FREDERICTON – The official languages commissioner in New Brunswick says the quality of government services in the province is compromised because second-language proficiency of employees is not clearly defined nor monitored.
Katherine d’Entremont released her first annual report Tuesday calling for improvements in the delivery of government services in both English and French.
D’Entremont says she found serious deficiencies in the way bilingual staffing needs are identified and the effectiveness of language training for civil servants.
She says those problems are often the cause of the complaints her office receives and they need to be addressed.
She also says that the province’s two health authorities need to step up their efforts to meet their linguistic obligations, adding that in some facilities receiving health care in French is the exception rather than the rule.
New Brunswick has been Canada’s only officially bilingual province since 1969.
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