Article content continued

The language watchdog said agencies need to foster a culture of bilingualism, comparing Via Rail — which netted fewer than 20 complaints — with Air Canada, which took the top spot with 51 complaints.

Fraser says his office is looking at how the Privy Council Office sets language requirements and assesses applicants’ skills.

At a press conference on Ebola last week, new Chief Public Health Officer Gregory Taylor answered all questions in English despite being asked by francophone journalists to respond in French. He also didn’t appear to understand some of their questions.

Fraser wouldn’t speak to that incident, but said unilingual agency heads are becoming a trend. And he noted that 23 complaints last year directly cited “deficit reduction” as the reason fewer services were available in both languages.

In a section called “Reducing the deficit: At what price?” Fraser studied five cutbacks, from the closure of a francophone experimental farm in New Brunswick to cutting participation in European job fairs to recruit skilled French speakers. Fraser said the institutions “failed to take the circumstance of the official language communities into account and assess the potential impact.”

With its strong Quebec representation, the Official Opposition took aim at the report.

“I’m giving the Conservatives a zero; I have nothing good to say,” said NDP MP Yvon Godin, his party’s official languages critic. He said it has taken years for departments to acknowledge they don’t serve English- and French-speakers equally, and said many need funding for language training.