Higgs hints he may eliminate language commissioner position
CBC
Premier Blaine Higgs is hinting his government will eliminate the position of commissioner of official languages when it updates the province's language legislation next spring.
Higgs told reporters it's possible another government entity, such as a proposed official languages secretariat under his authority, would do a better job promoting bilingualism than the commissioner.
"It is a very negative office, usually finding fault with one person or another, and you wonder to what extent has it provided a meaningful way to move forward?" Higgs said of the commissioner's role, which has existed since 2003.
The mandate of the independent watchdog position is to field complaints from New Brunswickers who feel they haven't received government services in the official language of their choice, as required by the Official Languages Act.
The position has no enforcement power. Governments are free to ignore a commissioner's recommendations.
The role also includes promoting awareness of the merits of bilingualism in the province.
Higgs said some of the commissioner's tasks could be moved to a new entity, such as a secretariat within the government.
"What can we do in a secretariat that would be maybe what the official languages commissioner should be, or could be, doing as part of their mandate? I'm talking about marketing and promotion and awareness."
Acadian Society of New Brunswick president Alexandre Cédric Doucet said the comments are alarming to francophones who look to the commissioner to monitor government's compliance with the act.
"It is pretty clear from our understanding that he wants to abolish the office," he said. "He has to reassure the Acadian and francophone community that he won't do it."
Late Wednesday Higgs issued a statement saying his comments were referring to the commissioner's role investigating complaints, "which can often be perceived as negative."
His statement also said he was referring to recommendations from an independent review of the language act last year, "which did not include the abolition of the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner."
But nothing in the premier's statement explicitly said the commissioner's office would continue to exist.
Social Development Minister Dororthy Shephard said Wednesday there have been "negative connotations and positive connotations" to the commissioner's role, but "we need to hear what she or he has to say at all times.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
The province's Chief Public Health Office has identified between four and eight infants who require medication to protect them against measles.
It's turtle nesting season in Ontario and conservationists are working to protect endangered species and their nests.
Both Ontario's privacy commissioner and Ontario Health are investigating a reported data breach affecting Ontario Health atHome, the province's home-care coordination service.
During a Thursday afternoon meeting earlier this month in Brooks, Alta., Justice Dallas Miller, chair of Alberta's new electoral boundaries commission, outlined the central challenge facing the panel.
Five doctors at a St. John's hospital have tendered a joint notice of resignation, saying their work environment has become "unsafe for both patient care and provider well-being," CBC Investigates has learned.
Adeb Arianson fled his home in Kabul just days before the capital of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021, as Western nations were evacuating their citizens and panic seized the city.
New Brunswick's two regional health authorities say the transition of primary care to family health teams has opened up access for tens of thousands of doctorless patients, with more to come.
The Toronto Raptors are parting ways with team president Masai Ujiri, according to ESPN and Sportsnet.
After at least 22 drownings in Quebec since the start of the year — including two at Montreal's Verdun Beach in recent weeks — the Quebec Lifesaving Society is renewing its calls for caution.
Winnipeg's Portage and Main intersection is embedded in the story of Canada — the crossroads of the country and one of its windiest corners — and it's held that lore despite being inaccessible to pedestrians for 46 years.
Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP is calling on the provincial government to drop the requirement for used vehicles bought outside of the province to be inspected before they can be registered.
After years of legal proceedings, a man has been found not guilty of killing his common-law partner and setting fire to their mobile home in Boyle, Alta.
Rules around school zones aren't changing on July 1, contrary to what some "disreputable websites" are claiming, says the B.C. RCMP's Highway Patrol.