Chapter 1

An Organizational Story

1.1.1.2 Analysis of the responses to the recommendations in the 2011-2012 Annual Report

In his 2011-2012 Annual Report, Straight Forward, the Commissioner made six recommendations to the Ontario government on subjects as varied as the Commissioner’s independence, a mandatory directive on the designation process for agencies under the French Language Services Act, an independent and interministerial assessment of government structures and processes designed to support the implementation of French-language services within the government, the establishment of an advisory committee on Francophone immigration in Ontario, public-private partnerships and delegated administrative authorities.

The Commissioner had been in the habit of publishing the government’s official responses to the previous year’s annual report in their entirety in his subsequent annual report. That is the role of officers of Parliament or commissioners who report directly to a minister. The fact is that the Commissioner is naturally partial to the application of both the letter and the spirit of the French Language Services Act. It is the government’s responsibility to see the big picture and govern accordingly. That said, the government’s responses and the Commissioner’s analyses were often overshadowed by the new recommendations for the current year. Yet the government’s responses are extremely important in order to comprehend the value of the Commissioner’s recommendations and, above all, the government’s actions.

For that reason, the Commissioner published the government’s responses to the recommendations in his previous annual report in advance for the first time, in May 2013, in a bulletin containing his comments and analysis.