Health Canada Status Report 2006/07 in support of Part VII of the Official Languages Act

Preamble

Pursuant to section 41, Part VII of the Official Languages Act, Health Canada is committed to enhancing the vitality of official language minority communities in Canada, and to supporting and assisting their development. In co-operation with these communities, the Department takes action to the extent that its mandate allows, while respecting provincial and territorial jurisdiction in the delivery of health services.

The Official Language Community Development Bureau at Health Canada coordinates the implementation of section 41. It ensures that the Department meets its commitments under Part VII, promotes it internally, acts as a liaison between communities and Health Canada and encourages the establishment of partnerships with official language minority communities.

Executive Summary (by main intervention categories)

Awareness

Health Canada has continued its awareness activities with the support of its network of official languages coordinators across Canada. Numerous information sessions were held for both new and current employees and senior management. The Department's Web site and some internal publications have provided employees with updated information about the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act (OLA). Moreover, the activities of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie gave Francophone communities in Canada better visibility.

Consultation

The Official Language Community Development Bureau ( OLCDB ) and the Official Languages Coordinators in the regions held numerous meetings, teleconferences, and formal consultations with representatives from the Anglophone and Francophone minority communities. These discussions enabled these communities to improve their ability to make informed decisions regarding health. The Department was given an opportunity to present its programs and invite its stakeholders to access the funding available. The Department's Anglophone and Francophone advisory committees played an important role in the success of the discussions.

Communication

Conferences, information fairs, symposia, regional cultural events, site visits and the collection of data on the effectiveness of some programs were used to transmit information to the official language minority communities and to identify their needs and priorities with regard to health. Regular maintenance of databases and mailing lists allowed for the dissemination of numerous documents, including calls for proposals.

Coordination and liaison

The Department's network of regional coordinators helped put the communities in contact with Health Canada's program officials. These coordinators took part in regional official languages committees, and in particular, with the Federal Regional Councils across Canada. Health Canada's ongoing support for the Official Languages Champion Committee and the Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages, as well as the involvement of the Official Language Community Development Bureau in the activities of the Network of National Coordinators (Part VII of the OLA), and on the Coordinating Committee on Official Languages Reasearch, allowed the Department to play an important role in the completion of projects put forward by the communities.

Funding and program delivery

Health Canada invested large sums to promote health in the official-languages minority communities. The OLCDB oversaw the smooth functioning of 84 contribution agreements. The Department funded the operations of the 17 networks of Société Santé en français and the ten networks of the Quebec Community Groups Network, in addition to training activities for the health care professionals with the Consortium national de formation en santé and McGill University, and activities to promote access to primary health care, coordinated by Société Santé en français and the Community Health and Social Services Network. In addition, a $10.6M one-year extension (2006-2007) of the Official Languages Minority Communities envelope of the Primary Health Care Transition Fund was provided. Among the Health Canada program areas that the official language minority communities were able to benefit from, we note the fight against tobacco, as well as drug use and controlled substances.

Accountability

The formative evaluation of the Contribution Program to Improve Access to Health Services for Official Language Minority Communities has been carried out. The report will be approved and published during fiscal year 2007/2008. The summative evaluation of the Official Language Minority Communities envelope of the Primary Health Care Transition Fund has been completed. A departmental Action Plan for the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, which covers fiscal years 2006/07-2007/08-2008/09 has been developed and published. Many regions have started to produce their own regional Action Plan and Status Report or have included the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act in their regional operational plans and performance reports. In many regions, the performance appraisals of executives and managers concerned with the development of OLMC s and the promotion of linguistic duality were produced and contain a section on the duty to achieve objectives in relation with section 41 of the Official Languages Act. Evaluation tools have been developed in some regions in order to create better performance indicators in relation to the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, while other regions and branches committed to creating these tools in the coming fiscal year.