Language integrity

A man saw a post in French on Twitter from the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario, indicating that the latest report from the Integrity Commissioner was available, with a link to the report “Re: The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board.” This link took him to the English version of the report, issued under the Members’ Integrity Act, regarding a complaint by one MPP against another. The man contacted the Office of the Integrity Commissioner, which confirmed that the document was only available in English. The man also noted that the majority of the reports, issued under the Members’ Integrity Act, were posted in English only and that only annual reports were available in French and English.

Given the importance of the issues raised, the Ombudsman and the French Language Services Commissioner met with the Integrity Commissioner to discuss the situation. The meeting was very productive.

Whether or not the French Language Services Act applies to reports under the Members’ Integrity Act, the Integrity Commissioner recognized the importance of the issues raised and committed to issuing future reports, news releases and executive summaries in English and in French simultaneously – as a general rule – because it is the right thing to do, in his view. If the Integrity Commissioner is unable to meet this commitment due to circumstances beyond his control, in a limited number of cases, he will provide an executive summary immediately and a full translation as soon as possible. In addition, he committed to planning for the translation of all reports in the future.

Learn more about the French Language Services Unit which answers questions and takes complaints about services in French.
Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases.