Highlights
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The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) receives almost 30 million calls annually through its automated telephone network. Weather forecasts and environmental services directly contribute to the well-being of Canadians. Environmental phenomena, such as tornadoes, winter storms, floods, drought, smog, changes in lake levels, ice conditions, road conditions and air turbulence, all affect travellers and the Canadian public. Because these phenomena could have a serious impact on our daily activities and the economy, information on past, present and future environmental conditions are at the heart of operational decision making, especially in today’s competitive global economy.
In addition, surveys show that the vast majority of Canadians consult weather forecasts every day. Forecasts are not only part of travel and leisure planning, but also part of strategic and operational decision making in sectors of our economy, such as transport and agriculture, that are particularly affected by atmospheric conditions. Moreover, the Canadian public, all levels of government and the private sector are seeking other types of environmental data, such as air quality and UV ray information.
Timely warnings of changing weather and environmental conditions that threaten the life and health of Canadians are the raison d’être of the MSC, which is one of the main operational sectors of Environment Canada (EC). Although the Department makes weather information available in various ways—for instance, by posting it on its Web site—our audit focused exclusively on the delivery of this information through the MSC automated telephone system. Data collection and spot-checks took place from June to October 2007.
We assessed the commitment of EC and MSC senior management to provide satisfactory weather services in the chosen official language of Canadians who use the automated telephone network, in compliance with EC’s and MSC’s obligations under Part IV of the Official Languages Act, which governs communications with and service to the public in both official languages. We also checked whether the institution effectively monitors the availability and quality of bilingual weather services.
Our examination revealed major deficiencies in the active offer of bilingual services and the availability of bilingual weather information on the MSC automated telephone network. In fact, our findings showed that an active offer of bilingual service was made only one quarter of the time, while service in the minority official language was available in barely half of all cases.
Conversely, our audit showed that EC has established an internal structure to manage the official languages program and has appointed two champions and one co-champion to this end. The champion responsible for Parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act recently set up a network of official languages champions consisting of managers from the Department’s various operational sectors, including the MSC. The Department has also adopted an accountability framework for official languages that defines the responsibilities of the various stakeholders in general terms. However, we believe that the framework should deal more specifically with matters of accountability regarding the delivery of weather information in both official languages.
With regards to the training and awareness of personnel, EC draws on the relevant policies of the Canada Public Service Agency. EC has also adopted departmental guidelines on service to the public in both official languages that include a short reference to the bilingual services offered on the automated telephone network. However, our audit showed that these guidelines are incomplete and do not successfully equip employees who play a major role in providing bilingual weather services on the MSC automated telephone network. We also noted that the MSC should more fully inform its employees about their linguistic obligations to provide service to the public in both official languages.
To improve the services available on its automated telephone network, the MSC has joined the Canada 511 Consortium, which is made up of government and private organizations. Although it continues to explore the possibility of introducing the 511 telephone system to provide standard weather information in both official languages across Canada, EC has not made any formal commitment to implement this system due to current financial constraints. Still, the MSC recognizes the difficulties posed by outdated technological equipment and is currently exploring solutions to ensure that its automated telephone network is efficient, equitable and compliant with the requirements of Part IV of the Official Languages Act, and that it meets the needs of the Canadian public.
We also examined whether the MSC uses structured mechanisms to monitor the quality of the weather services provided in both official languages at designated bilingual points of service over its automated telephone network. Under ISO 9000, the MSC set up an electronic data management system that allows the public to provide feedback on overall MSC operations. Despite this system, the MSC has not adopted a structured mechanism to monitor the quality of bilingual weather services available on answering machines. The MSC tends to take a more reactive stance; it corrects the problems brought to its attention in complaints.
The Commissioner has made eight recommendations to EC for improving the availability of weather services in both official languages on its automated telephone network.
We are satisfied with EC’s proposed measures and schedule to implement our recommendations. Their action plan is presented in Appendix B of this report.
