Los idiomas oficiales de Canadá son el inglés y el francés , [1] que "tienen igualdad de estatus e iguales derechos y privilegios en cuanto a su uso en todas las instituciones del Parlamento y Gobierno de Canadá ", según la constitución de Canadá. [2] " Bilingüismo oficial"es el término utilizado en Canadá para describir colectivamente las políticas, disposiciones constitucionales y leyes que garantizan la igualdad legal del inglés y el francés en el Parlamento y los tribunales de Canadá, protegen los derechos lingüísticos de las minorías de habla inglesa y francesa en diferentes provincias, y garantizar un nivel de servicios gubernamentales en ambos idiomas en todo Canadá. [3]
Además de la designación simbólica del inglés y el francés como idiomas oficiales, generalmente se entiende que el bilingüismo oficial incluye cualquier ley u otra medida que:
- exige que el gobierno federal lleve a cabo sus negocios en ambos idiomas oficiales y proporcione servicios gubernamentales en ambos idiomas;
- alienta u ordena a los niveles inferiores del gobierno (sobre todo las provincias y territorios, pero también algunos municipios) que se comporten en los dos idiomas oficiales y presten servicios tanto en inglés como en francés en lugar de solo en uno u otro;
- impone a los actores privados de la sociedad canadiense la obligación de proporcionar acceso a bienes o servicios en ambos idiomas oficiales (como el requisito de que los productos alimenticios se etiqueten tanto en inglés como en francés);
- Brinda apoyo a actores no gubernamentales para alentar o promover el uso o el estatus de uno u otro de los dos idiomas oficiales. Esto incluye subvenciones y contribuciones a grupos que representan a la minoría de habla inglesa en Quebec y las minorías de habla francesa en las otras provincias para ayudar con el establecimiento de una infraestructura de apoyo y servicios culturales.
A nivel provincial, la Ley constitucional de 1982 reconoce y garantiza la igualdad de condiciones del francés y del inglés en New Brunswick . Si bien el francés tiene el mismo estatus legal en Manitoba restaurado debido a un fallo judicial que derogó las leyes de solo inglés de setenta años en 1985, en la práctica, los servicios de idioma francés solo se brindan en algunas regiones de la provincia. [4] Quebec se ha declarado oficialmente unilingüe (solo en francés). Alberta y Saskatchewan también se consideran unilingües (solo en inglés). [5] En la práctica, todas las provincias, incluido Quebec, ofrecen algunos servicios tanto en inglés como en francés y algo de educación financiada con fondos públicos en ambos idiomas oficiales hasta el nivel de la escuela secundaria (las instituciones de educación postsecundaria de idioma inglés también están presentes en Quebec, al igual que las instituciones postsecundarias de lengua francesa en otras provincias, en particular en Manitoba, Ontario y New Brunswick). El inglés y el francés son idiomas oficiales en los tres territorios. Además, el inuktitut también es un idioma oficial en Nunavut , y nueve idiomas aborígenes tienen estatus oficial en los Territorios del Noroeste .
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Historia
Antes de la confederación
Idiomas auxiliares internacionales
La diversidad lingüística existía en el norte de América del Norte mucho antes de la llegada de los franceses y los ingleses. Debido al comercio generalizado que se produjo entre muchas comunidades lingüísticas, el conocimiento lingüístico indígena en el norte de América del Norte parece haber consistido en el bilingüismo en la lengua materna y un pidgin como estándar. Los Pidgins conocidos incluían:
- Pidgin algonquiano-vasco (hablado entre los balleneros vascos y varios pueblos algonquinos y documentado por última vez en 1710),
- Broken Slavey (hablado por residentes indígenas y europeos del área de Yukon en el siglo XIX),
- Jerga Chinook (hablada por miembros de naciones indígenas, vecinas, hawaianas, chinas, inglesas, francesas y de otras naciones en todo el noroeste del Pacífico; alcanzó su punto máximo alrededor de 1900 con un estimado de 100.000 hablantes; y todavía se habla hoy),
- Jerga comercial esquimal (hablada por los inuit del río Mackenzie y los pueblos de Athabaskan al sur hasta al menos 1909),
- Jerga haida (hablada principalmente por los ingleses y los haida hasta la década de 1830),
- Labrador Inuit Pidgin Francés (hablado entre pescadores bretones y vascos y los inuit de Labrador desde finales del siglo XVII hasta aproximadamente 1760), y
- Lenguaje de señas indio de las llanuras (hablado por hablantes de 37 idiomas orales en 12 familias repartidas en un área de 2.6 millones de kilómetros cuadrados que se extiende desde lo que ahora es el norte de México hasta el sur de los Territorios del Noroeste, y desde el noroeste del Pacífico hasta la vía marítima de Saint-Laurence).
El francés ha sido un idioma de gobierno en la parte de Canadá que es hoy Quebec, con interrupciones limitadas, desde la llegada de los primeros colonos franceses a Canadá en 1604 (acadianos) y en 1608 a Quebec, y se ha afianzado en la Constitución de Canadá desde 1867. El inglés ha sido un idioma de gobierno en cada una de las provincias desde sus inicios como colonias británicas.
Por lo tanto, el bilingüismo institucional en diversas formas es anterior a la Confederación Canadiense en 1867. Sin embargo, durante muchos años el inglés ocupó un lugar de facto
posición privilegiada, y el francés no era del todo igual. Los dos idiomas han logrado gradualmente un mayor nivel de igualdad en la mayoría de las provincias y una plena igualdad a nivel federal. En la década de 1970, el francés en Quebec se convirtió en el idioma oficial de la provincia.Después de la confederación
El sistema de escuelas residenciales indias canadienses
De 1876 a 1996, el gobierno de Canadá operó el sistema de escuelas residenciales indias canadienses, que la Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación de Canadá describió como genocidio cultural. Este sistema, combinado con la educación, la inmigración y otras políticas que promueven el inglés y el francés, contribuyó en gran medida a la promoción del inglés y el francés en todo Canadá.
Disposiciones constitucionales sobre idiomas oficiales
Ley de la Constitución de 1867 (artículo 133)
El inglés y el francés han tenido una protección constitucional limitada desde 1867. El artículo 133 de la Ley de la Constitución de 1867 garantiza que ambos idiomas se pueden utilizar en el Parlamento de Canadá, en sus diarios y registros, y en los procedimientos judiciales en cualquier tribunal establecido por el Parlamento de Canadá. Canadá. La sección también exige que todas las leyes del Parlamento de Canadá se impriman y publiquen en ambos idiomas. En los artículos 16 a 23 de la Carta Canadiense de Derechos y Libertades , que se convirtió en ley en 1982, se ofrecen garantías para la igualdad de condición de los dos idiomas oficiales . Las secciones 16 a 19 garantizan la igualdad de condición de ambos idiomas en el Parlamento, en todos los gobiernos federales instituciones y en los tribunales federales. Estas secciones también exigen que todos los estatutos, registros y diarios del Parlamento se publiquen en ambos idiomas, y que las versiones en inglés y francés tengan el mismo estatus ante los tribunales. La sección 20 garantiza el derecho del público canadiense a comunicarse en inglés y francés con cualquier oficina del gobierno central o con oficinas regionales donde haya "una demanda significativa de comunicación y servicios de esa oficina". La demanda significativa no está definida en la Carta de Derechos y Libertades. Uno de los propósitos de la Ley de idiomas oficiales de 1988 fue remediar esta omisión.
La Carta de Derechos y Libertades incluye obligaciones constitucionales similares que hacen de New Brunswick la única provincia oficialmente bilingüe en Canadá. [10]
El artículo 21 aseguraba que la nueva Carta de Derechos y Libertades se interpretaría como un complemento, en lugar de reemplazar, cualquier derecho de los idiomas inglés y francés, que habían sido constitucionalizados antes de 1982. El artículo 22 aseguraba que la nueva Carta de Derechos y Libertades no ser interpretado por los tribunales en el sentido de que impone nuevas restricciones a los idiomas no oficiales.
Derechos a la educación (artículo 23 de la Carta y artículo 59 de la Ley constitucional de 1982 )
La sección 23 establece un derecho limitado a recibir educación primaria y secundaria financiada con fondos públicos en los dos idiomas oficiales cuando se encuentran "en una situación de minoría", es decir, a la educación en idioma inglés en Quebec y a la educación en francés en los Estados Unidos. resto del país.
Aplicación asimétrica de los derechos a la educación en Quebec frente a otras partes de Canadá
El derecho se aplica asimétricamente porque el artículo 59 de la Ley constitucional de 1982 establece que no todos los derechos lingüísticos enumerados en el artículo 23 se aplicarán en Quebec. Específicamente:
- En Quebec, un niño puede recibir educación pública gratuita en inglés solo si al menos uno de los padres o un hermano fue educado en Canadá en inglés.
- En el resto de Canadá, un niño puede recibir educación pública gratuita en francés si al menos uno de los padres o un hermano fue educado en Canadá en francés, o si al menos uno de los padres tiene el francés como lengua materna (definido en la sección 23 como "primer idioma aprendido y aún entendido").
Ninguno de estos derechos lingüísticos de la educación impide que los padres coloquen a sus hijos en una escuela privada (por la que pagan) en el idioma de su elección; se aplica únicamente a la educación pública subvencionada.
Una consecuencia práctica de esta asimetría es que todos los migrantes que llegan a Quebec desde países extranjeros solo tienen acceso a escuelas públicas en francés para sus hijos. Esto incluye inmigrantes cuya lengua materna es el inglés e inmigrantes que recibieron su educación en inglés. Por otro lado, la Sección 23 otorga un derecho casi universal a la escolarización en inglés para los hijos de anglófonos nacidos en Canadá que viven en Quebec.
La sección 23 también establece, sujeto únicamente a la restricción "cuando el número lo justifique", el derecho a la escolarización en francés para los hijos de todos los francófonos que vivan fuera de Quebec, incluidos los inmigrantes de países francófonos que se establezcan fuera de Quebec y que sean ciudadanos canadienses. .
Sin embargo, la admisión a las escuelas de lengua francesa fuera de Quebec sigue estando restringida de alguna manera, no lo está en Quebec. En particular, los padres titulares de derechos que optan por inscribir a su hijo en una escuela inglesa pueden privar a los descendientes de ese niño del derecho a asistir a la escuela francesa. [11] En Quebec, en virtud del artículo 76.1 de la Carta de la Lengua Francesa , los titulares de derechos no privan a sus descendientes del derecho a una educación en lengua inglesa al optar por matricular a sus hijos en la escuela francesa. (Esto se aplica si se toman ciertas medidas administrativas en cada generación. De lo contrario, el derecho aún puede transmitirse a los nietos en virtud del artículo 76).
Otro elemento de asimetría entre Quebec y la mayoría de las provincias anglófonas es que mientras Quebec ofrece educación primaria y secundaria pública en inglés en toda la provincia, la mayoría de las demás provincias ofrecen educación en francés sólo "donde los números lo justifican".
Restricciones adicionales sobre los derechos a la educación
Existen algunas restricciones adicionales sobre los derechos de educación en lenguas minoritarias:
- Los derechos corresponden a los padres, no al niño, y los no ciudadanos que residen en Canadá no tienen acceso a este derecho (incluso si sus hijos nacen en Canadá).
- Si la educación en idioma inglés o francés de los padres se llevó a cabo fuera de Canadá, esto no da derecho al niño a recibir educación en ese idioma.
- El derecho a recibir fondos públicos solo puede ejercerse en localidades donde "... el número de hijos de ciudadanos que tienen tal derecho es suficiente para justificar el suministro de fondos públicos ..." [12]
Definición ambigua de derecho a la educación
La frase "cuando los números ... lo justifiquen" no se define en el artículo 23. La educación está bajo la jurisdicción provincial, lo que significa que el Parlamento no ha podido promulgar una definición única del término a nivel nacional, como la Ley de idiomas oficiales de 1988 hizo por la obligación constitucional de brindar servicios federales donde “hay una demanda suficiente”. Como resultado, las disputas sobre el alcance del derecho a una educación en lenguas minoritarias financiada con fondos públicos han sido fuente de muchos litigios.
El caso definitorio fue Mahe v. Alberta (1990), en el que la Corte Suprema de Canadá declaró que la sección 23 garantizaba una "escala móvil". En determinadas circunstancias, los niños cuyos padres pueden ejercer el derecho pueden ser tan pocos que, literalmente, el gobierno no puede impartir educación en lenguas minoritarias. Con un mayor número de niños, es posible que se requiera que algunas escuelas proporcionen aulas en las que los niños puedan recibir educación en lenguas minoritarias. Un número aún mayor requeriría la construcción de nuevas escuelas dedicadas exclusivamente a la educación en lenguas minoritarias. Los casos más recientes, que han ampliado significativamente estos derechos, incluyen Arsenault-Cameron contra la Isla del Príncipe Eduardo (2000) y Doucet-Boudreau contra Nueva Escocia (Ministro de Educación) (2003).
Idioma del texto oficial de la Constitución
Muchos de los documentos de la Constitución de Canadá no tienen una versión oficial en francés; a efectos legales, solo la versión en inglés es oficial y las traducciones al francés no son oficiales. En particular, la Ley de la Constitución de 1867 (que creó a Canadá como entidad legal y todavía contiene las disposiciones más importantes de los poderes gubernamentales) no tiene una versión oficial en francés porque fue promulgada por el Parlamento del Reino Unido, que funciona en inglés. exclusivamente. De manera similar, todas las demás partes de la Constitución que fueron promulgadas por el Reino Unido (con la importante excepción de la Ley de Canadá de 1982 ) no tienen una versión oficial en francés.
Los artículos 55 a 57 de la Ley constitucional de 1982 establecen un marco para cambiar esta situación. La sección 55 exige que las versiones en francés de todas las partes de la Constitución que existen solo en inglés se preparen lo antes posible. En el artículo 56 se disponía que, tras la adopción de las versiones en francés, las versiones en francés y en inglés serían igualmente auténticas. Para evitar la situación en la que una versión en francés traducida incorrectamente tendría un peso igual al original en inglés, la Sección 55 requiere que las versiones en francés se aprueben utilizando el mismo proceso bajo el cual se adoptan las enmiendas constitucionales reales.
De conformidad con el artículo 55, un comité de redacción constitucional francés elaboró versiones en francés de todas las leyes británicas de América del Norte en el decenio siguiente a 1982. Sin embargo, estas versiones nunca se ratificaron con arreglo al procedimiento de enmienda de la Constitución y, por lo tanto, nunca se adoptaron oficialmente. [13]
El artículo 57 establece que "las versiones en inglés y francés de esta ley [es decir, la Ley constitucional de 1982 ] son igualmente auténticas". El propósito de esta disposición es aclarar cualquier ambigüedad que pudiera haber existido sobre el estatus igualitario de las dos versiones como resultado de la nueva forma en que esta parte de la ley suprema de Canadá entró en vigor. Si la Ley de la Constitución de 1982 se hubiera promulgado como la mayoría de las enmiendas anteriores a la constitución de Canadá, como estatuto del parlamento británico, habría sido, como cualquier otro estatuto británico, un documento únicamente en inglés. En cambio, el parlamento británico promulgó una ley muy concisa (la Ley de Canadá de 1982 ), escrita solo en inglés. Las cláusulas operativas de la Ley de Canadá de 1982 simplemente establecen que un apéndice de la Ley (el apéndice se conoce formalmente como un "anexo") debe integrarse en la constitución canadiense. El programa contiene el texto completo de la Ley constitucional de 1982 , tanto en inglés como en francés. [14]
Legislación federal sobre idiomas oficiales
Ley de idiomas oficiales
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Canadá adoptó su primera Ley de Idiomas Oficiales en 1969, [15] en respuesta a las recomendaciones de la Comisión Real sobre Bilingüismo y Biculturalismo . La actual Ley de Idiomas Oficiales fue adoptada en 1988 para mejorar los esfuerzos de la ley de 1969 para abordar dos objetivos de política básicos: (1) especificar los poderes, deberes y funciones de las instituciones federales relevantes a los idiomas oficiales; (2) apoyar el desarrollo de comunidades lingüísticas minoritarias. Asimismo, tras la adopción en 1982 de la Carta de Derechos , fue necesario crear un marco legislativo dentro del cual el Gobierno de Canadá pudiera respetar sus nuevas obligaciones constitucionales con respecto a los idiomas oficiales. [dieciséis]
Además de formalizar las disposiciones de la Carta en las Partes I a IV, la Ley adopta varias medidas específicas para lograr estos objetivos. [17] Por ejemplo, la Parte V especifica que el entorno de trabajo en las instituciones federales en la Región de la Capital Nacional y otras regiones bilingües prescritas será propicio para acomodar el uso del francés y el inglés en el trabajo. [18] La Parte VI exige que los canadienses de habla inglesa y los canadienses de habla francesa no sean discriminados por motivos de origen étnico o el primer idioma aprendido en lo que respecta a oportunidades de empleo y ascenso. [19]
Finalmente, la Ley establece un Comisionado de Idiomas Oficiales [20] y especifica sus deberes para escuchar e investigar quejas, hacer recomendaciones al Parlamento y delegar autoridad en asuntos relacionados con los idiomas oficiales en Canadá. [21] El actual Comisionado de Idiomas Oficiales de Canadá es Raymond Théberge .
La Sección 32 de la Ley de Idiomas Oficiales autoriza al Gobernador en Consejo (es decir, el gabinete federal) a emitir regulaciones que definan las regiones geográficas donde el gobierno federal ofrece servicios en el idioma minoritario relevante (inglés en Quebec y francés en otros lugares). [22]
Esto proporciona una definición legal para el requisito, por lo demás vago, de que los servicios se presten en los idiomas oficiales minoritarios donde haya una "demanda significativa". La definición utilizada en las regulaciones es compleja, pero básicamente un área del país se atiende en ambos idiomas si al menos 5,000 personas en esa área, o el 5% de la población local (lo que sea menor), pertenece al inglés o francés de esa provincia. población de minorías lingüísticas. [23]
Los reglamentos se promulgaron por primera vez en 1991. [24]
Influencia de EE. UU. En el estado del inglés y el francés en Canadá
El capítulo 1.C del libro I del informe de la Comisión Real sobre Bilingüismo y Biculturalismo, publicado el 8 de octubre de 1967, reconoce la influencia internacional en la política lingüística canadiense:
En comparación con otros estados bilingües, entre ellos Finlandia, Sudáfrica y Bélgica, que discutiremos más adelante, Canadá tiene la suerte de que sus idiomas oficiales tienen estatus internacional ... En Canadá, sin embargo, uno de los dos grupos de idiomas comienza con una ventaja considerable . Como idioma nacional de los Estados Unidos, uno de los países más poderosos del mundo, el inglés tiene una preponderancia masiva en América del Norte. Por lo tanto, el grupo de habla inglesa en este país obtiene gran parte de su fuerza de la población de habla inglesa de nuestro vecino. El grupo de lengua francesa es, por otro lado, una minoría en el continente norteamericano y sufre por su aislamiento no solo de Francia sino de los demás pueblos de habla francesa del mundo. [25]
Bilingüismo oficial en el servicio público
La cuestión de la contratación y promoción proporcionales de hablantes de ambos idiomas oficiales ha sido un problema en la política canadiense desde antes de la Confederación. Los miembros de cada grupo lingüístico se han quejado de injusticias cuando su grupo ha estado representado, en la contratación y promoción de servicios públicos, en números inferiores a los que justificaría su proporción de la población nacional. Durante la mayor parte de la historia de Canadá, los francófonos estaban subrepresentados y los angloparlantes estaban sobrerrepresentados en las filas del servicio público, y la desproporción se hizo más pronunciada en las filas más altas de los servidores públicos. Sin embargo, esta tendencia se ha revertido en las últimas décadas.
La primera queja de alto perfil sobre contratación preferencial tuvo lugar en 1834. Una de las noventa y dos resoluciones de la Cámara de la Asamblea del Bajo Canadá llamó la atención sobre el hecho de que los canadienses franceses, que en ese momento eran el 88% de la población de la colonia, tenían sólo el 30% de los puestos en el servicio civil colonial de 157 miembros. Además, la resolución decía que los canadienses franceses eran, "en su mayor parte, asignados a los cargos inferiores y menos lucrativos, y con frecuencia solo obtenían incluso ellos, al convertirse en dependientes de aquellos [inmigrantes británicos] que ocupan los puestos más altos y más oficinas lucrativas ... " [26]
Con el advenimiento del gobierno responsable en la década de 1840, el poder de hacer nombramientos en el servicio civil se transfirió a los políticos electos, quienes tenían un fuerte incentivo para asegurarse de que los votantes canadienses franceses no sintieran que estaban siendo excluidos de las contrataciones y promociones. Aunque nunca se llevó a cabo una reforma formal del proceso de contratación y promoción, el proceso de contratación impulsado por el patrocinio parece haber producido una representación más equitativa de los dos grupos lingüísticos. En el período comprendido entre 1867 y principios del siglo XX, los francocanadienses constituían alrededor de un tercio de la población canadiense, y también parecen haber representado alrededor de un tercio de los nombramientos de funcionarios públicos en los niveles inferiores, aunque solo tenían alrededor de un tercio de la población canadiense. la mitad de esa representación en el nivel más alto. [27]
Políticas lingüísticas de las provincias y territorios de Canadá
Las trece provincias y territorios de Canadá han adoptado políticas muy divergentes con respecto a los servicios lingüísticos de las minorías para sus respectivas minorías lingüísticas. Dada la amplia gama de servicios, como la policía, la atención de la salud y la educación, que se encuentran bajo la jurisdicción provincial, estas divergencias tienen una importancia considerable.
Nuevo Brunswick
De las diez provincias de Canadá, solo una ( New Brunswick ) ha elegido voluntariamente convertirse en oficialmente bilingüe. El estatus bilingüe de New Brunswick está establecido constitucionalmente bajo la Carta Canadiense de Derechos y Libertades . Las secciones 16 a 20 de la Carta incluyen secciones paralelas que garantizan los mismos derechos a nivel federal y provincial (solo en New Brunswick).
- La sección 16 (2) es una declaración en gran parte simbólica de que "el inglés y el francés son los idiomas oficiales de New Brunswick" con "igualdad de estatus".
- La sección 17 (2) garantiza el derecho a utilizar el inglés o el francés en la legislatura de New Brunswick.
- La sección 18 (2) establece que las leyes de New Brunswick serán bilingües, con ambos textos igualmente autorizados, y que las publicaciones oficiales serán bilingües.
- El artículo 19 (2) garantiza el derecho a utilizar cualquiera de los idiomas oficiales en todos los procedimientos judiciales de New Brunswick.
- La sección 20 (2) garantiza el derecho a recibir servicios del gobierno provincial en cualquiera de los idiomas oficiales.
Manitoba
Manitoba es la única provincia que era oficialmente bilingüe en el momento de su creación. Después de la Rebelión del Río Rojo liderada por los métis francófonos Louis Riel , se aprobó la Ley de Manitoba , que creó la provincia y ordenó la igualdad de condiciones para el inglés y el francés en todos los órganos legislativos, registros legislativos, leyes y procedimientos judiciales. [28] En este momento, Manitoba tenía una población mayoritaria francófona, pero en 20 años la inmigración masiva de Ontario y países no francófonos había reducido la proporción de la población francófona a menos del 10%. [29] En 1890, el gobierno provincial de Thomas Greenway despojó de los fondos del sistema escolar francés y revocó el estatus igualitario del francés, un movimiento controvertido que provocó tensión entre los hablantes de francés e inglés en todo Canadá. [30]
A pesar de las protestas de los franco-manitobaños de que se había violado la Ley de Manitoba, Manitoba siguió siendo monolingüe en la práctica hasta principios de la década de 1980, cuando los desafíos legales crearon una crisis que amenazó con invalidar casi todas las leyes aprobadas en Manitoba desde 1890, con el argumento de que estos estatutos no se publicaron en francés como exige la Ley de Manitoba. [31] El gobierno provincial de Howard Pawley intentó y no pudo abordar la crisis, y la oposición se negó a asistir a las sesiones legislativas. [31] En 1985, la Corte Suprema dictaminó que se había violado la Ley de Manitoba y que toda la legislación provincial debía publicarse tanto en francés como en inglés, restableciendo la igualdad jurídica de los idiomas que existían cuando se creó la provincia. [32] Si bien esta restauración de la igualdad legal enfrentó una oposición pública abrumadora en ese momento, [31] las encuestas realizadas en 2003 mostraron que la mayoría de los manitobaños apoyaban el bilingüismo provincial. [33]
Debido a la historia única de Manitoba, tiene un perfil bilingüe complejo que combina el de una provincia con una "pequeña minoría de lengua oficial y una con protección constitucional de dicha minoría". [34] Actualmente, la Política de servicios de lengua francesa garantiza el acceso a los servicios del gobierno provincial en francés, aunque en la práctica los servicios de lengua francesa sólo están disponibles en algunas zonas. [4] La educación pública primaria y secundaria se imparte tanto en francés como en inglés, y los padres son libres de elegir la instrucción en cualquiera de los idiomas. [35] La educación postsecundaria francófona es proporcionada por la Université de Saint-Boniface , la universidad más antigua del oeste de Canadá. [36]
Quebec
El francés ha sido el único idioma oficial en Quebec desde 1974, cuando el gobierno liberal de Robert Bourassa promulgó la Ley del Idioma Oficial (más conocida como "Proyecto de Ley 22"). Sin embargo, la ley de idiomas de la provincia prevé servicios limitados en inglés. Asimismo, la provincia está obligada, en virtud del artículo 133 de la Ley constitucional de 1867, a permitir que la legislatura provincial funcione tanto en francés como en inglés, y a permitir que todos los tribunales de Quebec funcionen en ambos idiomas. La sección 23 de la Carta se aplica a Quebec, pero en un grado más limitado que en otras provincias. Quebec debe proporcionar educación en inglés a todos los niños cuyos padres ciudadanos canadienses recibieron educación en inglés en Canadá, mientras que todas las demás provincias deben brindar educación en francés a los hijos de padres ciudadanos canadienses que recibieron su educación en francés en Canadá o cuya lengua materna es el francés.
En 1977, el gobierno del Parti Québécois de René Lévesque introdujo la Carta de la Lengua Francesa (más conocida como "Proyecto de Ley 101") para promover y preservar la lengua francesa en la provincia, impugnando indirectamente la política federal de bilingüismo. Inicialmente, el Proyecto de Ley 101 prohibió el uso de todos los idiomas excepto el francés en la mayoría de los letreros comerciales en la provincia (excepto en las empresas con cuatro empleados o menos), pero esas limitaciones se relajaron más tarde al permitir otros idiomas en los letreros, siempre que la versión en francés sea predominante. El proyecto de ley 101 también requiere que los hijos de la mayoría de los inmigrantes que residen en Quebec asistan a escuelas públicas de lengua francesa; los hijos de ciudadanos canadienses que hayan recibido su educación en Canadá en inglés pueden asistir a escuelas públicas en inglés, que son administradas por juntas escolares en inglés en toda la provincia. La controversia sobre esta parte de la legislación lingüística de Quebec ha disminuido en los últimos años a medida que estas leyes se afianzaron más y aumentó el uso público del francés. [37]
Las leyes lingüísticas de Quebec han sido objeto de una serie de fallos legales. En 1988, la Corte Suprema de Canadá dictaminó en el caso Ford v. Quebec (AG) que las disposiciones de la ley de signos comerciales del proyecto de ley 101, que prohibía el uso del idioma inglés en los carteles exteriores, eran inconstitucionales. En 1989, la Asamblea Nacional de Quebec invocó la "Cláusula de No obstante" de la Carta de Derechos para dejar de lado la ejecución del fallo judicial durante cinco años. Una apelación de la ONU del 'Caso McIntyre' resultó en una condena de la ley de signos de Quebec, independientemente de la legalidad de la cláusula no obstante según la ley canadiense. En respuesta, en 1993 Quebec promulgó enmiendas a la ley de signos, valiéndose de las sugerencias propuestas en la sentencia perdedora de la Corte Suprema de 1988 al permitir otros idiomas en los signos comerciales, a reserva de que el francés sea marcadamente predominante .
El 31 de marzo de 2005, la Corte Suprema de Canadá dictaminó por unanimidad que la interpretación hecha por la administración provincial del criterio de "parte mayor" en las disposiciones del idioma de instrucción de Quebec violaba la Carta Canadiense de Derechos y Libertades . Este criterio permite a los estudiantes que han completado "la mayor parte" de su educación primaria en inglés en Canadá continuar sus estudios en inglés en Quebec. La Corte no derogó la ley pero, como lo había hecho en su sentencia de 1988 sobre leyes de firmas, presentó a la provincia un conjunto de criterios para interpretar la ley de conformidad con la Carta de Derechos , ampliando la interpretación de la frase "mayor parte".
Territorios
El francés y el inglés son idiomas oficiales en los tres territorios federales de Canadá: Yukon , Nunavut y los Territorios del Noroeste . Nunavut y los Territorios del Noroeste también otorgan estatus de lengua oficial a varias lenguas indígenas. Inuktitut e Inuinnaqtun son idiomas oficiales en Nunavut debido a la población inuit del territorio . Los Territorios del Noroeste otorgan estatus oficial a nueve lenguas aborígenes ( chipewyan , cree , gwich'in , inuinnaqtun, inuktitut, inuvialuktun , North Slavey , South Slavey y Tłįchǫ / Dogrib ). Los residentes de NWT tienen derecho a utilizar cualquiera de los once idiomas oficiales del territorio en un tribunal territorial y en los debates y procedimientos de la legislatura. Sin embargo, las leyes son legalmente vinculantes solo en sus versiones en francés e inglés, y el gobierno publica leyes y otros documentos en los demás idiomas oficiales del territorio solo cuando lo solicita la legislatura. Además, el acceso a los servicios en cualquier idioma se limita a las instituciones y circunstancias en las que existe una demanda significativa de ese idioma o donde es razonable esperarla dada la naturaleza de los servicios solicitados. En la práctica, esto significa que solo los servicios en inglés están disponibles universalmente y no hay garantía de que un servicio gubernamental en particular utilice otros idiomas, excepto los tribunales. Tras un fallo de la Corte Suprema territorial de 2006, Fédération Franco-Ténoise c. Canadá (Fiscal General) , los servicios universales en francés también son obligatorios.
Esto es así a pesar del hecho de que la proporción de hablantes nativos de francés en los territorios es insignificante y están ampliamente superados en número por hablantes de lenguas indígenas. En el censo de 2016, había 1.455 hablantes de francés en "lengua materna" en Yukón (4,3%), 1.175 en los Territorios del Noroeste (2,9%) y 595 en Nunavut (1,7%). [38]
En otras partes de Canadá
Aunque ninguna provincia canadiense ha adoptado oficialmente el inglés como su único idioma oficial, el inglés es el idioma de facto de los servicios gubernamentales y las operaciones gubernamentales internas en las siete provincias restantes de Canadá. Los niveles de servicio en francés varían mucho de una provincia a otra (y a veces dentro de diferentes partes de la misma provincia).
Por ejemplo, según los términos de la Ley de Servicios de Lengua Francesa de Ontario de 1986 , los francófonos en 25 áreas designadas de la provincia, pero no en otras partes de la provincia, tienen garantizado el acceso a los servicios del gobierno provincial en francés. De manera similar, desde 2005, la ley de Ontario exige oficialmente que la ciudad de Ottawa [40] establezca una política municipal en inglés y francés.
En Alberta, la Ley de escuelas de Alberta protege el derecho de las personas de habla francesa a recibir instrucción escolar en el idioma francés en la provincia.
Derechos lingüísticos en el sistema legal
Existe una variación considerable en todo Canadá con respecto al derecho a utilizar el inglés y el francés en las legislaturas y tribunales (federales, provinciales y territoriales). [41] Los derechos bajo la ley federal son consistentes en todo Canadá, pero las diferentes provincias y territorios tienen diferentes enfoques de los derechos lingüísticos. Tres provincias (Manitoba, New Brunswick y Quebec) tienen garantías constitucionales para el bilingüismo y los derechos lingüísticos. Otras tres provincias (Alberta, Ontario y Saskatchewan) tienen disposiciones legales relacionadas con el bilingüismo en el sistema legal, al igual que cada uno de los tres territorios (Territorios del Noroeste, Nunavut y Yukon). Cuatro provincias (Columbia Británica, Terranova y Labrador, Nueva Escocia e Isla del Príncipe Eduardo) son un idioma inglés.
Language rights in the legal system are summarized in the following table:
Jurisdiction | Right to use English and French in Parliament/Legislature | Laws are Bilingual | Right to use English or French in the courts | Right to Trial in Language of Choice (English or French) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | Yes.[42][43][44] | Yes.[42][45][46] | Yes.[42][47][48] | Criminal: Yes[49] Federal offences: Yes[49] Civil: Yes[50] |
Alberta | Yes.[51] | No: English only.[52] | Yes, but only in oral submissions, not written.[53] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: No Civil: No |
British Columbia | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[55] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes[56][49][57] Civil: No[58][59] |
Manitoba | Yes.[60] | Yes.[60] | Yes.[60] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes Civil: No |
New Brunswick | Yes.[61][62] | Yes.[63][64] | Yes.[65][66] | Criminal : Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes Civil: Yes |
Newfoundland and Labrador | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[54] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: No Civil: No |
Nova Scotia | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[54][67] | No: English only.[54] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: No Civil: No |
Ontario | Yes.[68] | Yes.[69] | Yes.[70] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes Civil: No |
Prince Edward Island | No: English only.[54] | No: English only.[54][71] | No: English only.[54] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: No Civil: No |
Quebec | Yes.[42] | Yes.[42][72] | Yes.[42][72] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes Civil: No |
Saskatchewan | Yes.[73] | Laws and regulations can be in English only, or in both English and French.[74] | Yes.[75] | Criminal: Yes[49] Provincial offences: Yes Civil: No |
Northwest Territories | Yes, as well as any of the other nine official territorial languages.[76] | Yes.[77] | Yes. A party can also use one of the other nine official languages for oral submissions.[78] | Criminal: Yes[49] Territorial offences: Yes Civil: Yes |
Nunavut | Yes, and also the Inuit language.[79] | Yes.[80] | Yes, and also the Inuit language.[81] | Criminal: Yes[49] Territorial offences: Yes Civil: Yes |
Yukon | Yes, and also Yukon aboriginal languages.[82] | Yes.[83] | Yes.[84] | Criminal: Yes[49] Territorial offences: Yes Civil:Yes |
Bilingüismo personal en Canadá
Official bilingualism should not be confused with personal bilingualism, which is the capacity of a person to speak two languages. This distinction was articulated in the 1967 report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which stated:
A bilingual country is not one where all the inhabitants necessarily have to speak two languages; rather it is a country where the principal public and private institutions must provide services in two languages to the citizens, the vast majority of whom may well be unilingual."[85]
Nonetheless, the promotion of personal bilingualism in English and French is an important objective of official bilingualism in Canada.
At least 35% of Canadians speak more than one language. Moreover, fewer than 2% of Canadians cannot speak at least one of the two official languages.[86] However, of these multilingual Canadians, somewhat less than one fifth of the population (5,448,850 persons, or 17.4% of the Canadian population) are able to maintain a conversation in both of the official languages according to a self-assessment.[87] However, in Canada the terms "bilingual" and "unilingual" are normally used to refer to bilingualism in English and French. In this sense, nearly 83% of Canadians are unilingual.
Knowledge of the two official languages is largely determined by geography. Nearly 95% of Quebecers can speak French, but only 40.6% speak English. In the rest of the country, 97.6% of the population is capable of speaking English, but only 7.5% can speak French.[88] Personal bilingualism is most concentrated in southern Quebec and a swath of territory sometimes referred to as the bilingual belt, which stretches east from Quebec through northern and eastern New Brunswick. It also extends into eastern Ontario, with Ottawa, eastern, and northeastern Ontario holding large populations of Franco-Ontarians. There is also a large French-speaking population in Manitoba. In all, 55% of bilingual Canadians are Quebecers,[89] and a high percentage of the bilingual population in the rest of Canada resides in Ontario and New Brunswick. Statistics Canada collects much of its language data from self-assessments.
The following table lists the number of respondents in the 2016 Canadian census that were bilingual in both official languages of Canada:
Province or territory | % of bilingual English & French speakers | Total bilingual English & French speakers | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Canada—Total | 17.9% | 6,216,065 | [90] |
British Columbia | 7% | 314,925 | [91] |
Alberta | 7% | 264,720 | [92] |
Saskatchewan | 5% | 51,560 | [93] |
Manitoba | 9% | 108,460 | [94] |
Ontario | 11.2% | 1,490,390 | [95] |
Quebec | 44.5% | 3,586,410 | [90] |
New Brunswick | 34% | 249,950 | [96] |
Nova Scotia | 10.5% | 95,380 | [97] |
Prince Edward Island | 13% | 17,840 | [98] |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 5% | 25,940 | [99] |
Nunavut | 4.3% | 1,525 | [100] |
Northwest Territories | 14% | 4,900 | [101] |
Yukon | 10.3% | 4,275 | [102] |
Educación en un segundo idioma
Canada’s thirteen provincial and territorial education systems place a high priority on boosting the number of bilingual high school graduates. 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.[103] 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.[104]
French second-language education (FSL)
Three 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):
- Core French
- French Immersion
- Extended French
- Intensive French
Core French
Non-Francophone students learn French by taking courses on the French language as part of an education that is otherwise conducted in English. In Quebec and New Brunswick, French classes begin in Grade 1. In the other provinces, French classes typically start in Grade 4 or 5. Students normally receive about 600 hours of French-language classes by the time of graduation.[105] The goal of “Core French” programs is not to produce fully bilingual graduates, but rather "to provide students with the ability to communicate adequately in the second language, and to provide students with linguistic tools to continue their second-language studies by building on a solid communicative base".[106] There are no mandatory core French class in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and second-language courses are mandatory only in BC. One result of this is that comprehension levels are often lower than parents would prefer. A scholar who interviewed a former New Brunswick premier, as well as the province's deputy ministers of education and health and the chairman of its Board of Management and Official Languages Branch reports: "[A]ll expressed reservations about the effectiveness of the Core program in promoting individual bilingualism and believed the program must be improved if anglophone students are to obtain a level of proficiency in the French language."[107]
French immersion
Non-Francophone students with no previous French-language training learn French by being taught all subjects in the French language, rather than by taking courses on the French language as part of an education otherwise conducted in English.[108] In early immersion, students are placed in French-language classes starting in kindergarten or Grade 1.
In late immersion, children are placed in French-language classes in a later grade. Currently, 7% of eligible students outside of Quebec are enrolled in French immersion programs.[109]
Extended French program
Some schools in Ontario offer a third method of FSL education: the Extended French program. Students enter into this program as early as Grade 4—the starting grade is set by each region's school board—and may continue the program through to graduation.[110] The program can also be entered when beginning secondary school; however, as there is a prerequisite number of previous instruction hours, usually only students previously enrolled in the Extended French or French Immersion programs can enter. In this program, at least 25% of all instruction must be in French. From Grades 4 through 8, this means that at least one course per year other than "French as a Second Language" must be taught solely in French. From Grades 9 through 12, along with taking the Extended French language course every year, students must complete their mandatory Grade 9 Geography and Grade 10 Canadian History credits in French. Students who complete these required courses and take one extra credit taught in French receive a certificate upon graduation in addition to their diploma.
Intensive French
Intensive French is a method of FSL education that originated in Newfoundland. In 2004, Intensive French began in some schools in British Columbia. Intensive French is a choice program (in offering schools) during the grade 6 year. For the first five months of the school year students spend 80% of their time learning French, with the other 20% being for math. The rest of the core curriculum (Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts in English) is condensed for the second half of the year, comprising 80% of the time, with one hour for French. In the grade 7 year students continue to have one hour of core French per day. This results in 600 hours of French instruction over the two years.[111]
English second-language education (ESL)
New Brunswick, being an officially bilingual province, has both anglophone and francophone school districts.
- The francophone districts have Core English programs teaching ESL.[112]
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.
- Core English: Most non-anglophone students are required to enrol in French-language schools. English is taught to all students, starting in Grade 1, in a program that is essentially identical to the "Core French" taught to English-speaking students in the other provinces.
- Most high schools offer advanced-level ESL programs where students complete the K–11 program in Secondary 3 (Grade 9) and follow with first-language level in Grade 10 and 11 (literature class).
- Programs of English immersion have existed for French-speaking students in Quebec but these programs are often in conflict with the official language policies of the Quebec government.[113]
Desafíos educativos, lingüísticos, económicos y de otro tipo del bilingüismo oficial
Success rates in second-language instruction
In Parlez-vous francais? The advantages of bilingualism in Canada, published by the Canadian Council on Learning, page 6 states:
‘Although most Canadian school children are taught English or French as a second language in school, these lessons often fail to yield functional bilingualism. For example, New Brunswick’s French Second Language Commission recently reported that fewer than 1% of the students who enrolled in “core French” in 1994 had met the provincial minimum goal by 2007. And fewer than 10% of students who enrolled in early-French immersion in 1995 had attained the provincial goal by 2007.’ [114]
The state of French-Language Education Programs in Canada: Report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, published in 2014, presents the following quote from the Peel District School Board’s Committee from 2011-2012:
‘The review committee found that although principals were finding it very difficult to hire teachers who are qualified to teach French immersion, qualifications alone were not enough to ensure a quality program. ‘The review committee heard repeatedly from different stakeholders regarding instances where a teacher had the requisite paper qualifications but was not fluent in French. Furthermore, the review committee heard that qualified and fluent teachers sometimes chose to leave the French immersion program to teach in the English program. The review committee heard that although it is very difficult for principals to find French immersion teachers for permanent contract teaching assignments, it is even more problematic for them to find FI teachers for long-term occasional assignments.’[115]
Section 4.6 of L’amélioration de l’enseignement de l’anglais, langue seconde, au primaire : un équilibre à trouver, published by the Conseil supérieur de l’éducation (in Quebec) in 2014 reveals a struggle to recruit enough qualified second-language teachers for public schools in Quebec too.[116]
Federal party leaders often master the official languages poorly themselves[117] and even Senate translators might fail to master their languages of work well enough to provide trustworthy translations[118]
According to an article in the Globe and Mail published on 13 February 2019:
‘Growing demand from parents for French immersion has created a shortage of teachers in many parts of the country, with some school boards settling for educators who can speak French only slightly better than their students, according to a new report.’[119]
Dependence on translation in the Government of Canada
Jean Delisle stated in an article tilted Fifty Years of Parliamentary Interpretation:
‘Interpretation is a good barometer of government activity. In the 1960s, a decade that interpreter Ronald Després called the “golden age of simultaneous interpretation,” it was not unusual for interpreters to put in 80-hour weeks. Marguerite Ouimet said that she spent more time in a booth than at home, as did many of her colleagues. From the mid-1970s onward, technician Jean-Pierre Dulude, whose outstanding skill was widely recognized in interpretation circles, supervised the installation of some 60 interpreters’ booths on Parliament Hill, and in federal departments and buildings across the country. He took great care to ensure that the booths met national standards.’[120]
The article goes on to state:
‘The House cannot sit without interpreters and it has adjourned when the interpretation system experienced technical difficulties.’
A report of the Advisory Working Group on the Parliamentary Translation Services of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration revealed on 15 March 2018:
‘Many of the respondents cited inconsistency and quality control as major issues when it came to translation. The quality of the service varies greatly from one translator to another and there are often errors in the translations even when a request for a secondary review is made. Some respondents noted that the two language versions of committee reports often do not convey the same meaning and that, in some cases, the translation is simply erroneous. Much time is reportedly spent by senators and staff reviewing the documents in question and ensuring that the translation is accurate. Other respondents reported that longer documents that had been translated by more than one individual were disjointed and difficult to read because a common style had not been used. Recommendations ranged from the need to hire specialized translators to facilitate the translation of committee reports on technical matters, to ensuring proper revision of translations before their delivery, and to the need to provide for a feedback mechanism that could be used to alert the Translation Bureau when errors were detected.
‘Issues related to the quality of interpretation were also raised. Some senators reported hearing literal translations that did not convey the true meaning of what the speaker had said. Others noted that regional expressions were not properly interpreted. Many respondents asked if it would be possible to have the same interpreters covering the Chamber and specific committees as this would ensure continuity. The need to upgrade the Senate's technological equipment was raised as devices in some committee rooms did not work properly. Some committee clerks noted that a more modern way for clerks to provide material to the interpreters was needed. Such technological upgrades could make communication of information quicker and more efficient.’[118]
Direct monetary cost of official bilingualism
In Official Language Policies of the Canadian Provinces: Costs and Benefits in 2006, published by the Fraser Institute in 2012, we read on page xii:
‘In our previous study, Official Language Policies at the Federal Level in Canada: Costs and Benefits in 2006, we estimated that the total cost of federal bilingualism at $1.8 billion. Since these expenditures include transfers to provinces that are spent by them on official language programs (Vaillancourt and Coche, 2009: 25, table 1), aggregating federal, provincial, and local spending must net out these transfers to avoid double counting. Once transfers are netted out, we have $1.5 billion at the federal level and $868 million at the local and provincial level for a total rounded of $2.4 billion or $85 per capita for 2006/07.’[121]
Distribution of wealth between official and Deaf, indigenous, and other unofficial linguistic communities
In MAKING THE MOST OF THE ACTION PLAN FOR OFFICIAL LANGUAGES 2018-2023: INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE, the standing Committee on Official languages states: ‘CPF British Columbia and Yukon has already identified three strategies: recruiting from other provinces and territories and from abroad; supporting post-secondary institutions so they can train more teachers; and supporting teachers.’[122]
The linguistic provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act,[123] the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and other laws obligate a greater demand for English and French speakers (even foreign ones if necessary) than a freer linguistic market would require. This, combined with English and French being more difficult to learn than some languages due to their orthographic (especially for the Deaf, dyslexics, and Deaf-dyslexics), grammatical, and lexical particularities, accentuates the wealth gap between official and Deaf, indigenous, and other unofficial language communities by limiting market supply and blocking equal access to Federal and federally-regulated employment ranging from the packaging and labelling industries all the way up to appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada for unofficial language communities. Perry Bellegarde and Romeo Sagansh have addressed this concern as it applies to indigenous peoples.[124][125]
In Parlez-vous francais? The advantages of bilingualism in Canada, published by the Canadian Council on Learning, page 4 states:
‘The bilingual advantage appears to extend to individual income. According to the 2001 Canadian census, people who speak both official languages had a median income ($24,974) that was nearly 10% higher than that of those who speak English only ($22,987) and 40% higher than that of those who speak French only ($17,659). Similar gaps remain after controlling for individual characteristics such as educational attainment and work experience.’[114]
In an Article in the National Post of 10 November 2017, Member of Parliament Romeo Saganash stated in reference to requiring Supreme-Court judges to speak English and French:
“All Indigenous people in Canada speak one official language or the other, English or French,” Saganash argued. “To exclude that part of the population from the possibility of sitting on the Supreme Court has always seemed unacceptable to me.”[125]
Senator Murray Sinclair has opposed requiring Supreme Court judges to know both official languages too.[126]
While the inherent difficulties of English and French can prevent some from learning them well, their international spread can greatly benefit those who have the means to learn them well.[127]
The perception of official bilingualism as an exclusively bi-ethnocentric policy
The mandate of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was to
inquire into and report upon the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada and to recommend what steps should be taken to develop the Canadian Confederation on the basis of an equal partnership between the two founding races, taking into account the contribution made by the other ethnic groups to the cultural enrichment of Canada and the measures that should be taken to safeguard that contribution.[128]
The same report clarifies the status of Canada’s indigenous peoples relative to ‘the two founding races’ in its Book I, General Introduction, Paragraph 21:
We should point out here that the Commission will not examine the question of the Indians and the Eskimos. Our terms of reference contain no allusion to Canada's native populations. They speak of "two founding races," namely Canadians of British and French origin, and "other ethnic groups," but mention neither the Indians nor the Eskimos. Since it is obvious that these two groups do not form part of the "founding races," as the phrase is used in the terms of reference, it would logically be necessary to include them under the heading "other ethnic groups." Yet it is clear that the term "other ethnic groups" means those peoples of diverse origins who came to Canada during or after the founding of the Canadian state and that it does not include the first inhabitants of this country.[25]
Chapter I, Paragraph 19 states:
Still, as we have pointed out earlier, there is such a thing as a French culture and a British culture. Of course, the differences between them are not as great as they would be if either were compared to one of the many Asian or African cultures. In Canada, the Anglophones and the Francophones wear the same sort of clothing, live in the same sort of houses, and use the same tools . They are very similar in their social behaviour, belong to religions which are not exclusive, and share the same general knowledge. To a greater or lesser extent, they share a North American way of living.[25]
Book II, Chapter V.E.1, Paragraph 325 indicates that the government's policy with reference to indigenous Canadians was ‘to integrate these students as completely as possible into the existing provincial school systems.’[129]
Commissioner J. B. Rudnyckyj wrote a separate statement challenging his colleagues’ proposals for an exclusively Anglo-French language policy. Esperanto Services, Ottawa; the Indian-Eskimo Association of Canada, Toronto; and other organizations representing different indigenous and other unofficial-language communities likewise presented briefs that presented alternative notions to that of 'two founding races.'[130]
Propuestas de alternativas al bilingüismo oficial basadas en el principio de personalidad
Official bi-unilingualism based on the territoriality principle
In Lament for a Notion, Scott Reid proposes maintaining the present official languages but deregulating them, limiting them mostly to the official sphere, and applying the territoriality principle except where numbers warrant it.[131]
Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest had called on the Federal Government to apply the Charter of the French Language to all federally-regulated institutions operating in the province of Quebec.[132]
Up until its reaction to the Government of Ontario's decision to eliminate the Office of the Commissioner of Francophone services in October 2018, Quebec had tended to oppose calls on the part of French-speakers to broaden French-language rights outside of that province such as when it opposed the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon’s call to gain the ability to admit more students to its French-language schools at the Supreme Court of Canada fearing that a victory for the French-language school board in the Yukon could have negatively affected the promotion of French in Quebec.[133][134]
Official indigenous multilingualism based on the personality principle
In an article written by Gloria Galloway and published in the Globe and Mail on 8 July 2015, Galloway writes about how the Assembly of First Nations wants to make all of Canada’s indigenous languages official. She writes:
‘The head of the Assembly of First Nations is calling for the nearly 60 indigenous languages spoken in Canada to be declared official along with English and French, an expensive proposition but one that he says is becoming more urgent as the mother tongues of aboriginal peoples disappear. ‘Perry Bellegarde, who was elected National Chief of the AFN last fall, agrees it would not be easy to require translations of all indigenous languages to be printed on the sides of cereal boxes and milk cartons.
‘"That would be the ultimate goal," Mr. Bellegarde said in an interview on Wednesday at the three-day annual general meeting of the AFN, Canada's largest indigenous organization. "But let's do small steps to get there."’[124] Romeo Saganash has expressed the belief that Members of Parliament have a constitutional right to speak any of Canada’s indigenous languages in Parliament.[135]
Official indigenous multi-unilingualism based on the territoriality principle
Given the logistic and economic challenges of official multilingualism based on the personality principle, some proponents of an equal right to the indigenous language have proposed a policy of official indigenous unilingualism based on the territoriality principle whereby a local or regional government would have an obligation to provide services only in the local indigenous languages but not in any other of Canada’s indigenous languages. Some First Nations already apply this principle on territory under their jurisdiction.
Official multilingualism or multi-unilingualism including one or more official sign languages whether according to the personality or territoriality principle
Some have proposed that Canada adopt ‘sign language’ as one of its official languages.[136]
Official interlingualism through an international auxiliary language
Others have argued that parents should be entitled to public funding for education in the language of their choice for their children according to market supply and demand and Esperanto as a second language.[137] It is argued that such a policy would conform to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[138]
Apoyo y oposición
Poll data
Polls show that Canadians consistently and strongly support two key aspects of Canadian official languages policy:[citation needed]
- bilingual federal government services,
- the right of official-language minorities to receive an education in their maternal language.
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.
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.[139] 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%.[140] Among French-speaking Canadians, support for these policies was even higher.
The national consensus has, at times, broken down when other aspects of official bilingualism are examined. However, a significant shift in anglophone opinion has occurred since the mid-2000s, in favour of bilingualism.[141]
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 ..."[142]
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.[143] The ebb in support for bilingualism among anglophones can likely be attributed to political developments in the late 1980s and 1990s, including the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, and the 1995 referendum on Quebec independence.[141]
By 2006, affirmative responses to the question "Are you personally in favour of bilingualism for all of Canada?" had increased considerably, with 72% of Canadians (and 64% of anglophones) agreeing. 70% of Canadians, and 64% of anglophones were "in favour of bilingualism for [their] province".[141] Support for bilingualism is thought likely to continue to increase, as young anglophones are more favourable to it than their elders.[141]
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."[144] 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."[145]
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.[146]
Both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians tend to regard the capacity to speak the other official language as having cultural and economic value,[147] 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.[148]
Findings of Public Hearings
From time to time, boards or panels are commissioned, either by the federal government or the government of one of the provinces, to conduct hearings into the public’s views on matters of policy. Some of these hearings have dealt largely, or even primarily, with official languages policy, and the responses that they have collected provide snapshots into the state of public opinion at particular points in time.
Findings of the public hearings into the Poirier-Bastarache Report (1985)
The Advisory Committee on the Official Languages of New Brunswick was commissioned by the provincial legislature as a way of determining the response of the population to the 1982 Poirier-Bastarache Report, which had recommended a considerable expansion of French-language services.[149] Public hearings were conducted in twelve cities and towns across the province in 1985, and a report was submitted by the committee in 1986.[150]
The briefs submitted to the Advisory Committee were subsequently summarized in an academic study of the hearings in the following terms:
Qualitative analysis illustrate[s] that, as the majority, anglophones are reticent about extending opportunities and services to the francophone minority for fear of placing themselves at a disadvantage, whether it be in the education system or civil service employment. Francophones, as the minority, resent the anglophone hesitancy to make available rights and privileges secured under the Official Languages Act of New Brunswick of 1969 and the Constitution Act (1982) ... They favour their own schools, control over their education, increased access to civil service positions and services in their own language through separate institutions and administrations.[151]
Findings of the Spicer Commission (1990)
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".[152]
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 they would otherwise welcome as part of Canada's basic identity.[153]
Advocacy groups
- Advocacy in support of expanding / extending official bilingualism exclusively of other language communities
A number of groups exist, which, as part of their mandate, seek to promote official bilingualism or to extend the scope of the policy (although advocacy is not always the sole, or even the primary activity, of the groups). Among these groups:
- Alliance Quebec (defunct)
- L'Association des municipalités francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick
- Canadian Parents for French, established with the assistance of the Commissioner of Official Languages in 1977, promotes French second-language education for children whose mother tongue is English;
- Commission nationale des parents francophones
- Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada serves as an umbrella for 22 groups representing French-speaking minorities in different provinces and territories;
- Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick
- Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones
- Francophone Association of Municipalities of Ontario seeks to oversee the maintenance and development of municipal government services in French, in Ontario municipalities with French-speaking populations.
- Impératif français seeks to promote the use of French within Quebec, and to challenge inequalities between the languages that may arise within areas of federal administration.
- Quebec Community Groups Network serves as an umbrella for 38 English language community organizations across Quebec for the purposes of supporting and assisting the development and enhancing the vitality of the English-speaking minority communities;
- Société des Acadiens et Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick
- Advocacy in favour of restraining or abolishing official bilingualism
A number of groups have existed, since the first Official Languages Act was proclaimed in 1969, which sought to end official bilingualism or to reduce the scope of the policy. Among these groups:
- The Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (often referred to as "APEC"). In 2000, the group was renamed Canadians Against Bilingualism Injustice.[154] In 2001, the organization changed its name again, becoming the Canadian Network for Language Awareness.;[155]
- Canadians for Language Fairness;
- The New Brunswick Association of English-speaking Canadians was formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1986. Its primary purpose was to oppose the proposals of the province's "Poirier-Bastarache Committee" for an expansion of the province's policy of official bilingualism.
In the first decade or so following the 1969 adoption of the Act, opposition to the new policy sometimes took a radical form that has subsequently nearly disappeared. 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. Leonard Jones, the mayor of Moncton, New Brunswick, was an aggressive opponent of bilingualism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 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 constitutional. In 1991, a local resurgence in anti-bilingualism sentiments allowed the Confederation of Regions Party to win 21.2% of the vote in New Brunswick's provincial election and to briefly form the official opposition with eight seats in the provincial legislature.
Some organizations or individuals within certain movements also propose introducing a more inclusive language policy either via official multilingualism, or an official unilingual language policy in an auxiliary language so as to intrude minimally into the first-language choice of residents. Such ideas are sometimes inspired by Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights relating to discrimination on the basis of language, and Article 26(3) of the same Declaration so as to give parents the freedom “to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” Others can be inspired by religious or other beliefs.
Assembly of First Nations: National First Nations Language Strategy, presented by the Assembly of First Nations on 5 July 2007, inspired by previous statements including the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples presented in 1996, rejects official bilingualism in favour of linguistic equality for speakers of indigenous languages:
“First Nations seek legislated protection via a First Nations Languages Act that would be consistent with First Nations and Government of Canada laws dealing with languages.”
The French Nation of Canada (FRENCA): The NAFRAC favours a more interlingual approach to language policy that promotes the local sign language, the local indigenous language, Esperanto or another international auxiliary language, and more linguistic freedom in unofficial domains.[156]
Positions of the federal political parties
Language issues currently dividing the parties
The issues on which Canada’s political parties have most recently shown divergent voting patterns are two private members’ bills.
The first, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) (Bill C-482), was introduced by Bloc MP Pauline Picard. If adopted, it would have had the effect of amending 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.[157] This bill was defeated in May 2008, with Bloc and NDP MPs voting in favour and Conservative and Liberal MPs opposed.[158]
The second private member’s bill is NDP MP Yvon Godin’s Act to amend the Supreme Court Act (understanding the official languages) (Bill C-232). If adopted, this bill will have the effect of blocking any candidate who is not already sufficiently bilingual to understand oral arguments in both official languages from being appointed to the Supreme Court. This bill was passed at third reading on March 31, with all NDP, Liberal and Bloc members in support and all Conservative MPs opposed.[159] but did not pass the Senate.
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 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." [160]
Prior to this, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Reform Party of Canada had advocated the policy's repeal. 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."[161] 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".[162]
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 depth of the party’s commitment to official bilingualism is demonstrated by the fact that the constitution of the Liberal Party contains provisions modelled 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. 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."[163]
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. 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.[164]
In 2017, NDP MP Romeo Saganash spoke forcefully against making Anglo-French bilingualism a requirement for Supreme-Court judges in addition to criticizing official bilingualism generally due to the linguistic barriers it imposes on indigenous candidates.[125]
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 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 recent years, this has included introducing a private member's bill titled An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) (better known as Bill C-482), intended to supersede the Official Languages Act with the Charter of the French Language for all federally regulated corporations within Quebec, this principle uses an asymmetrical conception of federalism in Canada.[165]
Ver también
- Attorney General of Quebec v. Blaikie
- Charlebois v. Saint John (City)
- Language demographics of Quebec
- Language policies of Canada's provinces and territories
- Official bilingualism in the public service of Canada
- R. v. Beaulac
- Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights
- Société des Acadiens v. Association of Parents
- Spanish language in the United States – similar issue in the United States, created from recent mass immigration from Latin America
- Timeline of official languages policy in Canada
- Anglophone problem (Cameroon) - relating to the power balance between English and French in bilingual Cameroon
Referencias
- ^ Toolkit, Web Experience (30 March 2014). "Canada's official languages and you". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca.
- ^ "Subsection 16(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982". (See Section Sixteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.)
- ^ "Official Languages Act – 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.)". Act current to July 11th, 2010. Department of Justice. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
The purpose of this Act is to (a) ensure respect for English and French as the official languages of Canada and ensure equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions, in particular with respect to their use in parliamentary proceedings, in legislative and other instruments, in the administration of justice, in communicating with or providing services to the public and in carrying out the work of federal institutions; (b) support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities and generally advance the equality of status and use of the English and French languages within Canadian society; and (c) set out the powers, duties and functions of federal institutions with respect to the official languages of Canada.
- ^ a b "French Language Services Policy" (PDF). Government of Manitoba. Mar 1999.
- ^ "Pas de statut bilingue pour l'Alberta et la Saskatchewan, tranche la cour". Quebec.huffingtonpost.ca. 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Pierre Elliott Trudeau - Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ Web, Boîte à outils de l'expérience (6 March 2015). "Portrait des groupes de langues officielles de la région d'Ottawa". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca.
- ^ Conrad-Avarmaa, Brigitte (3 November 2017). "The RMC Brochure". www.rmc-cmr.ca.
- ^ "Ottawa Bilingual City - Ottawa ville bilingue".
- ^ "Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: Official Languages of Canada". Department of Justice Canada. 1982-04-17.
- ^ "French Education System Admission Criteria | Fle". Elfontario.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: Minority Language Educational Rights". Department of Justice Canada. 1982-04-17.
- ^ "Introduction". Final Report of the French Constitutional Drafting Committee. Archived from the original on 2003-09-23. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ^ Schedule 'A' of the Canada Act is a French version of the operative clauses of the Canada Act. Schedule 'B' contains the text of the Constitution Act, 1982, in both English and French.
- ^ "Official Languages Act (1969)". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
- ^ "Official Languages Act". Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 2003-09-01. Archived from the original on 2006-11-06.
- ^ "Official Languages Act Annotated version – Explanatory notes". Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 2003-09-01. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10.
- ^ "Official Languages Act – Part V – Language of Work". Department of Justice Canada. 2007-04-04. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10.
- ^ "Official Languages Act – Part VI – Participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians". Department of Justice Canada. 2007-04-04. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10.
- ^ "Welcome to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages!". Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 2003-09-01. Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
- ^ "Official Languages Act – Part VIII – Commissioner of Official Languages". Department of Justice Canada. 2007-04-04.
- ^ "Definition of English or French Linguistic Minority". Department of Justice Canada. 2007-04-17.
- ^ "Calculation of Population Numbers". Department of Justice Canada. 2007-04-17.
- ^ "Official Languages Regulations". Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 2003-09-01. Archived from the original on 2006-11-10.
- ^ a b c "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF). publications.gc.ca.
- ^ Resolution 75. Resolved, That the number of the Inhabitants of the country being about 600,000, those of French origin are about 525,000, and those of British or other origin 75,000; and that the establishment of the civil government of Lower Canada, for the year 1832, accordingly to the yearly returns made by the Provincial Administration, for the information of the British Parliament, contained the names of 157 officers and others receiving salaries, who are apparently of British or foreign origin and the names of 47 who are, apparently, natives of the country, of French origin; that this statement does not exhibit the whole disproportion which exists in the distribution of the public money and power, the latter class being, for the most part, appointed to the inferior and less lucrative offices, and most frequently only obtaining even them, by becoming the dependent of those who hold the higher and the more lucrative offices; that the accumulation of many of the best paid and most influential, and at the same time incompatible, offices in the same person, which is forbidden by the laws and by sound policy, exists especially for the benefit of the former class; and that two-thirds of the persons included in the last commission of the peace issued in the province, are apparently of British or foreign origin, and one-third only of French origin.
- ^ Eugene Forsey writes: “In the Dominion Civil Service, Côté’s ‘’Political Appointments’’, 1867–1895, shows that, over that period, eliminating duplications, the French Canadians had rather over a third of the official of the House and of the two Dominion Courts; rather less than a third of other officials of the rank of Deputy Minister and, of the officials from Chief Clerk up to Deputy Minister rather less than one-seventh.” Source—Eugene Forsey, ‘’Freedom and Order: Collected Essays.’’ Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1974, p. 243.
- ^ "Manitoba Act, 1870". Parliament of Canada. 12 May 1870.
- ^ "The French Language in Manitoba: French-Canadian and European Roots". Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America.
- ^ "Controversy and Compromise over the Manitoba Schools Question". Canada's History. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27.
- ^ a b c "The French Language Debate" (PDF). Manitoba Law Journal. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-10. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
- ^ "Re Manitoba Language Rights, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721". Supreme Court of Canada. June 13, 1985.
- ^ "Perceived Threat to the French Language and Culture and Support for Bilingualism in Canada". Association for Canadian Studies. Jan 1, 2003.
- ^ "Official Language Policies of the Canadian Provinces" (PDF). Fraser Institute. Jan 16, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-28.
- ^ "Going to School". Government of Manitoba.
- ^ "Bref Historiquel". Université de Saint-Boniface.
- ^ [1] Archived December 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 2016 Canadian census data
- ^ https://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/french.html
- ^ [2] Archived March 14, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Toolkit, Web Experience (23 March 2014). "Official languages in the provinces and territories". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca.
- ^ a b c d e f Constitution Act, 1867, s 133.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss 16(1), 17(1).
- ^ Official Languages Act, RSC 1985, c 31 (4th Supp), s 4.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 18(1).
- ^ Official Languages Act (Canada), Part II.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 19(1).
- ^ Official Languages Act, (Canada), Part III.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c. C-46, s. 530.
- ^ Official Languages Act, RSC 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.), s. 16.
- ^ Languages Act, RSA 2000, c L-6, 5.
- ^ Languages Act (Alberta), s 3. The only exception is the Languages Act itself, which is bilingual.
- ^ Languages Act (Alberta), s 4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De facto; no legislative provision deals with this issue.
- ^ Supreme Court Civil Rules, B.C. Reg. 168/2009, rr. 1‑1, 1‑3, 22‑3(2), (3); Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique v. British Columbia, 2013 SCC 42, [2013] 2 SCR 774.
- ^ Offence Act, RSBC 1996, c. 338, s. 133.
- ^ Bessette v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 31.
- ^ Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie‑Britannique v. British Columbia, 2013 SCC 42, [2013] 2 SCR 774.
- ^ Courthouse Libraries BC: "Can I File My Court Documents in French in BC?" (last revised December 24, 2019.
- ^ a b c Manitoba Act, 1870, s 23.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ss 16(2), 17(2).
- ^ Official Languages Act, SNB 2002, c O-0.5, ss 6, 7, 8.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 18(2).
- ^ Official Languages Act (New Brunswick), ss 9 to 13.
- ^ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 19(2).
- ^ Official Languages Act (New Brunswick), ss 16 to 21.
- ^ The only exception is the bilingual French-language Services Act, SNS 2004, c 26.
- ^ French Language Services Act, RSO 1990, c F.32, s 3(1).
- ^ French Language Services Act (Ontario), ss 3(2), 4.
- ^ Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990, c C.43, ss 125, 126.
- ^ The only exception is the bilingual French Language Services Act, RSPEI 1988, c F-15.2.
- ^ a b Charter of the French Language, CQLR, c C-11, s 7.
- ^ The Language Act, SS 1988-89, c L-6.1, s. 12.
- ^ The Language Act, s 4.
- ^ The Language Act, s 11.
- ^ Official Languages Act, RSNWT 1988, c O-1, s 6. The other official languages, set out in s 4 of the Act, are: Chipewyan, Cree, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłı̨chǫ.
- ^ Official Languages Act (Northwest Territories), s 7.
- ^ Official Languages Act (Northwest Territories), s 9.
- ^ Official Languages Act, SNu 2008, c. 10, s. 4.
- ^ Official Languages Act (Nunavut), s 5.
- ^ Official Languages Act (Nunavut), s 8.
- ^ Languages Act, RSY 2002, c 133, s 3.
- ^ Languages Act (Yukon), s 4.
- ^ Languages Act (Yukon), s 5.
- ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Book I (General Introduction), Ottawa: Queen's Printer, p. xxviii, at paragraph 29.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Statistics Canada, 2006 Census Profile of Federal Electoral Districts (2003 Representation Order): Language, Mobility and Migration and Immigration and Citizenship. 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Statistics Canada, Population by knowledge of official language, by province or territory (2006 Census), http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo15-eng.htm. The 2006 census shows that 3017,860 Quebecers are bilingual, out of a total of 5,448,850 bilingual Canadians.
- ^ a b "Fast figures on Canada's official languages (2016)". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in British Columbia". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Alberta". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Saskatchewan". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Manitoba". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Ontario". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in New Brunswick". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Nova Scotia". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Prince Edward Island". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Newfoundland and Labrador". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Nunavut". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Northwest Territories". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Infographic: The French presence in Yukon". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Canada, Privy Council Office, "The Next Act: New Momentum for Canada's Linguistic Duality—The Action Plan for Official Languages." Ottawa, 2003, p. 27.
- ^ Miles Turnbull, "Core French in Canada", Canadian Parents for French (Wayback machine).
- ^ New Brunswick Department of Education, Policy Statement on Immersion and the Core Program. Fredericton, 1983, p. xii.
- ^ Catherine Steele, Can Bilingualism Work? Attitudes Toward Language Policy in New Brunswick: The 1985 Public Hearings into the Poirier-Bastarache Report. Fredericton: New Ireland Press, 1990, p. 26.
- ^ [3] Archived December 9, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Official Languages: Annual Report 2007–2008, Volume 1, Official Language Support Programs". Canadian Heritage, cat. No. CH10-2008-1, 2008, pg. 31.
- ^ "Ontario | Provincial Curriculum Guides | Program Support Materials (Teachers & Administrators) | French as a Second Language | Resources for Teachers". Caslt.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ Wendy Carr. "Intensive French – A British Columbia Perspective". Mmecarr.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Current Status of the Education System in New Brunswick" (PDF). Gnb.ca. January 30, 2005. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Montreal Mirror - The Front Page : Education". 5 May 2003. Archived from the original on 5 May 2003.
- ^ a b "Lessons. in Learning. Parlez-vous français? The advantages of bilingualism in Canada - PDF". docplayer.net.
- ^ "The State of French Second-Language Education in Canada. Report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages ." (PDF), publications.gc.ca, February 2014
- ^ https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/fichiers/documents/publications/Avis/50-0485.pdf
- ^ "Les difficultés du bilinguisme au Canada - le français et l'anglais parlés par ses leaders" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/421/CIBA/Reports/CIBA_RPT27_TRANAWG_APX1_e.pdf
- ^ "Shortage prompts school boards to hire teachers who can speak French only slightly better than students, report says" – via The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Delisle, Jean (2009), "Fifty Years of Parliamentary Interpretation" (PDF), Canadian Parliamentary Review, pp. 27–32
- ^ https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/official-language-policies-of-canadian-provinces-rev.pdf
- ^ "Committee Report No. 15 - LANG (42-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca.
- ^ Branch, Legislative Services (15 January 2019). "Consolidated federal laws of canada, Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.
- ^ a b "AFN asks Ottawa to declare all aboriginal languages official" – via The Globe and Mail.
- ^ a b c Comment, Full (10 November 2017). "Chris Selley: Indigenous MP opposes fellow New Democrats on official bilingualism for Supreme Court - National Post".
- ^ "Top court's bilingual rule a barrier to indigenous judges: Sinclair, Bellegarde" – via The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "Conference Board of Canada Study, reveals that the knowledge of both official languages is an asset to the Canadian Economy". www.newswire.ca.
- ^ http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pco-bcp/commissions-ef/dunton1967-1970-ef/dunton1967-70-vol1-eng/dunton1967-70-vol-part2-eng.pdf, page 173
- ^ http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/Z1-1963-1-5-2-1-eng.pdf, page 128
- ^ "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF). publications.gc.ca.
- ^ Scott Reid (1993). Lament for a Notion. ISBN 0889782695.
- ^ "Charest proposes broadening Quebec language laws". CBC News. 28 August 2012.
- ^ Montgomery, Sue (30 January 2015). "Quebec raises ire of francophones in the rest of Canada". Montreal Gazette.
- ^ Hélène Asselin (5 September 2017). "Un commentaire pour "Le Québec et la francophonie canadienne : Une position contradictoire"". Observatoire national en matière de droits linguistiques.
La position du Québec est d’autant plus difficile à expliquer que, comme le rappelle clairement le professeur Beaulac dans son blogue du 12 mai 2016, « Asymétrie Canada-Québec en droits linguistiques », la spécificité linguistique de la province est, juridiquement pleinement reconnue (art. 59 de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, décisions de la Cour suprême, etc.). Il est incompréhensible que le gouvernement du Québec ne mise pas sur cette reconnaissance et soit si hésitant à appuyer la défense juridique des minorités francophones.
- ^ "Committee considers Indigenous language use on Parliament Hill - APTN NewsAPTN News". aptnnews.ca.
- ^ "Sign language should be 3rd official language, say those at Regina rally". CBC News. 23 September 2018.
- ^ Vilma Sindona Eicholz, "A Fair Bilingualism for Canada" in Rüdiger Eicholz and Vilma Sindona Eicholz, Esperanto in the Modern World: Studies and Articles on Language Problems, the Right to Communicate, and the International Language (1959-1982) (2nd ed.), (Esperanto Press, 1982), pp. 381–382.
- ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26(3): "Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children."". www.un.org. 6 October 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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".
- ^ a b c d "OCOL – 1. General Support for Bilingualism". Ocol-clo.gc.ca. 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
- ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 2.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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."
- ^ Angus Reid Group, "The National Angus Reid/Southam News Poll: Canadians' Views on Official Bilingualism". Release date: April 29, 1994.
- ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 11.
- ^ Parkin and Turcotte, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Parkin and Turcotte, p. 13.
- ^ New Brunswick. Official Languages Branch (Bernard Poirier and Michel Bastarache). Towards Equality of Official Languages in New Brunswick. 1982.
- ^ New Brunswick (Irene Grant-Guerette and Lloyd B. Smith). Report of the Advisory Committee on Official Languages of New Brunswick. 1986.
- ^ Catherine Steele, Can Bilingualism Work? Attitudes Towards Language Policy in New Brunswick: The 1985 Public Hearings on the Poirier-Bastarache Report. Fredericton: New Ireland Press, 1990, p. 89.
- ^ Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, Report to the People and Government of Canada. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1991, p. 161.
- ^ Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future, Report, pp. 125–126.
- ^ "Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada: Change of name and relocation of head office". Canada Gazette. 2000-02-26. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04.
- ^ "Supplementary letters patent (name change)" (PDF). Canada Gazette Part I, p. 3872. 2001-10-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-21.
- ^ "Accueil | La nation française du Canada (NAFRAC)". La nation française.
- ^ Martin Patriquin, “Are you still here?” Maclean’s, February 25, 2008, p. 23.
- ^ "Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 095 (Official Version)". .parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 021 (Official Version)". .parl.gc.ca. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ Conservative Party of Canada Policy Declaration, March 2005, p. 32 (Policy #91).
- ^ The 'Blue Book': Principles and Policy of the Reform Party of Canada – 1999, p. 40.
- ^ Canadian Alliance Declaration of Policy, April 2002, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Liberal Party of Canada, “Constitution”, as adopted and amended at the biennial convention, November 30 – December 1, 2006, Section 2(3).
- ^ Yvon Godin, “Commons Debates” (Hansard), February 6, 2008, p. 2691.)
- ^ https://www.amazon.ca/Fédéralisme-asymétrique-minorités-linguistiques-nationales/dp/2894232225/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=fédéralisme&qid=1551722376&s=books&sr=1-6
Otras lecturas
- Gagnon, Robert (1996). Anglophones at the C.E.C.M.: a Reflection of the Linguistic Duality of Montréal. Trans. by Peter Keating. Montréal: Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal. 124 p., ill. with b&w photos. ISBN 2-920855-98-0
enlaces externos
- Bilingualism at The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Bilingualism — Encyclopædia Britannica
- Portrait of Official-Language Minorities in Canada — Statistics Canada
- The Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada — Canada Government
- Language rights in provinces and territories laws — The Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada
- Déjà Vu: 40 Years of Language and Laughter in Political Cartoons (Commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act)
- Official Languages Act, RSC 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.) (bilingual version).
- Maple Leaf Web – Official Bilingualism in Canada: History and Debates
- The Charter of the French language Government of Quebec
- Language laws in Quebec CBC News