Ontario’s Acting French Language Services Commissioner, recently appointed to replace Kelly Burke, preaches stability in an interview with The duty. Carl Bouchard, responsible for monitoring the application of the French Language Services Act, assures that his French Language Services Unit “will continue to obtain concrete results”.
Carl Bouchard began his interim mandate for reasons that he and the Ombudsman’s office — his employer — have still not explained. The Quebec native has held the position of director of operations for the unit since February 2020, a hat he will continue to wear despite the recent appointment. “In the context of such a transition, it is only natural to be able to ensure the smooth running of our operations,” he says.
The new commissioner did not say how long his interim would be, but noted that the ombudsman’s office took eight months to find and hire Kelly Burke. “I don’t know if the past is a guarantee of the future,” he notes, however. Asked whether he was applying for the position on a permanent basis, Carl Bouchard replied that it was premature for him “to venture in a direction where I have to assess what the future will look like”.
Work to be done
Over the next few months, Carl Bouchard will be responsible for delivering the unit’s annual report. He will also have to follow up on the recommendations made by his team as part of an investigation into the cuts to French-language programs at Laurentian University. In March 2022, Kelly Burke determined that the establishment had violated the French Language Services Act by slashing French-language programs and that the Ministry of Francophone Affairs had failed in its role as a ministry responsible for the application of the law. .
The commissioner expects to obtain a report by March 31 from the departments of Francophone Affairs and Colleges and Universities — both under investigation — as well as from the university on the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the ‘investigation. Carl Bouchard will then be able to assess whether he is satisfied with the implementation of the 19 recommendations resulting from the investigation “or whether there is still work to be done”. His unit will also provide an update on the situation in the weeks or months that follow.
Carl Bouchard will have to accomplish a lot of his work without being able to count on the collaboration of an important figure in the Ministry of Francophone Affairs, Deputy Minister Marie-Lison Fougère, who will retire on March 31. “It will be a period of transition that will begin. A new person will arrive in place and we will make sure to develop a good bond with this person,” explains the interim commissioner.
The acting commissioner says he has a “great professional ethic”. “I work rigorously. I am a team player, I like to work with humility, which means that I leave room for others to bring a diversity of expertise and experience,” he continues.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.