy includes Section 41 of the OLA.

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

The federal government’s five-year $20 million investment in training in the area of justice has proper administrative and implementation oversight.

Output

The Canada-Wide Analysis of Official Language Training Needs in the Area of Justice was completed and potential strategies were identified. The analysis followed directly from the five-year, $20-million investment announced by the federal government in the context of the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013. The purpose of this investment was to provide training for individuals currently employed in the justice system, and to train and recruit young bilingual Canadians interested in pursuing a career in the justice system. The particular focus of this study was criminal law.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

Activity carried out to achieve the expected result

The Youth Justice Section held internal meetings to plan external consultation workshops with specialists in youth justice, professors and university researchers and representatives of community organizations working with young offenders to identify the issues of the youth criminal justice system that face young offenders. These consultation workshops focused specifically on young offenders with mental health problems or involved in activities related to guns, gangs and drugs. During these planning meetings, the Network 41 coordinator within the Youth Justice Section reiterated the importance of inviting representatives of agencies or linguistic minority communities to these external consultation workshops.

Output

Invitations were sent to organizations and representatives of minority language communities working in the field of justice for young people, asking them to participate in the external consultation workshops.

Progress made in achieving the expected result

N.B.: Although none of the agencies and representatives of official language minority communities invited to participate in consultation workshops actually participated in these workshops, the result was that the Department made efforts to consult with community organizations affected by the issue of young offenders. The conclusion that we drew from this process was that the issues discussed in the context of the consultation workshops were very specific and addressed a highly specialized clientele.