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Health Canada Status Report 2005/06 in support of Part VII of the Official Languages Act

Table of Contents

Principal Achievements

British Columbia / Yukon Region

Regional Director General's Office

A. Awareness

Training, information, orientation, awareness & communication activities carried out in house in order to educate employees and/or senior managers of Health Canada about linguistic duality and the priorities of OLMCs; senior manager performance contracts and recognition programs; taking the viewpoint of OLMCs into account during research, studies and investigations.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

Employees and senior managers are aware of the importance of promoting the bilingual character of Canada.

Branches, division and/or regions are informed about linguistic duality and OLMCs and they understand their responsibilities to OLMCs. They consult on a continous basis with OLMCs with regard to new priorities, initiatives, policies and programs.

1. The Office raised awareness among directors, managers, supervisors, and employees of Part VII of the Official Languages Act .

1. Information regarding Official Languages and the OLMCs was distributed at various regional meetings including the Health Canada BC/Yukon Region All-staff meetings and during Official Languages Regional Reference Group meetings. Publications distributed included the Pacific Federal Council's Official Language newsletter "Coup de pouce" and the Canadian Heritage newletter "Bulletin 41-42".
2. The Office maintained the official languages component at Discovering Health Canada orientation sessions 2. An Official Languages component was delivered as part of the Discovering Health Canada orientation for twenty-four new staff.
3. The Office developed an Official Languages Intranet Web page for the region. 3. The Regional Official Languages Intranet was maintained and used to share updates and infromation regarding Official Languages and OLMCs to staff.

B. Consultations

Activities (e.g. committees, discussions, meetings) through which Health Canada consults the OLMCs and dialogues with them to identify their needs and priorities or to understand potential impacts on their development; activities (e.g. round tables) to explore possibilities for cooperation within the existing mandate of Health Canada or as part of developing a new program or new policy; participation in consultations with OLMCs coordinated by other government bodies; consultation of OLMCs by regional offices to determine their concerns and needs.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

The OLMCs have the opportunity to make their needs known and to explain obstacles to accessing Health Canada's programs .

The OLMCs are part of the regular clientele of the regional offices and are taken into consideration when new departmental programs and policies are implemented.

1. The Official Languages Coordinator continued working with branches and community organizations to ensure that the francophone community has access to information about Health Canada programs.

1a. The Region has a non-voting seat on the board of RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique and regularly attended meetings to identify and support OLMCs concerns and needs.

1b./2. The Official Languages Regional Reference Group continued to work with Branch representatives to ensure that Health Canada information, publications and consultations are identified and available to the Francophone community.
2. The Office ensured participation, where appropriate, of the francophone community in regional Federal consultations.

C. Communications

External communications activities to inform OLMCs about the activities, programs and policies of Health Canada and to promote the bilingual character of Canada; inclusion of OLMCs in all information lists and distribution lists; use of the Health Canada's Web site to communicate with OLMCs.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

OLMCs receive up-to-date information on Health Canada's programs and services by various vehicles of communication.

Health Canada becomes a regular user of OLMC media by buying antenna time and advertising space from them.

The Regional Director General's Office:

1. continued to include OLMCs in information sessions and/or training offered within the four Western Provinces;

1./2a. The Regional Director, Policy and Intergovernmental Relations continued to work with RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique in order to support the development and advancement of the group's workplan and priorities.
2. maintained links with the francophone community; 2b. The provision of communication tools, such as publications and educational materials, in both official languages were made available in all designated Health Canada offices in the Region.
3. ensured Health Canada attendance at public events (eg, Francophonie Celebration at Library Square in March 2005); and, 3. The Region participated in Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie in March, 2006 and staffed a booth to provide Department information to attendees.
4. ensured, where possible, the use of francophone media.

4a. The francophone media was notified for all Ministerial events.

4b. Publication of Health Canada Regional contact information in the journal directory for L'Express du Pacifique and in the annual directory published by the la Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique.

D. Coordination And Liaison

Coordination of activities (research, studies, meetings, etc) carried out by Health Canada itself along with other federal departments or other levels of government; participation in activities organized by other federal departments or other levels of government, etc; participation of official languages champions, national and regional coordinators, etc., in various government forums.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

Coordinators are using the best practices that have been presented at various forums, retreats or at meetings of national coordinators responsible for section 41 of the OLA.

Health Canada is working with multiple partners to meet the priorities of the OLMCs.

The Official Languages Coordinator:

1.was an active member of the 41-42 Interdepartmental Coordination Committee chaired by Canadian Heritage;

1. The OL Coordinator participated as an active member of both the 41-42 Interdepartmental Coordination Committee.
2. continued to work closely with key partners: Pacific Federal Council, Simon Fraser University, Réso-Santé, Canadian Heritage, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Public Health Agency of Canada; and, 2. The Department participated in Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie event organised by Canadian Heritage and regional staff were informed of and invited to attend.
3. co-chaired the Pacific Federal Council Official Languages Committee and was a core council member of the Pacific Management Community Council (PMCC). 3. The Coordinator was the co-chair for the Pacific Federal Council Official Languages Committee in 2005 and participated at the PMCC meetings.

E. Funding And Program Delivery

Implementation of Health Canada's programs and delivery of its services; funding, alone or in cooperation with other federal departments/agencies of OLMC projects; inclusion of needs of OLMCs when delivering the department's programs and services.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

The OLMCs have access to Health Canada's programs. The department takes account of the geographical dispersion of the OLMCs in delivering its programs.

1. The Official Languages Coordinator maintained the Official Language Regional Reference Group (OLRRG) meetings;

1.The Coordinator organised and chaired the OLRRG meetings.
2. The Office included OLMC stakeholders in calls for proposals and funding program launches, where appropriate. 2. The Region participated on the board of RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique in order to identify concerns and share information between Health Canada and the OLMCs.

F. Accountability

Activities through which Health Canada integrates its OLA section 41 implementation work with the department's planning and accountability mechanisms (e.g. report on plans and priorities, departmental performance report, departmental business plan, status report on implementation of section 41 of the OLA, etc); internal audits and evaluations of programs and services, regular review of programs and services and of policies by senior managers of Health Canada to ensure implementation of section 4 of the OLA.

Main expected results for the period covered by the action plan Main activities carried out for the year covered by the status report Progress (results) achieved for the year covered by the status report

Systematic evaluations and regular internal audits are being made and they always include criteria pertaining to the way policies, programs and services have affected OLMCs.

1. The Regional Director General's Office identified official languages components for inclusion in appropriate regional planning documents.

1. Official languages components were identified and incorporated, where appropriate, into regional planning documents (ie. Staffing Plans).
2. The Official Languages Coordinator promoted new official languages policies to increase awareness and to ensure compliance with the Official Languages Act . 2. Awareness of official language policies and obligations for public servants in unilingual regions was promoted during regional events such as our regional all-staff meetings and orientation workshops for new staff.
Table of Contents
Date Modified: 2006-08-24

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