OTTAWA — Majority of francophones outside Quebec work in French: census < By Michelle MacAfee=

OTTAWA (CP) -- At 72, Irene Chabot has lived her entire life almost exclusively in French -- smack in the middle of the Prairie grain belt.

She was raised and educated in French, raised her own family in French, and continues to work in French for College Mathieu in Gravelbourg, Sask.

"I've used English only when I've had to," Chabot said proudly in an interview.

"French is my first language, my first love. It's my family legacy, my heritage. It's very important to me."

According to Statistics Canada, Chabot is far from the only francophone living outside Quebec who manages to use French in the workplace.

Almost seven in 10 francophones, or 67 per cent, of francophones living outside Quebec reported reading, writing or speaking French at work "most often" or "regularly," according to the 2001 census, parts of which were released Tuesday.

The survey was the first to have asked Canadians about the languages they use in the workplace. The intention is to provide a broader sense of the use of French among francophones, Louise Marmen, an analyst with Statistics Canada, said Tuesday.

"So far, we've had only part of the picture," said Marmen.

"We had an idea of what was going on at home but you don't spend all day at home, you also work.

"It gives an indication of the vitality of languages, either for French outside Quebec or for English in Quebec and even for immigrants who arrive in Canada."

The use of French is highest among francophones in New Brunswick (92 per cent) and Ontario (69), while the lowest proportions are registered in Alberta (33.5), Saskatchewan (32) and British Columbia (30).

Chabot knows not all francophones in Saskatchewan are as lucky as she has been.

Gravelbourg, a French settlement founded in 1906, is still a cultural centrepoint for the province's French-speaking community. More than half of the town's 400 residents are francophones, making it easier to live and work in the language, said Chabot.

Education, government services, health and social services, and fishing and trapping are among the sectors that employ the largest numbers of francophones in their mother tongue, according to the census figures.

However, one of the biggest factors in determining whether francophones will find work in French is not the type of job, but whether there are large concentrations of francophones in the same workplace, said Charles Castonguay, a statistician at the University of Ottawa.

So as the census figures indicate, francophones have more success in provinces such as New Brunswick and Ontario than they do in Alberta or B.C.

"If 80 per cent of the people you're working with are francos, you're likely to be able to speak French," said Castonguay. "If it's only 30 per cent or less, then you're more than likely going to be using English almost all the time, it not all the time."

While Castonguay called this first set of Statistics Canada data on workplace language a good starting point, he challenged the wording of the questions.

The first question asked Canadians to report the language used most often for work, or the language written most often, depending on the type of job. Statistics Canada wanted to know only the languages used for performing a job or a major task, not during breaks.

The second question asked people to state any other languages used on a regular basis for major tasks, but not as often as the language used most often.

Castonguay said the emphasis should be on the language spoken, not just "used", because it is the most telling information.

"I think the choice of vocabulary they used in phrasing the questions is aimed at enhancing a multilingual, not even bilingual, language behaviour picture inside and outside of Quebec," said Castonguay.

"We have to take the results with sort of a grain of salt, or a critical approach."

Another academic who closely follows language issues agreed "expectations should be grounded" when one considers whether French truly is flourishing in the workplace across the country.

"The reality is the ability of francophones to operate in the English language is better than the ability of anglophones to operate in the French language, on average," said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies.

Jedwab, who is writing a book about bilingualism in North America and Europe, points to a recent federal government survey of bilingualism in the public service as evidence that work still needs to be done.

The Annual Report on Official Languages, tabled in Parliament last December by Treasury Board President Lucienne Robillard, concluded the use of French within the public service "is still problematic."

The report notes that some workplaces that should be bilingual are not yet. And anglophones and francophones too often use English as the primary language because francophones hesitate to use their first language or don't state a preference for working in French.

"Francophones should become aware that, in choosing English as their language of work, they contribute to increasing the imbalance between the two official languages and encourage neither the maintenance nor improvement of the French language in their workplace," states the report.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in Ottawa is one employer trying to create a better balance between the two languages.

Almost all members of the federal nuclear watchdog's executive committee are fluently bilingual, said commission spokesman Michel Cleroux. Other employees are receiving language training. <

"What we're encouraging is practical, everyday bilingualism," said Cleroux, a fluently bilingual francophone. "It's not just guidelines, it's putting it in practice every day."

To better educate employees about their freedom of language choice, the commission hung posters in meeting rooms to remind staff to use French if they want to.

If four of five employees gathered are francophone, the entire meeting could be held in French, said Cleroux. The same goes for inter-office e-mail.

Common sense is the key.

"How many employees would go ahead and send it (e-mail) if they think their manager is going to have to go out and have it translated?" asked Cleroux. "So when you know the person at the other end understands you, that's when you feel at a practical level that you're free to do so."

In addition to measuring the use of French and English in the workplace, the census found that 23 per cent of allophone workers -- whose mother tongue is neither English nor French -- used a non-official language at work.

Vancouver had the highest proportion of non-official language use "most often" by allophone workers, at 33 per cent, followed by Toronto (23) and Montreal (20).

The Chinese dialects were most prevalent in all three cities.

Many workplaces have already begun to adapt to this changing reality.

RBC Financial Group, for example, offers customer service -- and even some documents -- in languages such as Cantonese and Mandarin at branches where there is a high demand, said Norma Tombari, a senior human resources manager.

"It's very much in respect of our clients," said Tombari.

In other workplaces where a non-official language is dominant, such as the textile sector, some unions affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress have started to translate contracts and even hold union meetings in that language, said a congress spokesman.

In Quebec, where the census showed 99 per cent of francophones use French at work, there is a more formal approach to protecting the language in the workplace.

Provincial language laws passed in 1977 require French to be the principle language in all workplaces with more than 50 employees. The laws require all internal communication, working documents and technology to be in French, but they don't exclude the use of English or other languages.

To date, about 75 per cent of all companies in Quebec with more than 50 employees have complied with the law and earned their "certificate of francization", said Gerald Paquette, spokesman for the Office de la langue francaise, the government's language watchdog.

The remaining companies, often in industries such as pharmaceuticals, aeronautics and bio-technology, need more time to phase-in the law.<

The census found almost 66 per cent of anglophone workers used French most often or regularly at work in Quebec, compared with two per cent outside Quebec.

By contrast, 30 per cent of Quebec's 3.2 million francophone workers said they used English at work. Half of francophone workers in Montreal reported using English either most often or regularly.

The 2001 census also revealed that 78 per cent of immigrants in Quebec, who often have a mother tongue that is not English or French, speak French at work.

That statistic is more important in measuring the health of the French language than those on the language immigrants speak at home because it serves as an important barometer of how well newcomers have adapted to Quebec, said Jedwab.

"They (the laws) have been very effective over the past few decades in ensuring a greater presence of French in the workplace and that immigrants speak French more so in the workplace, which was a big issue 30 years ago," said Jedwab.

But Paquette said the impact of Quebec's language laws reaches well beyond the province's borders.

"When we persuade someone like Microsoft or Nike to have products in French, or put out French versions at the same time as the English version, then when that is available in Quebec, it's also available in French Canada," said Paquette.