Vive L'Ottawa Libre

Franchement, les test federaux pour la bilinguisme son pour les oiseaux.

I have spoken French my entire life. I can understand French. It is not a complicated language. As result of my parents influence on insisting that I learn French, I am a Habs fan instead of a Maple Leafs fan. I am not kidding.

There is NO doubt in my mind that there is a double standard that is applied to language testing in Ottawa. I have seen the English test- simply put, it is easier than the French one. There is no doubt that this is the ultimate sop to Quebec- as more than one third of all federal employees are originally from Quebec, now living in Ottawa, Gatineau or Orleans, as the case may be.

For the record, I wonder how many policy initiatives have stalled, or in the very least have been delayed because of the time it took for translation...

I have YET another friend who has failed her language requirements. Her last name doesn't end in X or ault. I think that we desperately need to re-evaluate the policy. Let me state three things from the outset:

1) It is important that Canadians be able to approach their governments in both official languages.

2) It is important that the Government of Canada attract the best and brightest workers who have the capacity to learn both their subject matter and a passable understanding of a second language.

3) Policy expertise should never be sacrificed because of an inability to speak EITHER official language.

The current policy precludes the second point, and is unabashedly antithetical to the third. I know this first hand. Let me be clear when I say- there is exactly ZERO need for every senior functionary in the federal government to be bilingual.

For me, bi-lingualism means "I can understand you, and you can understand me. Es-ce que tu veut un biere?" The perfect Canadian conversation was like the one I just had with a colleague where she spoke French to me, and I replied in English (Reference to the flag of England, not Canada!) We both understood everything that one another was saying. Merveilleux, passez la salt.

Assuming the evaluation method is fine, the measurement goal of the test should not be based on current language capacity - rather it should focus on the ability to improve from a strong base. There is no way that a written test with fixed answers can effectively rate someone's ability to improve. We are hiring people for their careers, right? Well, in the next couple years, if the candidate has the aptitude to learn a new language, they will do so in an immersed environment with both languages being used interchangeably. Applicants probably don't have that opportunity in Calgary. Cependent, a Montreal, however...

Similarly, and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a bitter Anglo- the oral tests are completely unaccountable. You are in a room with one other person (who is fluent in their language) and they rank you arbitrarily A, B, C or E based on a 15 minute conversation. The English tests are often conducted by people whose names end in X or ault. Puh-lease, or should I say "Suh-VP."