OTTAWA — The federal Treasury Board says it has no plans to expand a bonus — now paid to employees who speak English and French — to those who know an Indigenous language.
The bilingualism bonus is an extra $800 employees receive a year if they work in a position designated as requiring language skills in English and French, Canada’s two official languages.
Expanding it to compensate employees who speak an Indigenous language was among the suggestions senior civil servants proposed late last year as they discussed ways to address language concerns held by some Indigenous public servants.
Some details of those considerations were contained in a briefing note released to The Canadian Press under the federal access-to-information law.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, a union representing more than than 120,000 federal employees covered by Treasury, has proposed creating an Indigenous language allowance to introduce compensation for those who use one in the course of their work.
National president Chris Aylward said the union has identified nearly 500 federal employees who speak an Indigenous language on the job.
“It’s a discriminatory practice,” he said in an interview. “When their co-workers are getting paid an allowance to speak a second language and these workers are not … how can this government justify that?”
“This is a very progressive and, we feel, a very tangible way for the government to recognize the importance of Indigenous languages in Canada … it’s a win-win.”
Aylward said the union, which has been negotiating a new contract with the government for more than a year, is also proposing to increase the bilingualism bonus to $1,500, up from the current $800, and wants to see the same compensation provided to Indigenous language speakers.
“We definitely believe that Indigenous workers should be recognized for the language that they speak.”
The bilingualism bonus is designed to support the government’s commitment that public servants can work in the language of their choice — a measure required of federal institutions under the country’s official languages law, said Alain Belle-Isle, a spokesman for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
“Treasury Board has no plans to broaden the scope of the bilingualism bonus to include Indigenous languages,” Belle-Isle said in a statement.
In a followup statement, a spokesman in the office of Mona Fortier, the minister responsible for Treasury Board, said it was committed to creating an inclusive public service and working with partners to address barriers to employment and career advancement.
“We will never change the fundamental principle of bilingualism in the public service,” wrote Scott Bardsley, adding that more than 40 per cent of federal jobs require dual language proficiency.
He also pointed to an increase in Indigenous representation in the government’s executive ranks, which was reported as being 4.4 per cent in 2020-21, up from 3.7 per cent in 2015-16.
Preserving and promoting Indigenous languages is among the reconciliation-related promises Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has prioritized. In 2019, it passed legislation meant to help Indigenous communities revitalize languages their members were not permitted to speak under government policies, like the one in place in the residential school system, which operated for more than a century.
In response to Treasury’s decision, the Native Women’s Association of Canada pointed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — the body that investigated residential schools — calling on Ottawa to recognize that Indigenous rights include language rights.
“We expect better from the government!” it tweeted.
Recently released census data from 2021 shows a slight drop in the number of people who reported being able to speak an Indigenous language.
Statistics Canada also reported a decline in the percentage of people who say they speak French at home.
Lori Idlout, the New Democrat MP for Nunavut, who speaks Inuktitut, said she plans to try to persuade Treasury Board to change course.
“I’m quite disappointed,” she said. “I’m frustrated.”
The MP believes federal employees who can speak an Indigenous language like Inuktitut provide Indigenous residents with better service, and should be entitled to the same benefits as counterparts who speak English and French.
“Canada is founded on Indigenous lands, on First Nations, Métis, Inuit lands, and if reconciliation is to be realized, this is one of the ways that it has to happen … they need to be given the same value as bilingual English or French federal employees.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2022.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
EDMONTON – The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that assistant general manager Brad Holland is leaving the club.
The move comes almost three months after the departure of former Oilers general manager Ken Holland, Brad’s father.
Oilers chief executive officer and president of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said in a statement that Brad Holland and the team parted ways so Holland could “explore other opportunities.”
Holland, 43, joined the Oilers as a scout in 2019. He was promoted to assistant GM in July 2022.
He had a hand in building the team that advanced to Game 7 of the 2023-24 Stanley Cup final before losing to the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers hired former Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman to replace Ken Holland on July 1.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins are placing Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve after the quarterback was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the move. Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games with the designation.
He was hurt in the third quarter of a Thursday night game against the Buffalo Bills on a play where he collided with Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and then initiated the contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.
Players from both teams immediately motioned that Tagovailoa was hurt, and as he lay on the turf the quarterback exhibited some signs typically associated with a traumatic brain injury. He remained down on the field for a couple of minutes, got to his feet and walked to the sideline.
Tagovailoa this week began the process of consulting neurologists about his health. He was diagnosed with two concussions in 2022 and one while in college at Alabama.
