Conclusion
This year, the Commissioner’s Office chose to focus on the sectors it has identified as priorities based on complaints that cannot be passed over in silence. Some of these complaints illustrate a number of systemic problems that the Commissioner’s Office has been striving to draw attention to for the last eight years. Health, youth, justice, senior citizens and immigration are the sectors that attract the most complex and poorly understood cases. This year, the spotlight was on them, and on people who will never complain, even when they are in a vulnerable situation. The intent was to highlight the fact that they will never demand their rights. There are still very few daring enough to do so, and unfortunately they do not represent the voice of the majority.
The Commissioner has been very clear and firm on this point. Gaps in French-language services simply generate additional costs. This is particularly true in the health sector. And since health is the largest public sector, there is an urgent need for action. In view of the speed at which the population is aging, and the fact that the Francophone population is older than Ontario’s total population, health must become a priority issue for the government. It is the government’s responsibility.
In the same vein, the Commissioner has said that he is very satisfied with the formation of three key partnerships covering, in part, the sharing of responsibilities. An agreement with the Law Society of Upper Canada dealt with the shared processing of complaints about French-language services. The signing of a second letter of agreement with Elections Ontario reinforced the latter’s commitment to provide bilingual staff during general elections or bi-elections. The goal was to ensure that Francophone citizens can take part in the electoral process without obstacles. Also, a memorandum of understanding on the bilingual nature of the TO2015 Games established a complaint resolution process, in addition to reflecting the linguistic duality of Canada and Ontario.
Aside from the TO2015 Games, 2015 is the year in which we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French presence in Ontario. What’s more, 2016 will mark the 30th anniversary of the French Language Services Act. In this context, the Commissioner would like to point out that all these collective efforts and gains enhancing the Francophonie remain fragile. As this year’s complaints have highlighted, the government must address the very human and individual need that citizens are entitled to: access to timely, high-quality services.
Abandoning a citizen seeking services in French, especially if he or she is in a vulnerable situation, amounts to abandoning the entire community, the province and the country. Ontario is a leader in Canada. The province must act like a leader in this pivotal year when all eyes are on it.