Citizendia

Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. An example of bilingualism at the federal government level.
Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. A stop sign is a Traffic sign, usually erected at Road junctions that instructs drivers to stop and then to proceed only if the way ahead is clear Parliament Hill (colloquially The Hill, French Colline du Parlement) is a scenic location on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. An example of bilingualism at the federal government level.
Bilingual (French/English) sign for Preston Street (rue Preston) in Ottawa, placed above a sign marking that the street is in Little Italy. An example of bilingualism at the municipal government level.
Bilingual (French/English) sign for Preston Street (rue Preston) in Ottawa, placed above a sign marking that the street is in Little Italy. Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. Little Italy is a neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada situated in Centretown West and the cultural centre of Ottawa's Italian community An example of bilingualism at the municipal government level.

Official bilingualism is the term used in Canada to collectively describe the policies, constitutional provisions, and laws which give English and French a privileged status over other languages in Canada’s courts, parliament and administration. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario.

Official bilingualism should not be confused with personal bilingualism, which is the capacity of a person to speak two languages. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory However, the promotion of personal bilingualism in English and French is an important objective of official bilingualism in Canada, and is addressed more fully below.

In addition to the symbolic designation of English and French as official languages, official bilingualism is generally understood to include any law or other measure which:

At the provincial level, only New Brunswick is officially bilingual and only Quebec is officially unilingual (French only). New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk In practice, all provinces, including Quebec, offer some bilingual services and some education in both official languages up to the high school level. English and French are official languages in all three territories. In addition, Inuktitut is also an official language in Nunavut, and nine aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories. Inuktitut ( Inuktitut syllabics: iu-Cans ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ( fonts required literally "like the Inuit") is the name of the varieties of Nunavut (ˈnuːnəvʊt ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ is the largest and newest territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory

Contents

History

Main article: Chronology of official languages policy in Canada

French has been a language of government in the part of Canada that is today Quebec, with limited interruptions, since the arrival of the first French settlers in 1608, and has been entrenched in the Constitution of Canada since 1867. Official bilingualism dates back in various forms to Canadian Confederation in 1867. English has been a language of government in each of the provinces since their inception as British colonies.

Institutional bilingualism in various forms therefore predates the Canadian Confederation in 1867. However, for many years English occupied a de facto privileged position, and French was not fully equal. The two languages have gradually achieved a greater level of equality in most of the provinces, and full equality at the federal level. The trend has been very different in Quebec, however, where in the 1970s English lost its status of full equality with French, which is now, both in practice and in law, the sole official language of Quebec.

Personal bilingualism in Canada

Main article: Spoken languages of Canada

Personal bilingualism and multilingualism is a significant feature of Canadian society: at least 35% of Canadians speak more than one language. Patterns of individual language use Language composition by Home language The following are the top twenty languages spoken in Canada shown Of these multilingual Canadians, somewhat less than half (5,448,850 persons, or 17. 4% of the Canadian population) are able to speak both the official languages. [1] However, in Canada a person is not normally referred to as being bilingual unless he or she is bilingual in English and French. Thus, even though over 98% of Canadians can speak either English or French,[2] nearly 83% of the population is unilingual in terms of the two official languages.

Knowledge of the two official languages is largely determined by geography. In Quebec, 94. 5% of the population knows how to speak French but only 40. 6% knows how to speak English. In the rest of the country, 97. 6% of the population is capable of speaking English, but only 7. 5% know how to speak French. [3] Because knowledge of English in Quebec is about four times higher, in percentage terms, than knowledge of French in the rest of the country, personal bilingualism is largely limited to Quebec itself, and to a strip of territory sometimes referred to as the “bilingual belt”, that stretches east from Quebec into northern New Brunswick and west into parts of Ottawa and northeastern Ontario. The bilingual belt is a term for the portion of Canada where both French and English are regularly spoken Thus, a majority of bilingual Canadians are themselves Quebeckers, and a high percentage of the bilingual population in the rest of Canada resides in close proximity to the Quebec border.

Constitutional provisions on official languages

Main article: Constitution of Canada

Constitution Act, 1867 (section 133)

Main article: Constitution Act, 1867

English and French have had limited constitutional protection since 1867. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's Constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions The Constitution Act 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act 1867, and still known informally as the BNA Act) constitutes a major part of Section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867 guarantees that both languages may be used in the Parliament of Canada, in its journals and records, and in court proceedings in any court established by the Parliament of Canada. The Constitution Act 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act 1867, and still known informally as the BNA Act) constitutes a major part of The section also provides that all Acts of the Parliament of Canada are to be printed and published in both English and French. Section 133 also establishes a corresponding set of linguistic rights for French and English in Quebec--but not in any other province.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (sections 16 - 22)

Main article: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Constitution Act, 1982 entrenched stronger and more detailed guarantees for the equal status of the two official languages in sections 16-23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the The Constitution Act 1982 (Schedule B of the Canada Act 1982 (UK is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the Sections 16-19 guarantee the equal status of both languages in Parliament, in all federal government institutions, and in federal courts. These sections also mandate that all statutes, records and journals of Parliament be published in both languages, with the English and French versions both holding equal status before the courts. Section 20 guarantees the right of the Canadian public to communicate in English and French with any central government office or with regional offices where there is "a significant demand for communication with and services from that office. Section Twenty of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of the sections of the Charter dealing with Canada 's two Official languages " Significant demand is not defined in the Charter of Rights. One of the purposes of the Official Languages Act of 1988 was to remedy this omission.

The Charter of Rights includes similar constitutional obligations making New Brunswick the only officially bilingual province in Canada[4]. New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally

Section 21 ensured that the new Charter of Rights would be read as supplementing, rather than replacing any rights of the English and French languages which had been constitutionalized prior to 1982. Section Twenty-one of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of several sections of the Charter relating to the Official languages Section 22 ensured that the new Charter of Rights would not be interpreted by the courts as placing any new restrictions on non-official languages. Section Twenty-two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of several sections of the Charter relating to the Official languages

Education Rights (section 23 of the Charter and section 59 of the Constitution Act, 1982)

Main article: Section Twenty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Section 23 provides a limited right to receive publicly-funded primary and secondary-schooling in the two official languages when they are "in a minority situation"--in other words, to English-language schooling in Quebec, and to French-language schooling in the rest of the country. Section Twenty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the section of the ''Charter'' that constitutionally guarantees Minority language Section Twenty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the section of the ''Charter'' that constitutionally guarantees Minority language

Asymmetrical application of education rights in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada

The right applies asymmetrically because section 59 of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides that not all of the language rights listed in section 23 will apply in Quebec. Specifically:

One practical consequence of this asymmetry is to require all migrants who arrive in Quebec from foreign countries to place their children in French-language schools—including immigrants whose mother tongue is English and immigrants who received their schooling in English.

On the other hand, Section 23 provides a nearly universal right to English-language schooling for the children of Canadian-born Anglophones living in Quebec.

Section 23 also provides a nearly universal right to French-language schooling for the children of all Francophones living outside Quebec, including immigrants from French-speaking countries who settle outside Quebec.

Additional restrictions on education rights

There are some further restrictions on minority-language education rights:

  1. the rights attach to the parent, not the child, and non-citizens residing in Canada do not have access to this right (even if their children are born in Canada);
  2. If the parents' English-language or French-language education took place outside Canada, this does not enable the child to be educated in that language; and
  3. the right to receive public funding can only be exercised in localities where "the number of children of citizens who have such a right is sufficient to warrant the provision to them out of public funds . . . . " [5].

Ambiguous definition of entitlement to education rights

The phrase, "where numbers . . . warrant" is not defined in Section 23. Education is under provincial jurisdiction, which means that it has not been possible for Parliament to enact a single nationwide definition of the term, as the 1988 Official Languages Act did for the constitutional obligation to provide federal services where “there is a sufficient demand. ” As a result, disputes over the extent of the right to a publicly-funded minority-language education have been the source of much litigation.

The defining case was Mahe v. Alberta (1990), in which the Supreme Court of Canada declared that section 23 guaranteed a "sliding scale. Mahe v Alberta, 1 SCR 342 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the Minority language education rights under section 23 The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian " In certain circumstances, the children whose parents could exercise the right might be so few that literally no minority language education may be provided by the government. With a greater number of children, some schools might be required to provide classrooms in which the children could receive minority language education. Rm46jpg|thumb|Classroom in St Eunan's College, Letterkenny, Ireland]] A classroom is a Room in which Teaching or Learning activities An even greater number would require the construction of new schools dedicated solely to minority language education. In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure More recent cases, which have significantly extended these rights, include Arsenault-Cameron v. Prince Edward Island (2000) and Doucet-Boudreau v. Nova Scotia (Minister of Education) (2003). Arsenault-Cameron v Prince Edward Island, 1 SCR 3 2000 SCC 1 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on Minority language rights Doucet-Boudreau v Nova Scotia (Minister of Education 3 SCR 3 2003 SCC 62 was a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada which followed the Nova Scotia

Language of the official text of the Constitution

Many of the documents in Canada's Constitution do not have an official French-language version; for official legal purposes only the English-language version is official and any French translations are unofficial. In particular, the Constitution Act, 1867 (which created Canada as a legal entity and still contains the most important provisions of governmental powers) has no official French-language version, because it was enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament, which functions in the English language exclusively. The Constitution Act 1867 (formerly called the British North America Act 1867, and still known informally as the BNA Act) constitutes a major part of Similarly, all other parts of the Constitution that were enacted by the United Kingdom (with the important exception of the Canada Act 1982) have no official French-language version. The Canada Act 1982 (1982 c 11 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that severed all remaining legislative dependence of Canada

Sections 55 – 57 of the Constitution Act, 1982 set out a framework for changing this situation. Section 55 calls for French versions of all parts of the Constitution that exist only in English to be prepared as quickly as possible. Section 56 provided that, following adoption of the French versions, both the English-language and French-language versions would be equally authoritative. This means that an inaccurately-translated French version would have a weight equal to the English original. Perhaps in order to ensure that no de facto amendments could be accidentally made to the Constitution via the translation process, Section 55 requires that the French-language versions be approved using the same process under which actual constitutional amendments are adopted.

Section 57 states that the “English and French versions of this Act [ie. the Constitution Act, 1982] are equally authoritative. ” It was necessary to state this in the text of the Act because the Constitution Act was enacted in the form of a schedule, in both French and English, as an Act of the British parliament (the Canada Act 1982), and without a provision mentioning its language, it would have followed the practice of most British legislation, and it too would have been valid in its English version only. The Canada Act 1982 (1982 c 11 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that severed all remaining legislative dependence of Canada

Pursuant to section 55, a French Constitutional Drafting Committee produced French-language versions of all the British North America Acts in the decade following 1982. However, these versions were never ratified under the Constitution’s amendment procedure, and therefore have never been officially adopted. [6]

Federal legislation on official languages

Official Languages Act

Main article: Official Languages Act (Canada)
A bilingual sign in Quebec.
A bilingual sign in Quebec. The Official languages Act is a law adopted by the Parliament of Canada in 1969 and substantially amended in 1988 Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk

Canada adopted its first Official Languages Act in 1969, in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was a Canadian Royal commission established on July 19, 1963, by the government of The current Official Languages Act was adopted in 1988 to improve the 1969 law's efforts to address two basic policy objectives: (1) to specify the powers, duties and functions of federal institutions relevant to official languages; (2) to support the development of linguistic minority communities. As well, following the adoption in 1982 of the Charter of Rights, it was necessary to create a legislative framework within which the Government of Canada could respect its new constitutional obligations regarding the official languages. [7]

In addition to formalizing Charter provisions in Parts I through IV, the Act adopts several specific measures to achieve these objectives. [8]. For example, Part V specifies that the work environment in federal institutions in the National Capital Region and other prescribed bilingual regions be conducive to accommodating the use of French and English at work[9]. The National Capital Region is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighboring city of Gatineau, Quebec Part VI mandates that English-speaking Canadians and French-speaking Canadians not be discriminated against based on ethnic origin or first language learned when it comes to employment opportunities and advancement. [10].

Finally, the Act establishes a Commissioner of Official Languages [11] and specifies his duties to hear and investigate complaints, make recommendations to Parliament, and delegate authority in matters pertaining to official languages in Canada. A Commissioner of Official Languages is an official head of an office that is responsible for dealing with matters regarding a country's policy towards its Official Languages [12]. Canada's current Commissioner of Official Languages is Graham Fraser. [13].

Section 32 of the Official Languages Act authorizes the Governor in Council (i. e. the federal cabinet) to issue regulations defining the geographic regions in which services will be offered by the federal government in the relevant minority language (English in Quebec and French elsewhere)[14].

This provides a legal definition for the otherwise vague requirement that services be provided in the minority official languages wherever there is "significant demand. " The definition used in the regulations is complex, but basically an area of the country is served in both languages if at least 5,000 persons in that area, or 5% of the local population (whichever is smaller), belongs to that province's English or French linguistic minority population. [15]

Regulations were first promulgated in 1991. [16].

Support and opposition

Poll Data

Polls show that Canadians consistently and strongly support two key aspects of Canadian official languages policy:

However, among English-speaking Canadians there is only limited support for broadening the scope of official bilingualism, and reservations exist among Anglophones as to the intrusiveness and/or fairness of the policy. Among Francophones, polls have revealed no such reservations.

Strong support among both Anglophones and Francophones for bilingual government services

Among Anglophones, support for providing federal French-language services to French-speakers living outside Quebec has remained consistently high over a quarter-century period—79% in 1977 and 76% in 2002. [17] Over the same period, support among English-speakers for the “right to French language education outside Quebec where numbers make costs reasonable” has ranged from 79% to 91%. [18] Among French-speaking Canadians, support for these policies was even higher.

A lack of consensus on other aspects of official bilingualism

The national consensus breaks down when other aspects of official bilingualism are examined. According to a review of three decades’ worth of poll results published in 2004 by Andre Turcotte and Andrew Parkin, “Francophones in Quebec are almost unanimous in their support of the official languages policy” but “there is a much wider variation in opinion among Anglophones…. ”[19] This variation can be seen, for example, in responses to the question, “Are you, personally, in favour of bilingualism for all of Canada?” Between 1988 and 2003, support for this statement among Francophones ranged between 79% and 91%, but among Anglophones support was never higher than 48%, and fell as low as 32% in the early 1990s. [20]

According to Turcotte and Parkin, other poll data reveal that “in contrast to Francophones, Anglophones, in general, have resisted putting more government effort and resources into promoting bilingualism …. What is revealing, however, is that only 11% of those outside Quebec said they disagreed with bilingualism in any form. Opposition seems to be directed to the actions of the federal government, rather than to bilingualism itself …. [T]his distinction is key to understanding public opinion on the issue. ”[21] This helps to explain results that would otherwise seem contradictory, such as a 1994 poll in which 56% of Canadians outside Quebec indicated that they either strongly or moderately supported official bilingualism, but 50% agreed with a statement that "the current official bilingualism policy should be scrapped because it's expensive and inefficient. "[22]

In English Canada, there is some regional variation in attitudes towards federal bilingualism policy, but it is relatively modest when compared to the divergence between the views expressed by Quebecers and those expressed in the rest of the country. For example, in a poll conducted in 2000, only 22% of Quebecers agreed with the statement, “We have gone too far in pushing bilingualism,” while positive response rates in English Canada ranged from a low of 50% in the Atlantic to a high of 65% in the Prairies. [23]

Generally positive attitudes towards personal bilingualism

Both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians tend to regard the capacity to speak the other official language as having cultural and economic value,[24] and both groups have indicated that they regard bilingualism as an integral element of the Canadian national identity. Once again, however, there is a marked divergence between the responses of French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians. In a 2003 poll, 75% of Francophones indicated that “having two official languages, English and French”, made them proud to be Canadian. Among English-speakers, 55% said that bilingualism made them proud, but far higher percentages (86% and 94%, respectively) indicated that multiculturalism and the Charter of Rights made them feel proud. [25]

Findings of the Spicer Commission

In late 1990, a six-man “Citizens’ Forum on Canada’s Future” was established by the federal government with a mandate to engage in "a dialogue and discussion with and among Canadians . . . to discuss the values and characteristics fundamental to the well-being of Canada. " The Forum, which was headed by former Commissioner of Official Languages Keith Spicer, published a report in June 1991, which included a detailed discussion of Canadians’ reactions to a variety of issues, including federal official languages policy.

These comments, which probably represent the most extensive consultation ever with Canadians on the subject of official bilingualism, were compiled statistically by the Spicer Commission, and tend to reinforce the findings of pollsters, that Canadians are favourable towards bilingual services, but frustrated with the implementation of official languages policy. Thus, for example, nearly 80% of group discussions sponsored by the Commission produced favourable comments from participants on what the Commission’s report refers to as “bilingualism generally,” but nearly 80% of these discussions produced negative comments on “official languages policy. ” [26]

These results prompted Spicer to write,

“Canada’s use of two official languages is widely seen as a fundamental and distinctive Canadian characteristic. Among many, especially the young, the ability to speak, read and write both French and English is accepted as a significant personal advantage. Even many parents who dislike ‘official bilingualism’ are eager to enrol their children in French immersion.

On the other hand, we find that the application of the official languages policy is a major irritant outside Quebec, and not much appreciated inside Quebec….

In spite of real and needed progress in linguistic fair play in federal institutions, a sometimes mechanical, overzealous, and unreasonably costly approach to the policy has led to decisions to that have helped bring it into disrepute. Citizens tell us that bilingual bonuses, costly translation of technical manuals of very limited use, public servants’ low use of hard-acquired French-language training, excessive designation of bilingual jobs, and a sometimes narrow, legalistic approach are sapping a principle which they would otherwise welcome as part of Canada’s basic identity. [27]

”

Advocacy for abolition of official bilingualism

In the first decade or so following the enactment of Canada's first Official Languages Act in 1969, opposition to the new policy sometimes took a radical form that has subsequently disappeared. Groups such as the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada, and books such as Jock V. Andrew's Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow, advocated either the repeal of the Official Languages Act or an end to the policy of official bilingualism. The Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada ( APEC) was a political lobby group in Canada, which campaigned against the Canadian government Jock V Andrew (born 1929 was a Canadian naval officer and writer Bilingual Today French Tomorrow Trudeau's Master Plan and How it Can be Stopped was a controversial 1977 book by Jock V Leonard Jones, the mayor of Moncton, New Brunswick, was an aggressive opponent of bilingualism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Leonard C Jones ( June 4, 1924 - June 23, 1998) was a Canadian Politician, who served as Mayor of the city of Moncton ( is a Canadian city located in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Jones challenged the validity of the Official Languages Act in court, arguing that the subject matter was outside the jurisdiction of the federal government. In 1974, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Jones, and found the law to be constitutional. The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian Jones v New Brunswick (Attorney General (1974 2 SCR 182 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the protection language rights in the Canadian In 1991, a local resurgence in anti-bilingualism sentiments allowed the Confederation of Regions Party to win 21. The New Brunswick Confederation of Regions Party was a political party in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. 2% of the vote in New Brunswick's provincial election and to briefly form the official opposition with eight seats in the provincial legislature. Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government particularly in a Westminster -based Parliamentary system The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is located in Fredericton.

Positions of the federal political parties

Conservative Party of Canada and its predecessors

The Conservative Party of Canada was created in 2003 by the merger of the old Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance. The Conservative Party of Canada ( Parti conservateur du Canada) colloquially known as the " Tories " is a conservative The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ( PC) ( Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) ( 1867 – 2003) was a Canadian The new party adopted the principles of the old Progressive Conservatives as its founding principles, with only a handful of changes. One of these was the addition of the following founding principle, which is lifted almost verbatim from Section 16(1) of the Charter of Rights:

“A belief that English and French have equality of status, and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada. ”

At its founding convention in 2005, the new party added the following policy to its Policy Declaration (the official compilation of the policies that it had adopted at the convention):

“The Conservative Party believes that Canada’s official languages constitute a unique and significant social and economic advantage that benefit all Canadians.
"i) A Conservative Government will support the Official Languages Act ensuring that English and French have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada.
"ii) The Conservative Party will work with the provinces and territories to enhance opportunities for Canadians to learn both official languages. "[28]

Prior to this, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Reform Party of Canada had advocated the policy's repeal. The Reform Party of Canada ( Parti réformiste du Canada) was a Canadian federal Political party that existed from 1987 to 2000 However, the party's position moderated with time. By 1999, the Blue Book (the party's declaration of its then-current policies) stated that "The Reform Party supports official bilingualism in key federal institutions, such as Parliament and the Supreme Court, and in critical federal services in parts of the country where need is sufficient to warrant services on a cost-effective basis. "[29] By 2002, the policy declaration of the Reform Party's political successor, the Canadian Alliance, had been moderated further, and stated that it was "the federal government's responsibility to uphold minority rights" by providing services in both languages in any "rural township or city neighbourhood where at least ten percent of the local population uses either English or French in its daily life. The Canadian Alliance (in French Alliance Canadienne) formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (or in French Alliance réformiste-conservateur "[30]

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party sees itself as the party of official bilingualism, as it was a Liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, who enacted the first Official Languages Act in 1969 and who entrenched detailed protections for the two official languages in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political

The depth of the party’s commitment to official bilingualism is demonstrated by the fact that the constitution of the Liberal Party contains provisions modeled almost word-for-word on Section 16(1) of the Charter of Rights: "English and French are the official languages of the Party and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions of the Party. Section Sixteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the first of several sections of the Charter dealing with Canada 's two In pursuing its fundamental purposes and in all its activities, the Party must preserve and promote the status, rights and privileges of English and French. "[31]

New Democratic Party

New Democrat MPs voted in favour of the 1969 Official Languages Act, the 1988 Official Languages Act, and the protections for the two official languages contained in the Charter of Rights. Principles policies and electoral achievement The NDP grew from populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots More recently, the party has edged towards supporting an asymmetrical version of bilingualism. Early in 2008, the party’s languages critic, Yvon Godin, stated that its MPs would vote in favour of a bill, sponsored by the Bloc Québécois, which would cause federal institutions to operate on a French-preferred or French-only basis in Quebec. Yvon Godin (born May 12, 1955 in Bathurst New Brunswick) is a Canadian politician [32]

Bloc Québécois

Although the main objective of the Bloc Québécois is to assist in the secession of Quebec, the party’s parliamentary caucus has maintained an active interest in issues relating to official languages policy (for example, sending MPs to participate in the standing Commons committee on official languages). The Bloc Québécois ( BQ) is a federal political party in Canada that defines itself as devoted to both the protection of Quebec's interests on a federal The party seeks to alter federal language policy, as it applies within Quebec, so as to eliminate the statutory equality of English that is guaranteed under the Official Languages Act and other federal legislation. In early 2008, Bloc MPs introduced a private member’s bill, Bill C-482, which would amend the Official Languages Act, the Canada Labour Code, and the Canada Business Corporations Act, to cause them to conform to the Charter of the French Language, “effectively making the federal government French-only in the province,” according to Maclean’s. A Private Member's Bill is a proposed Law introduced by a backbench member of Parliament, whether from the government or the opposition side to that Maclean's is a Canadian weekly News magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics pop culture and current events [33]

Language policy in Canada's provinces and territories

In Canada, education falls under the jurisdiction of the provinces. Historically, provincial governments have had a decidedly mixed record of offering minority-language education. However, since 1982, Section 23 of Canada's Charter of Rights has obliged all provinces to provide schools in both official languages, up to the high school/secondaire level.

New Brunswick

Of Canada's ten provinces, only one (New Brunswick) has voluntarily chosen to become officially bilingual. New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally New Brunswick's bilingual status is constitutionally entrenched under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the Sections 16 - 20 of the Charter include parallel sections guaranteeing the same rights at the federal level and at the provincial level (New Brunswick only).

Quebec

French has been the only official language in Quebec since 1974, when the Liberal government of Robert Bourassa enacted the The Official Language Act (better-known as "Bill 22"). Robert Bourassa GOQ ( July 14, 1933 &ndash October 2, 1996) was a politician in Quebec, Canada The Official Language Act of 1974 ( French Loi sur la langue officielle) also known as Bill 22, is an act of the National Assembly of Quebec However, the province's language law does provide for limited services in English. As well, the province is obliged, under Section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, to allow the provincial legislature to operate in both French and English, and to allow all Quebec courts to operate in both languages. Section 23 of the Charter applies to Quebec, but to a more limited degree than in other provinces; Quebec is required to provide an education in English to all children whose parents were educated in English in Canada, while all other provinces are required to provide an education in French to all children whose parents were educated in French anywhere in the world.

In 1977, the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque introduced the Charter of the French Language (better known as "Bill 101") to promote and preserve the French language in the province, indirectly disputing the federal bilingualism policy. The Parti Québécois ' is a Sovereignist Political party that advocates national sovereignty for the Canadian province of Quebec and The Charter of the French Language ( La charte de la langue française, in French) also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, Initially, Bill 101 banned the use of all languages but French on commercial signs in the province, but those limitations were later loosened by allowing other languages on signs, as long as the French version is the most dominant. Bill 101 also requires that children of immigrants residing in Quebec attend French-language public schools; The children of Canadian citizens who have received their education in Canada in English may attend English-language public schools, which are operated by English-language school boards throughout the province. The controversy over this part of Quebec's language legislation has lessened in recent years as these laws became more entrenched and the public use of French increased. [34]

Quebec's language laws have been the subject of a number of legal rulings. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the case of Ford v. Quebec (A.G.) that the commercial sign law provisions of Bill 101, which banned the use of the English language on outdoor signs, were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian Ford v Quebec (Attorney General, 2 SCR 712 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where the Court struck down part of the Charter of the French In 1989, the Quebec National Assembly invoked the "Notwithstanding Clause" of the Charter of Rights to set aside enforcement of the court ruling for five years. Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. A UN appeal of the 'McIntyre Case' resulted in a condemnation of Quebec's sign law — regardless of the legality of the notwithstanding clause under Canadian law. In response, in 1993 Quebec enacted amendments to the sign law, availing itself of the suggestions proposed in the losing 1988 Supreme Court ruling by allowing other languages on commercial signs, subject to French being markedly predominant .

On March 31, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that the interpretation of major part requirement in Quebec's language of instruction provisions, limiting access to English-language public education, violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the The Court did not strike down the law but, as it had done in its 1988 ruling on sign laws, presented the province with a set of criteria for bringing the law into conformity with the Charter of Rights.

Elsewhere in Canada

Although no Canadian province has officially adopted English as its sole official language, English is the de facto language of government services and internal government operations in Canada's eight remaining provinces. Service levels in French vary greatly from one province to another (and sometimes within different parts of the same province).

For example, under the terms of Ontario's 1986 French Language Services Act, Francophones in 25 designated areas across the province--but not in other parts of the province--are guaranteed access to provincial government services in French. The French Language Services Act is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians or French Similarly, since 2005, the City of Ottawa has been officially required under Ontario law (City of Ottawa Act) to set a municipal policy on English and French.

French and English are official languages in the Yukon. Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories.

In addition to English and French, Inuktitut is also an official language in Nunavut. Inuktitut ( Inuktitut syllabics: iu-Cans ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ( fonts required literally "like the Inuit") is the name of the varieties of Nunavut (ˈnuːnəvʊt ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ is the largest and newest territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the

In addition to English and French, the Northwest Territories accords official status to nine aboriginal languages (Chipewyan, Cree, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ or Dogrib). The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory Dene Suline (also Dëne Sųłiné, Dene Sųłiné, Chipewyan, Dene Suliné, Dëne Suliné, Dene Soun’liné or just Cree (also known as Cree-Montagnais Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi is the name for a group of closely-related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117000 people across The Gwich’in language is the Athabaskan language of the Gwich’in Indigenous people. Inuinnaqtun is an indigenous language of Canada. It is related very closely to Inuktitut, and many people believe that Inuinnaqtun is only a dialect of Inuktitut Inuktitut ( Inuktitut syllabics: iu-Cans ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ( fonts required literally "like the Inuit") is the name of the varieties of Inuvialuktun is a word routinely used to describe the varieties of the language of the Inuit spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by those Canadian Slavey (also Slave, Slavé) (pronounced) is an Athabaskan language spoken among the Slavey First Nations of Canada Slavey (also Slave, Slavé) (pronounced) is an Athabaskan language spoken among the Slavey First Nations of Canada Dogrib (also Tłįchǫ Yatiì, jatîː is a Language spoken by the First Nations Tłįchǫ people of the Canadian territory NWT residents have the right to use any of the territory's eleven official languages in a territorial court and in debates and proceedings of the legislature. However, laws are legally binding only in their French and English versions, and the government only publishes laws and other documents in the territory's other official languages when asked by the legislature. Furthermore, access to services in any language is limited to institutions and circumstances where there is significant demand for that language or where it is reasonable to expect it given the nature of the services requested. In practice, this means that only English language services are universally available and there is no guarantee that other languages will be used by any particular government service except for the courts. Following a 2006 court ruling,[35] universal French-language services are also mandatory.

Second-language education

Main article: Bilingual education

Canada’s thirteen provincial and territorial education systems place a high priority on boosting the number of bilingual high school graduates. Bilingual education involves teaching all subjects in school through two different languages - in the United States instruction occurs in English and a minority language such as For example, in 2008 New Brunswick's provincial government reconfirmed its goal of boosting the percentage of bilingualism among graduates from its current rate of 34% to 70% rate by 2012. [36] In 2003, the federal government announced a ten-year plan of subsidies to provincial education ministries with the goal of boosting bilingualism among all Canadian graduates from its then-current level of 24% to 50% by 2013. [37]

French second-language education (FSL)

Two methods of providing French second language education (known as “FSL”) exist side-by-side in each of the provinces (including Quebec, where extensive French-language education opportunities are available for the province’s large population of non-Francophone children).

English second-language education (ESL)

Quebec’s educations system provides ESL on a more restricted basis to the children of immigrants and to students who are members of the province's Francophone majority.

Minority language communities

Main article: Spoken languages of Canada

Although Quebec is the only province that has a francophone majority, all provinces and territories have some French speakers. Patterns of individual language use Language composition by Home language The following are the top twenty languages spoken in Canada shown Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk The adjective francophone (alternately Francophone) means French -speaking typically as primary language whether referring to individuals groups or places Each of these groups has its own cultural institutions, history and identity. See:

In addition, Quebec has an English-speaking community. This article is about the Acadian people and culture The Acadians (Acadiens are the descendants of the seventeenth-century French Franco-Ontarians (franco-ontarien are French Canadian or Francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. Franco-Manitobans are a community of French Canadians or French -speaking people living in Manitoba. Fransaskois are Francophones or French Canadians living in the Prairie province of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 The Franco-Albertans are an extended community of French Canadians or French -speaking people living in Alberta. Franco-Columbians or Franco-Colombiens are French Canadians or French speaking Canadians ( Francophones) living in the Pacific Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory English-speaking Quebecers (also known as Anglo-Quebecers, English Quebecers, or Anglophone Quebecers; in French Anglo-Québécois,

Although only English and French have official status across Canada, all provinces also have communities of people whose first language is something other than English or French. In the particular context of Quebec, these are referred to as allophones. In Quebec, an allophone is a resident usually an immigrant whose Mother tongue or Home language is neither English nor French These communities frequently use their own languages locally and amongst themselves, although they normally adopt the majority language of their province as a second or third language.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Profile of Federal Electoral Districts (2003 Representation Order): Language, Mobility and Migration and Immigration and Citizenship. One Controversial aspect of the City of Ottawa Act is the manner in which it addresses official bilingualism within Ottawa 's Municipal government Hong Kong is a Bilingual city its residents speaking English and Cantonese which are both official languages of Hong Kong under the Hong Kong Official bilingualism dates back in various forms to Canadian Confederation in 1867. The Official languages Act is a law adopted by the Parliament of Canada in 1969 and substantially amended in 1988 Patterns of individual language use Language composition by Home language The following are the top twenty languages spoken in Canada shown This article presents the current language demographics of the Canadian province of Quebec. Just Watch Me Trudeau and the 70's Generation is a Canadian Documentary film by Catherine Annau, produced in 1999 by the National Quebec (Attorney General v Blaikie, 2 SCR 1016 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on language rights in the Constitution Act 1867 Charlebois v Saint John (City 3 SCR 563 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on Minority language rights in New Brunswick Background Jean Victor Beaulac was a man accused of murder and was brought before the British Columbia Supreme Court and convicted Reference re Manitoba Language Rights 1 SCR 721 was a Reference question posed to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding provisions in the Manitoba Société des Acadiens v Association of Parents, 1 SCR 549 is an early Supreme Court of Canada decision on Minority language rights under section The Spanish language is the second most-common language in the United States after English. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Ottawa, 2007, pp. 2, 6. Statistics Canada collects data on mother tongue, on “first official language spoken,” and on bilingualism in French and English. However, the agency does not collect data on bilingualism in non-official languages (either persons who speak more than one non-official language, or who have an official language as their mother tongue and afterwards learn a non-official language). Thus, it is possible only to determine that 6,147,840 Canadians have a non-official language as their mother tongue (see p. 2, line 5), and that 520,385 Canadians do not speak either official language (see p. 6, line 108). Since all persons who speak neither official language must have a non-official language as their mother tongue, simple subtraction shows that 5,627,455 Canadians, or 18. 0% of the population, are bilingual in a non-official language plus an official language.
  2. ^ Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Profile of Federal Electoral Districts (2003 Representation Order): Language, Mobility and Migration and Immigration and Citizenship. Ottawa, 2007, p. 6, line 108. In 2006, Canada’s population was 31,241,030. Of this, 520,385 Canadians, or 1. 7%, did not speak either official language.
  3. ^ Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Profile of Federal Electoral Districts (2003 Representation Order): Language, Mobility and Migration and Immigration and Citizenship. Ottawa, 2007, pp. 6, 60.
  4. ^ Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: Official Languages of Canada. Department of Justice Canada (1982-04-17). Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.
  5. ^ Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: Minority Language Educational Rights. Department of Justice Canada (1982-04-17). Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.
  6. ^ Introduction. Final Report of the French Constitutional Drafting Committee. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the
  7. ^ Official Languages Act. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2003-09-01). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  8. ^ [http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/archives/op_ap/act_loi/ola_llo_annot/ola_llo_annot_e.htm Official Languages Act Annotated version - Explanatory notes]. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2003-09-01). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  9. ^ Official Languages Act - Part V - Language of Work. Department of Justice Canada (2007-04-04). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
  10. ^ Official Languages Act - Part VI - Participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians. Department of Justice Canada (2007-04-04). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
  11. ^ Welcome to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages!. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2003-09-01). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  12. ^ Official Languages Act - Part VIII - Commissioner of Official Languages. Department of Justice Canada (2007-04-04). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
  13. ^ Graham Fraser Appointed Sixth Commissioner of Official Languages. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2003-09-01). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  14. ^ Definition of English or French Linguistic Minority. Department of Justice Canada (2007-04-17). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.
  15. ^ Calculation of Population Numbers. Department of Justice Canada (2007-04-17). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor.
  16. ^ Official Languages Regulations. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (2003-09-01). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  17. ^ Andrew Parkin and Andre Turcotte, Bilingualism: Part of Our Past or Part of Our Future?. CRIC Paper #13. Ottawa: Centre for Research and Information on Canada. March 2004, p. 6.
  18. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 9. This is the wording used in the 2002 poll. In the 1977 poll, respondents were asked whether they supported “the provinces providing opportunities and facilities for education in French wherever practicable. ”
  19. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 2.
  20. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 8. A parallel question, “Are you in favour of bilingualism for your province?”, also received a much more favourable response from Francophone respondents (most of whom were located in Quebec) than from Anglophone respondents, indicating that Francophones were consistently more supportive than Anglophones of a fully bilingual Quebec within a fully bilingual Canada, whereas Anglophones were consistently more supportive than Francophones of a unilingual French Quebec within a Canada where the other provinces are for the most part unilingual English.
  21. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 10. The specific reference is to a 1977 poll in which 54% of non-Quebecers but only 34% of Quebecers identified with the statement, “I generally agree with or support the principle of bilingualism but I disagree with the form bilingualism has taken under the present federal government. ”
  22. ^ Angus Reid Group, "The National Angus Reid/Southam News Poll: Canadians' Views on Official Bilingualism. " Release date: April 29, 1994.
  23. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 11.
  24. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, pp. 20-21.
  25. ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 13.
  26. ^ Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, Report to the People and Government of Canada. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1991, p. 161.
  27. ^ Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, Report, pp. 125-126.
  28. ^ Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration, March 2005, p. 32 (Policy #91).
  29. ^ The 'Blue Book': Principles and Policy of the Reform Party of Canada - 1999, p. 40.
  30. ^ Canadian Alliance Declaration of Policy, April 2002, pp. 12-13.
  31. ^ Liberal Party of Canada, “Constitution”, as adopted and amended at the biennial convention, November 30-December 1, 2006, Section 2(3).
  32. ^ Yvon Godin, “Commons Debates” (Hansard), February 6, 2008, p. 2691. )
  33. ^ Martin Patriquin, “Are you still here?” Maclean’s, February 25, 2008, p. 23.
  34. ^ The Language Laws of Quebec Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College
  35. ^ Fédération Franco-Ténoise v. Canada (Attorney General) [2006] N. W. T. S. C. 20.
  36. ^ See Jesse Robichaud, "Keep parents involved in language education: Lord," in the Moncton Times and Transcript, February 21, 2008 and Daniel McHardie, "Language battle: Education Minister will seek public input before responding to French Second Language Review," in New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, February 28, 2008, p. A1.
  37. ^ Canada, Privy Council Office, "The Next Act: New Momentum for Canada's Linguistic Duality--The Action Plan for Official Languages. " Ottawa, 2003, p. 27.
  38. ^ Adieu anglais Montreal Mirror

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