Language requirements ‘even more important’ during emergencies: N.B. commissioner

A new report says Francophones face problems accessing services in French in New Brunswick.

New Brunswick’s Commissioner of Official Languages is calling on the Fredericton Police Force to make changes after English-only speaking officers were deployed to a 911 call inside a Francophone school.

In response, the Fredericton Police Force says “the preservation of life” was its priority during the February 2024 incident at École Sainte-Anne, which is detailed in the commissioner’s 2024-25 report released Tuesday.

A complaint about the incident alleged Fredericton Police officers addressed everyone at the Francophone school in English only when responding to the emergency call. The complaint also alleged officers never asked the affected parties what their preferred language was.

“The City of Fredericton appeared to believe that its police officers can relinquish their language responsibilities during emergency situations,” said MacLean at a Fredericton news conference. “Communicating with members of the public in their preferred official language is in fact even more important during an emergency situation. It ensures that members of the public facing a crisis are able to properly communicate with the authorities deployed on the scene.”

MacLean’s report said 20.6 per cent of the Fredericton Police Force’s personnel “have bilingual skills.”

“However, when a call came in concerning an emergency at a French-language school in the city, none of the officers dispatched to the scene spoke French,” said the report. “It can therefore be assumed that the protocol established by the police force or the City of Fredericton was not followed.”

In a statement, the Fredericton Police said it was important to note the context of the incident, calling it “an emergency involving a child in significant medical distress.”

“In such circumstances, the immediate preservation of life is the first priority, consistent with policing standards and (Fredericton Police Force) policy, while still making every reasonable effort to meet official language obligations,” said the police force, in a statement Tuesday.

The police force said there was a contingency plan in place if an officer couldn’t offer service in a preferred official language, either through a dispatch call for a bilingual officer, or “other reasonable measures be taken to ensure service in the requested language as soon as possible.”

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