The vast majority of Canadian diplomats do not speak the language required by their job description abroad, which could harm the defense of Canada’s interests abroad, warns a report.
“Conducting diplomacy in the local language is key to functioning in the next-generation environment, which is not limited to exchanging diplomatic notes or interacting with English or French speakers among local elites “, decides the former Canadian ambassador to Iraq Ulric Shannon.
The experienced diplomat signed a study published in August by the Center for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa. The 97-page document paints a bleak picture of how Global Affairs Canada (GAC) chooses its diplomats, often without the language skills required for their duties.
The diplomatic network filled less than one in five executive positions abroad (18%) with someone who could speak the local language. In general, less than one diplomat in four (23%) has this skill, which has been declining for several years. A proof, according to the author, “of the perceived uselessness of language skills for advancement in the organization”. Canada is also the only G7 country that does not offer a financial incentive to master a foreign language.
The country does not compare favorably to its allies. Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom, for example, have a diplomatic corps that is mostly able to converse in the language of the country where they are posted.
This situation can be explained by the general lack of middle managers in the diplomatic network, which makes it possible to assign employees to urgent tasks rather than letting them take the language courses to which they are entitled. Mr. Shannon also noted the specific situation in Canada, where foreign service diplomats had to have a sufficient level of French and English at the time of hiring.
The restart of a language program for unilingual candidates, in 2021, now offers the right to unilingual candidates to learn the other official language after their selection. According to the author, this could, for example, allow the hiring of candidates who speak Mandarin, but who have not had access to an education in French.
The duty revealed that the latest executive hiring process at Global Affairs Canada screened out Francophones, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities and Aboriginals proportionally more. Candidates from the Anglophone majority were the least at risk of elimination.
When she held the portfolio of Minister of Official Languages, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, promised to “change the culture” of the public service to force bilingualism into the administrative machine. A reflection on staffing would be underway at Global Affairs Canada.
The University of Ottawa study, which compares Canada’s diplomatic service to that of six countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, China, Russia), also bears witness to a global context in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is losing its traditional role as the government’s messenger, while more ministries are getting involved in international relations.
The author also invites Global Affairs Canada to have more specialists, instead of generalist diplomats, to avoid the marginalization of the institution and “the questioning of its comparative advantage”. In short, to prevent the ministry from becoming just a point of service for passports and visas, or the owner of the buildings that house the embassies.