2017–18 Departmental Results Report - Supplementary Information Tables

Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits

Response to parliamentary committees

Air Canada’s Implementation of the Official Languages Act: Aiming for Excellence

On June 7, 2016, former Commissioner of Official Languages Graham Fraser released a special report to Parliament titled Air Canada: On the road to increased compliance through an effective enforcement regime. This is the second time since the Office of the Commissioner was established in 1970 that this power of last resort has been exercised. In this special report, the Commissioner offers possible solutions to improve Air Canada’s compliance with the Official Languages Act.

On November 2, 2017, the Committee presented its 6th Report titled Air Canada’s Implementation of the Official Languages Act: Aiming for Excellence. This Report provided Parliament with seven recommendations to improve bilingualism at Air Canada. The Department of Justice worked alongside Transport Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat, and Heritage Canada to provide the Committee with its response to the recommendations. While the Government encourages institutions to meet their obligations, ultimately the responsibility to act on this recommendation rests with Air Canada.

Access to Justice - Part 2: Legal Aid

On February 23, 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (the Committee) decided to undertake a study on access to justice by proceeding in several phases. The second phase of the study focused on access to justice entailed a review of legal aid. From December 2016 to May 2017, the Committee held seven meetings at which it heard testimony from representatives of the Department of Justice, experts, and organizations involved in the delivery of legal aid services. Witnesses informed the Committee that legal aid goes further than legal representation and touched on public legal education initiatives, the patchwork of services, delivery and administration of legal aid, and other topics.

On October 30, 2017, the Committee presented its 16th Report titled Access to Justice - Part 2: Legal Aid. This report provided the Government with 10 recommendations to improve the overall legal aid system in Canada. The Department of Justice provided the Committee with a response on February 26, 2018, which provided a framework to address the recommendations set out by the Committee.

Ensuring justice is done in both official languages

On January 31, 2017, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages adopted a motion to study the full implementation of the Official Languages Act in the Canadian justice system. The purpose of the study is to review this issue of major importance to Canadians, particularly members of official language minority communities, and, based on the evidence and briefs presented, prepare recommendations to help the Government of Canada achieve truly equal access to justice in both official languages.

On December 12, 2017, the Committee presented its 8th Report: Ensuring Justice is Done in Both Official Languages. As a result of this study, the Report provided the Government with 10 recommendations to help improve the Canadian justice system. In the response tabled March 2, 2018, the Department of Justice agreed to begin and continue the work to meet the recommendations set out in the Committee’s report.

Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

There were no audits in 2017–18 requiring a response.

Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

Public Service Commission (PSC) System-Wide Staffing Audit (SWSA)

The Department of Justice was one of 25 organizations that were selected to participate in the PSC’s system-wide staffing audit. As part of the audit, the PSC undertook a review of each department’s appointment files (e.g., 17 appointment files from the Department of Justice) in order to obtain information on the integrity of staffing at a system-wide level, and to gather evidence about New Direction in Staffing (NDS) implementation. The PSC will publish its final report in Fall 2018 for public service-wide distribution. It should be noted that any recommendations resulting from the SWSA will be primarily directed at the PSC to make any adjustments to its policies, services or guidance and may include system-wide considerations. Overall, preliminary findings indicate that the Department of Justice has successfully implemented NDS requirements and has adapted them to its unique organizational context.

The SWSA report has not yet been published. Since this is not a Department of Justice-specific audit but a system-wide one, the SWSA report will be primarily directed at the PSC.

There were no recommendations for the Department of Justice.