Bilingual government positions are not being filled by qualified candidates.
That’s according to Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes, who says tax payers should be more concerned that the Federal Government is not respecting its obligation to ensure bilingual positions are filled by qualified candidates.
Hughes says one example Ian Potter, VP of National Research Council of Canada, who was on paid leave for over a year-and-a-half while trying to learn French.
She says Potter lasted six years despite only speaking English before being finally forced to take French lessons.
Hughes says taxpayers are the ones who suffer from these awful and unfair choices.
Hughes says Francophone Ontarians and Canadians should be appalled by this, and should expect nothing short of equal opportunities in the workplace.
Potter spent his final 16 months doing French lessons in Edmonton at a cost of $445 per day and also remained on salary in the range of $168,000 to $202,000.
Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Aaron Wudrick has since stated in the Ottawa Citizen that this case was a serious waste of taxpayers’ money.
