Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Mr. Leader, this week, a Radio-Canada news report revealed that, even though 30.8% of public service employees are francophone, only 19% of deputy minister and associate deputy minister positions are occupied by francophones. Interestingly, these positions are Privy Council and PMO appointments.

When the RCMP Commissioner testified at the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency last week, she did not utter a word of French. I asked the Library of Parliament to look into whether she had ever given a speech or answered questions in French. According to their research, there was no evidence that the RCMP Commissioner had ever spoken French. However, when she was hired, the language requirement for the job identified mastery of both official languages as an asset. In the official languages and diversity section, it says that the Government of Canada considers bilingual proficiency and diversity in evaluating candidates’ suitability for the position.

I really don’t understand it when the PMO says one thing and does the opposite. Does the PCO really prefer to appoint unilingual people to these key positions?

Senator Carignan: Part of sound human resource succession planning involves making sure that the pool or pyramid is larger at the bottom and that those individuals can move up through the ranks. It involves ensuring that there is a large enough pool of candidates who have the skills needed to carry out the duties.

How do you explain the fact that the pool is 30% francophone, but that only 19% of them are left at the top of the pyramid? Why does the government think that the francophone pool is less qualified?