PHILIPPE ORFALI .com » Arrêtez/stop already: just say no to bilingual rights

Arrêtez/stop already: just say no to bilingual rights

Je ne peux pas vraiment commenter la chronique qui suit, parue dans le Ottawa Citizen de ce matin, puisque je suis surnuméraire dans un journal de la ville. Ceux qui me connaissent savent néanmoins parfaitement ce que j’en pense.

Les résidants d’Ottawa ont droit, en vertu de la politique de bilinguisme de la ville, de se faire servir dans la langue officielle de leur choix par les employés de la ville, notamment ceux d’OC Transpo, la société de transport de la ville.

Kelly Egan, commentateur de calibre municipal au plus grand quotidien anglophone de la capitale, semble remettre en question la pertinence de tels droits.

Arrêter/stop already: Just say no to bilingual bus drivers

Kelly Egan, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, February 01, 2008

Ottawa is one of those places where the English and French smile for the cameras as they stab each other in the back.

Two solitudes. One never-ending headache. Amazing.

You may have caught wind of the adventures of Michel Thibodeau, a 40-ish Orléans resident who thinks all OC Transpo operators should be bilingual. To that end, he has filed a complaint with the city.

Mr. Thibodeau is not talking for the moment. He is tired of being threatened, harassed and ridiculed, online, on call-in radio.

"I didn’t want to start World War Three," he said in a brief exchange earlier this week.

He has been much mocked for his efforts, particularly by those who can’t understand his motives. He speaks flawless English, many have pointed out. His voicemail message, in the federal public service, is in French only.

How is "Bank" or "St. Laurent" different in English or French? And who converses with bus drivers, anyway?

And isn’t he the guy who sued Air Canada for $500,000 because he couldn’t order a 7-Up in French during a flight in 2000?

He may well be a crusading nitpicker, with a weird agenda. The story, however, opens up two cans of worms: a) the city of Ottawa’s bilingualism policy is muddy water; b) the capital is full of people seething at the consequences — at work, particularly — of official bilingualism, in all its guises.

The city may well be in a pickle. Here is how its bilingualism policy begins, with a declaration of principle:

"The City of Ottawa recognizes both official languages as having the same rights, status and privileges."

There’s a lot more. Under the heading, Language of Service: "Take the necessary steps to provide at all times the appropriate number of bilingual employees within working units."

Under section, R.1.11: "That each Department with whom the public has contact have a bilingual capacity in order to provide services in both official languages."

Under Work Units: "That those units whose primary function is to deal directly with the public on a full-time basis, have a full complement of bilingual staff or at least that the majority be bilingual."

Seems rather black and white, doesn’t it? Ask yourself this. Is there a city employee who deals with more members of the public in a single day than a bus driver?

If the city believes in its core principle — equal service — should not every driver be bilingual? And, if this is an impractical dream or a terrible mistake, why not dump the policy altogether?

This is the problem with official bilingualism. Ordinary people of different languages can live quite peacefully as neighbours, each making compromises to understand the other.

As soon as things are codified, as soon as individuals are ordered to speak one way, it gets complicated. In other words, the closer you get to government, the worse it gets.

Look at Russell Township, a roughly 50-50 community east of Ottawa. It finds itself in the midst of an emotional debate about a bilingual sign bylaw, which would force businesses to express themselves in languages not of their choosing.

I mean, why force it?

Pierre Pagé, the city clerk, thinks Ottawa’s francophones are actually well-served by the municipality.

The city is currently near the end of a two-year process to review its entire operations, including OC Transpo, to see which positions need to be bilingual.

In the case of bus operators, he hinted that a percentage of the total number of drivers will be designated.

The figure, he said, should be ready in two or three weeks. This number will then be worked into OC Transpo’s operational constraints, the biggest of which is collective agreements.

The transit authority could not, for instance, automatically put all its bilingual drivers in francophone areas of the city. Seniority rights, in binding contracts, would prevent drivers being moved willy-nilly across the system.

"Essentially, if you wanted to put all your bilingual bus drivers in one area of the city, it’s not that simple." Mr. Pagé, himself a francophone, said the key word in understanding the city’s approach is "practical."

It wouldn’t designate city yard-workers bilingual, he said, because they don’t meet the public. Operators in a city call-centre, however, must all speak both languages.

Mr. Thibodeau, it is obvious, will not get bilingual drivers across the board. It’s expensive, not to mention unnecessary. Route information, in any case, is available in both languages. On-board queries will no doubt work themselves out. What driver speaks not a word of French, anyway?

All we really need to say to him, is No.

But we should spare the insults, the outrage. It’s only World War Three if we make it so. Ottawa’s own policy, which is not his doing, was only ready ammo.

Contact Kelly Egan at 613-726-5896 or kegan@thecitizen.canwest.com

source: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=c3d7eebb-dd64-443e-a871-c4c4ce8ffe63&p=1
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008