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Pitting the representation of historically marginalized groups on the Supreme Court against another constitutionally protected minority Canada's francophones is a misguided race to the bottom.
It’s the most significant proposal on the status of French and English in Canada since the 1982 enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which entrenched the main provisions of the 1969 Official Languages Act in the Canadian Constitution. The last major reform to the act was in 1988.
Both the charter and the act proclaim: “English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal rights … in all institutions of the Parliament and government.”
The new policy,
English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada is based on the recognition that French and English are not on the same footing in Canada and that the federal government is constitutionally obliged to do more to protect French from coast to coast.
There will always be a historical distinction between anglophones and francophones in Canada, but this cultural and linguistic diversity should contribute to a society based on equity and inclusion. For this to happen, proficiency in both official languages is important.
According to a recent survey by the Commissioner of Official Languages of 10,828 federal public servants in five administrative regions (Ottawa-Gatineau, New Brunswick and bilingual regions in Quebec and Ontario), more than 44 per cent of francophones feel uncomfortable using French at work, while only 11 per cent of francophones feel the same way about using English at work.
Of those 44 per cent of francophones, more than 37 per cent feel uncomfortable using French at work during meetings. While we might assume this discomfort is the product of linguistic insecurity related to speaking French in a predominantly English environment, it actually has more to do with organizational difficulties that make it difficult