Also available in electronic format.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"This book is the first in-depth study of the implementation of the policy in the federal public service from 1967 to 2013 in the National Capital Region. Its analysis of language policy confronting actors, ideas, and institutions explains the state of the language of work in the public service today. Canada's official languages legislation fundamentally altered the composition and operational considerations of federal institutions.

Through an historical institutionalist lens based on extensive archival research and semi-structured interviews, Gaspard shows that the implementation of official languages policy in the federal public service could not challenge the predominance of English as the operating language. What emerges is a picture of a lack of structural change, inadequate managerial engagement, and a false sense that both official languages are equally ingrained.

This is an incisive, original, and deeply honest study of a defining characteristic in Canada's public service. A must read for all engaged with the federal public service and interested in official languages policy in general." (Book Cover)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface by Graham Fraser

Introduction

Official Languages and the Federal Public Service

1. Theoretical Foundations
The Politics of Language
Representative Bureaucracy
Historical Institutionalism and Layering

2. Check Your Hat and Your Language at the Door (1867-1967)

Introduction

The Early Civil Service

Historical Context
The Strike at Trois-Rivières
Ernest Lapointe - Prime Minister King's Quebec Lieutenant
L'Ordre Jacques Cartier
The Jean Committee

Early Reform Efforts

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, and Prime Minister Pearson's Promise

Conclusion

3. The Official Languages Act, 1969 (1968-1972)

Introduction

Adopting the OLA 1969

Charting a Course for Implementation
French-Language Units (FLUs)
Bilingual Districts

Linguistic Designation of Positions

Conclusion

4. If At First You Don't Succeed, Layer, Layer, and Then Layer Again (1973-1981)

Introduction

The 1973 Parliamentary Resolution on Official Languages

Decentralizing Program Management

The Gens de l'Air Crisis and National Unity

Reorganizing and Restructuring the Public Service

Management-centric Changes to the Official Languages Program (1981)

Conclusion

5. The OLA 1988 and Part V: The Right to Choose Your Language of Work (1982-2013)

Introduction

Maintaining the Status Quo

Prime Minister Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives and the Official Languages Act

The Official Languages Act, 1988

Part V: Official Language of Work Rights

Implementing Part V

Giving Meaning to Part V

Conclusion

CONCLUSION: Ideas, Institutions, and Actors
Ideas
Institutions
Actors
Conclusion

Appendix: Principal Actors
Department of the Secretary of State
Treasury Board Secretariat
Public Service Commission (PSC)
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Staff Unions

Bibliography

Index

Issued also in electronic format.