The Entry-Level Drinking Water Operator Course is a mandatory course for all Operators-in-Training (OITs) in order to be fully trained in the treatment and distribution processes, as well as the regulations that govern water quality. Historically, this course has been offered solely in English, but this trend was changed in spring 2012 when the course was translated and prepared to be offered in French. The Walkerton Clean Water Centre, which administers this course, received a request to deliver the French-language training in Ottawa in March 2012.
Although the course requires at least eight participants in order to be administered, only four people were registered for the training in French. Despite the low turnout, the decision was made to proceed with the training, as it met a need within the Francophone community. Besides, the low turnout also reflected the fact that there are fewer French-speaking operators than English-speaking operators, but their needs should not be of a lower priority.
The training course was adapted accordingly, but the point to be highlighted here is that a legitimate need within the Francophone community was addressed and fulfilled, allowing French-speaking operators to receive the necessary training in their own language so that they could do their job appropriately. A great undertaking met with diligent action; and the result will be long-lasting indeed.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
Thanks to the efforts of the Central and Central-East Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), a Steering Committee was developed together with Entité 4 [Entity 4], one of the six French Language Health Planning Entities (FLHPEs), in June 2012. The purpose of the Steering Committee is to serve as a forum for exchange and collaboration between stakeholders in long-term care in order to optimize bed occupancy by Francophone patients at Pavillon Omer Deslauriers, and to work on establishing a Memory Centre within the Bendale Acres Long-Term Care Facility. For this reason, the Steering Committee oversees two subcommittees; the Bed Occupancy Subcommittee and the Memory Center Subcommittee.
Although not a specific objective of the Central-East LHIN’s 2012-2013 Joint Action Plan, this collaboration with Entité 4 reaffirms its commitment to support the needs of the Francophone population. What a great commitment on the part of all the parties involved!
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
The goal of this forum was to challenge representatives of the government, local communities, as well as those from the business community with the aim of creating the first draft of an integrated action plan to enhance the national dialogue and to stimulate a collective contribution from these partners to consolidate a French Canadian economic space.
With regards to Ontario, the Francophone communities of course play an active role in the province’s economic, social and cultural growth. Not only was the spirit of the forum in line with this idea, but also with the fact that the results of consolidating a French Canadian economic space would be beneficial for the country as a whole.
The success of this forum depends on the presence and commitment of each of the partners. I hope that this dialogue will continue to grow to become more and more constructive and proactive, which will be truly beneficial for the Canadian Francophonie.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
Last year, the Central Office Branch of ServiceOntario launched the French Language Service Resource Corner. This great initiative was inspired by a bilingual employee who worked with his colleagues to promote French-language services. The goal of the French Language Service Resource Corner is to enhance the active offer of French-language services by the front line staff; an issue that is certainly of great importance as I have discussed it in the past. By providing his colleagues with information about French-language services in the Ontario Public Service and conducting language sessions to equip his peers with commonly used French phrases, this exceptional employee’s efforts have helped to create a welcoming atmosphere for Francophones who visit ServiceOntario.
Based on positive feedback from staff, a resource centre was launched earlier this year at another ServiceOntario branch in the Central Region, and there are plans to open more resource corners at other ServiceOntario offices across the region.
This is an example of someone who took it in his own hands to help improve the situation of active offer of French-language services to help benefit a whole community. With nearly 300 service centres processing over 48 million transactions every year, this action will undoubtedly go a long way in improving the efforts of our government to provide adequate service to the Francophone population.
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
Today I want to expand on a bilingual public education campaign that serves as an excellent example of collaboration between Francophone and Anglophone organizations in order to achieve a common objective. The common objective here is to educate Ontarians on how to intervene in situations of sexual violence against women through a public campaign called Draw the Line.
This campaign implements social marketing strategies to empower citizens to make a difference by providing them with critical information on how to intervene safely and effectively in such situations. What’s more, the Draw the Line campaign helps challenges common myths about sexual violence to help change attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate such harmful and inacceptable actions. The initiative is founded on evidence-based research on best practices in public education as well as extensive consultations with survivors of sexual violence, service providers, and grassroots organizations such as the centres d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel [sexual assault aid centres] (CALACS).
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
The question of compliance with the French Language Services Act or of the respect to the Francophone population by public health units is a big source of frustration for the Commissioner’s Office. But when there’s good news, it is certainly worth talking.
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the Eastern Ontario health Unit (EOHU) received one-time funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for the period of August 2012 to March 2013 to develop a Public Health French Language Services Community of Practice (PH FLS CoP) to provide a central resource for Ontario’s 36 public health units. This central resource would help support the local planning, delivery and evaluation of French-language programs and services.
The specific objectives of this Community of Practice are to increase awareness of and access to existing French-language services tools and resources, and to reduce the duplication of efforts across public health units, which would make the collective effort to deliver French-language services more efficient.
In addition, by consolidating their resources, the public health units can collaborate and provide more consistent French-language services across the province. The intention is also to collaborate on problem-solving, sharing best practices, and increasing the pace of development for these services, which can benefit both the service providers and the recipients of these services, namely Franco-Ontarians. Congrats for this great initiative!
The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 15 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually highlight initiatives by government ministries and agencies that demonstrate efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2012-2013 Annual Report. The full list of honourable mentions and the relevant blog posts are available here.
The Entry-Level Drinking Water Operator Course is a mandatory course for all Operators-in-Training (OITs) in order to be fully trained in the treatment and distribution processes, as well as the regulations that govern water quality. Historically, this course has been offered solely in English, but this trend was changed in spring 2012 when the course was translated and prepared to be offered in French. The Walkerton Clean Water Centre, which administers this course, received a request to deliver the French-language training in Ottawa in March 2012.