Recommendation 2: A needle in a haystack
The Office of Francophone Affairs does extremely important work with its meagre budget of $5 million and its 26 employees. But what it does generally remains a mystery to French-speaking citizens and taxpayers.
In response to the recommendation to submit an annual report to the Legislative Assembly, the Office says that it has in fact been producing an annual report since the French Language Services Act (FLSA) was passed in 1986. If that is the case, why don’t we know about it?
According to the Office, its annual report is issued as an appendix to its Results-based Plan. This makes no sense. In fact, the Office chose to justify this practice by explaining that the majority of ministries do it this way. The Commissioner’s conclusion is that the Office is simply complying with the standard established by the administration and is not being sufficiently proactive with regard to transparency. Moreover, since the Results.based Plan is submitted to the Treasury Board, it could be reasonably said that the Office is circumventing the FLSA by not submitting its annual report to the Legislative Assembly.2
As for the format of the annual report, it is inadequate and in no way reflects the magnitude of the work done for the Francophone community. It consists of just two and a half pages of text, most of which is repeated from previous annual reports.3
The community deserves better. The annual report of the Office of Francophone Affairs should be in a prominent location. Annual reports that concern the Francophone population should be available with as few clicks as possible, so that readers don’t get lost navigating the Office’s website.
However, resolutely optimistic by nature, the Commissioner does see a ray of hope. The Office of Francophone Affairs “is committed to providing an enhanced annual report that is more detailed and relevant to the Ontarian public.” The Office has also committed that this annual report will be tabled at the Legislative Assembly. Is it conceivable, then, that a deeper dialogue might now be initiated between the Minister and the Franco-Ontarian community, through the Office? We hope so.
Lastly, the Commissioner urges the Attorney General of Ontario to take the opportunity to ask the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy, where she is a member, to invite the Office of Francophone Affairs to appear before it. At last report, the Office had still not been summoned to a meeting of this important committee to discuss issues relating to the FLSA. The momentum is there – let’s make use of it.
2. French Language Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter F.32, section 11 (3).
3. This annual report can be consulted online on the Office of Francophone Affairs website under the “About the OFA and its Programs” menu of the lateral sidebar by clicking the “Plans and reports” tab. But one has to know the annual report is actually an appendix of the “Result-based Plan Briefing Book”, which is not evident for the ordinary citizen.