The department decided to shut down the General Jean V. Allard Commemorative library in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., due to budget cuts on Sept. 30, 2010, replacing it with an Educational Resources Centre for military and civilian personnel and for students at the Land Force Quebec 5 Area Support Group.
The department made no public consultations or announcement of the decision. As a result, it eliminated public access to the library that first opened in 1971 at the Saint-Jean Garrison.
The report by Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser — in response to nine separate complaints, including one from NDP MP Yvon Godin — concluded that the department "failed to meet its obligations" under a federal law that requires the government and federal institutions to take positive measures to protect the vitality of English and French-speaking minority communities in Canada.
"According to the users we met, the General Jean V. Allard Commemorative Library was an essential resource, a cultural and historical treasure that contributed to the personal and professional development of its users," wrote Fraser in his report. "Anglophone internal users, in particular, emphasized how invaluable it was for them to be able to access all sorts of documents in English, in a community that is overwhelmingly Francophone."
Out of 86,075 people living in the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu region, about 2.4 per cent of the population considered themselves to be English-speaking, according to 2006 Statistics Canada census figures.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Postmedia News, but Fraser wrote in his report that it disputed the view that its library was a "community-based establishment."
Fraser has recommended that the department should improve its internal practices to protect minority language rights. He also recommended that it should consult with the English-speaking community on the impact of its decision in the region and on how to redistribute its collection to municipal libraries in the region.
"Some (library users) said it was inconceivable for a school not to have a library and, had they known its closing was imminent, they would have made sure DND was aware of the importance of keeping the library before the decision was made," Fraser wrote in his report.
Godin, a veteran New Brunswick MP who is also the NDP's official languages critic, said the department needs to respect the ruling and the law.
"If they (Defence Department officials) do not agree (with Fraser's report) it means they don't agree with the law," said Godin, "Because the law is clear that there must be consultations when there could be negative impacts on a minority (official languages) community."
A coalition of anglophone community groups and organizations across Quebec said it was delighted with Fraser's report, noting that the watchdog rarely gets complaints from the province's English-speaking population about federal institutions that violate language rights.
"We don't complain much," said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network. "But somebody felt very strongly that there was an impact and it is nice to see . . . that somebody was supported."
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Mike De Souza
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