Madam Speaker, a number of inquiries and complaints have been directed to the office of the Languages Commissioner, and the office has done an admirable job in trying to deal with them all. However, committee Members feel the Languages Commissioner should have defined a limited scope and set of objectives upon first being appointed. The result has been that the Languages Commissioner has become involved in too many areas, and the office has not been able to focus its attention adequately.

The report addresses a number of individual concerns, either through action taken by the Languages Commissioner or through recommendations made; in doing so, however, the report also reflects the lack of clearly defined and limited goals and objectives. The standing committee feels that the Languages Commissioner should develop and stick to a limited set of objectives, such as the definitive objectives defined in the 1994-95 main estimates. This will allow the office to be in control of events as much as possible, rather than letting events control the duties of the office.

Recommendation 2

The committee recommends that the Languages Commissioner annually define a set of goals and objectives to guide the activities of the office. These goals and objectives should be stated in the office's annual budget and reviewed in the Languages Commissioner's annual reports.

Employee Complaints And Inquiries

Recommendation 3 in the report reflects this lack of focus. In the report, the Languages Commissioner describes a number of complaints from government employees, and then recommends that the Assembly provide direction to the Languages Commissioner on the hearing of employee complaints.

Committee Members feel that such complaints should generally be dealt with through accepted grievance procedures, whether through the UNW or otherwise, as appropriate. While some of the complaints listed were merely requests for information, actual complaints are best handled by the grievance process. If the issue is not dealt with satisfactorily, the Languages Commissioner may then wish to get involved. But doing so before proper grievance proceedings are initiated and completed could put the Languages Commissioner and the complainant in a difficult situation.

As well, committee Members were confused by the frequent use of the word "complaint" by the Languages Commissioner when referring to any contact with the office. We would prefer that the Languages Commissioner be more discriminating

when referring to files, perhaps classifying them as complaints, inquires and so on.

In short, the standing committee feels strongly that the Languages Commissioner should give more careful consideration to the range and nature of complaints dealt with by the office. As with grievances, some complaints might be better dealt with through other channels. Also, the Languages Commissioner should work with the official languages unit to provide a consistent, effective means of answering routine inquires about official languages from employees and the public. Committee Members expect that the forthcoming official languages handbook, discussed on page 8, will address this issue.

Madam Speaker, I will turn over this portion of the report to my colleague, the honourable Tony Whitford.