Ottawa to boost bilingualism budget
Last Updated Mon, 10 Mar 2003 11:57:09
OTTAWA - The federal government plans to spend $650 million over five years to increase the number of Canadians who speak both official languages, CBC News has learned.


INDEPTH: Bilingualism: At a crossroads?

BACKGROUNDER: Bilingualism

Canada's bilingualism budget will be increased by about 35 per cent. Most of the money is new, with the rest coming from a reallocation of existing programs.

According to federal sources, here's a rough sketch of how the funding will be broken down:


$325 million on education, focusing on teaching anglophones French;

$260 million on offering French services in everything from early-childhood programs to health care and justice;

$65 million on expanding the number of bilingual public servants.
Some of the money for education will be given to provinces with conditions attached. They will have to spend it on specific measures, such as hiring French teachers and broadening immersion programs.

The federal government wants to have at least 50 per cent of all Canadian high school graduates bilingual in 10 years.

In the 1990s, the number of teenagers who could speak both official languages increased from about 12 per cent to 25 per cent, according to census figures. But since then there has been a slight decline.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion are expected to make the announcement on Wednesday, according to federal officials.


FROM OCT. 18, 2002: Bilingualism will fail without more teachers: study
Last summer, Dion urged all provinces to follow New Brunswick's lead and become officially bilingual.


FROM AUGUST 5, 2002: Dion calls for expansion of official bilingualism

FROM OCT. 5, 2000: Commissioner says Ottawa not supporting bilingualism
Some political observers say the prime minister, who is retiring next winter, views expanded bilingualism as an important part of his legacy.

Wed, August 4, 2004


'Referendum' voters reject bilingual city

By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Ottawa Sun

A few Ottawa residents want area politicians to say "au revoir" to any thought they might have of saying "oui" to making the city officially bilingual. In an unofficial referendum last night sponsored by the Ottawa lobby group People's Voice, those in attendance overwhelmingly rejected a bilingual policy that would see the city conduct all its business in both English and French.

That policy would go a little too far for one city employee who turned out at the Nepean Sportsplex to vote against the idea.

"There is no need for it. Put it only where it's required," said Tom, who has worked for the city for more than 25 years and didn't want to provide his last name. "Why do we have to force it on everybody?"

Tom was one of more than 600 people who showed up for the vote. The People's Voice opposes entrenching bilingualism into the city's political fabric.

'STRONG MESSAGE'

The mostly senior audience was led by local activist and mayoralty candidate Terry Kilrea, who says it would be a mistake if the city voted for official bilingualism.

"We want to send a strong message to the city," said Kilrea.

"Politicians keep telling us this is the people's will. Well, we'll find out."

At the end of the evening, 633 votes were cast, with 623 people opposed to an officially bilingual city and eight in favour. Two ballots were spoiled.

That's what Carol Barclay wanted to hear. She says her daughter moved to the U.S. because she couldn't find a job speaking only English in Ottawa.

She says her son has also been turned away from potential employment because he doesn't speak French.

"As a parent, my children have been denied jobs here in Canada," said Barclay. "You have to leave here because you are not wanted here."

derek.puddicombe@ott.sunpub.com

Four intersections will go all French in St. B

City doesn't expect to 'rue' day
By ROSS ROMANIUK, CITY HALL REPORTER

Goodbye Street, hello Rue -- and possibly a little French Quarter confusion. The city and St. Boniface's French-language boosters will this month erase the English designations for streets, avenues and boulevards on road signs at four major intersections along Provencher Boulevard in an effort to play up the francophone character of one of Winnipeg's historic districts.

The move will come as old St. Boniface prepares to open its arms to other Winnipeggers and hopefully tourists far and wide with an ambitious redevelopment of its signature thoroughfare.

"It will be a very interesting look and feel for the community," Tom Scott, vice-president with the French Quarter Business Improvement Zone, told The Sun yesterday.

"It's going to encompass a whole lot of different things and a lot more French. It's going to give a French ambiance, character and flavour."

A $900,000 budget -- much of it coming from a $2.1-million allocation for the area from a city-provincial improvement fund -- will be put to use within two to three weeks in the overhaul of Provencher Boulevard's street lighting, transit stops, curbsides and boulevards.

ENTREPRENEURS PUMPED

Where Provencher intersects with Aulneau and Langevin streets, only "rue" will be shown on new signs that will also depict the faces of the church leaders they're named after. Up to 16 street signs, including on Tache Avenue and St. Joseph Street, may also picture St. Boniface landmarks such as the Basilica that was destroyed by fire in 1968.

Scott, owner of A Chocolate Affair on Provencher, says the strip's entrepreneurs are pumped about putting the francophone spin on the markings to boost French pride and the area's ethnic background.

He admitted that the sign changes -- some on banners to use "Francais" instead of the "French" -- might "cause a problem" for motorists looking for English words.

But Coun. Franco Magnifico said any anger at the move would miss the point. "Some people just want to bitch for the sake of bitching," Magnifico (St. Boniface) said of possible conflicts.

"The signs aren't going to put you in any danger if you don't know what they say. For the most part, they shouldn't notice -- unless they're looking for it just to cause trouble."

Plans haven't been finalized, though some 60 banners and 30 ornamental street lamps are slated to go up by early October. They'll come with revamped transit stop benches, fancy "hitching post" bicycle stands, additional trees, extra flower beds and extended sidewalks at Tache.

Where the $22-million Esplanade Riel meets Tache Avenue, Scott said, metal gates "leading people into the area" will herald St. Boniface's major entranceway with a public directory highlighting nearby vendors "like you see at a mall."

Tue, August 10, 2004

Bilingualism battle heats up
Group set to take city to court
By TOBI COHEN, Ottawa Sun

THE CITY's bilingualism policy is going to court next month. Canadians for Language Fairness, a group opposed to official bilingualism, wants the language bylaw scrapped and will seek such an order in court.

A statement issued by the law offices of J. Arthur Cogan says lawyers are completing an application to "strike down" the policy, arguing that it exceeds the city's jurisdiction as set forth in the province's French Language Services Act.

Lawyers will also argue that the policy infringes the right to freedom of _expression.

"The mandate given to (the city) was to provide service in the language of choice, but the language policy of the City of Ottawa has tried to establish that that is not enough," Canadians for Language Fairness president Kim McConnell told the Sun last night.

"They want employees to be able to work in the language of choice. They want workers to be supervised in their language of choice and we all know what happens when that is established."

COUNCILLOR NOT WORRIED

Arguing it's easier for a minority to learn the language of a majority since they are immersed in it, McConnell said a similar policy has resulted in an over-representation of francophones in the federal public service.

"Thirty years of bilingualism at the federal level has shown us this is what is happening and it cannot be allowed to also happen at the city level," she said.

Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. and staunch bilingualism supporter Jacques Legendre said he won't be "losing any sleep" over the pending legal matter.

"I wish them good luck," he said sarcastically, noting the current bylaw is identical to one passed more than 20 years ago by the old City of Ottawa. "If it had been something problematic from a legal standpoint, surely it would have been challenged many, many years ago."

He believes a provision in the policy that allows current unilingual city staff to occupy senior positions deemed bilingual provided they undergo French training during a 10-year transition period is more than adequate.

FOCUS ON EDUCATION

As for future generations who aspire to work for the city in a senior position, Legendre said people will simply have to plan their education accordingly and he believes they've had more than enough time to do so.

Canadians for Language Fairness, which says it represents 1,100 people across Canada, plans to file its application in Ontario Superior Court in mid-September.

tobi.cohen@ott.sunpub.com

The City of Gatineau and Bilingualism
by John E. Trent
Gatineau, Nov. 7, 2002 - Last month, the Canadian Alliance party, with Scott Reid speaking for the party, restated its demand that the city of Gatineau, as well as the City of Ottawa, become officially bilingual.

One could expect that English-speakers in the Outaouais would agree with Mr. Scott and the Alliance party. The Regional Association of West Quebecers does indeed hope for better municipal services in English. However, the association did not in fact deem it necessary to include official bilingual status for the city of Gatineau in the linguistic policy that it submitted to the new city at the time of amalgamation. It is perhaps useful to explain the reason behind rejecting bilingual status.

The position of the Alliance party may seem logical but it's a simplistic logic.

First one must understand the difference between bilingual status and bilingual services. The idea of bilingual status (in an officially bilingual city) demands that in providing services, in the hiring policy and the language of work, the two languages have an equal legal status. It would be entrenched in provincial law.

A policy of bilingual services reflects the ideas of Pierre Trudeau. He said that in a free and democratic society, governments must offer citizens services in their official language, with the aim that they may have effective relations with their government. The obligation rests with the state and not on the citizen. Measures are much more flexible and respond to demand, not to a strict legality. That is what West Quebecers want for the city of Gatineau.

There are legal and political reasons to refuse total/outright bilingualism in Gatineau. Firstly, the Charter of the French language denies bilingual status to Quebec cities whose proportion of English-speakers is less than 50% of the population. Only 15 to 20% of Gatineau residents are English-speakers.

Secondly, the Alliance party maintains that Gatineau should be bilingual because it is part of the National Capital Region. True enough. But it is not part of the national capital. Only Ottawa is. So Gatineau may have a different policy than that of Ottawa.

One would hope that Ottawa, as capital of Canada, should have officially bilingual status, for symbolic as well as practical reasons. Firstly, it goes without saying that the capital of an officially bilingual country should be too. Secondly, if official bilingualism is enshrined in provincial law, it is less likely that some future municipal council would be tempted to change it. And since Gatineau is not part of the capital, the same reasoning doesn't apply to it.

Nevertheless, one could easily object that these are just legalistic rationalizations, that within the national capital region everyone should have the same rights, and that Law 101 is simply unfair for minorities.

Then we need a deeper reason for rejecting official bilingualism in Gatineau. History tells us that one key element in the creation of Canada was an agreement between English-speakers and French-speakers to create institutions which would permit both communities to live in relative harmony, so that together they could build a new country reaching across the northern part of North America. One aspect of this agreement was the creation of provinces within which different cultures could be protected and flourish.

In the rush of the country's rapid expansion, these objectives of the federation were often forgotten and Canada became a predominantly English country. It was only after the Quiet Revolution and the election of the Parti Québécois, when separatism made Canada sit up and listen, that Pierre Trudeau and René Lévesque reminded Canadians that one of the "raisons d'etre" of the country was the protection of linguistic cultures.

This quick overview reminds us that promoting harmonious relations and facilitating provinces' protection of their culture is the very essence of the federation. To which we must add the promotion of bilingualism in our public institutions, and the protection of the democratic rights of linguistic minorities.

In the case of the National Capital Region, studies point us to two priority findings. Firstly, the French-speaking community is continually threatened by a high rate of assimilation. Only in Gatineau does there exist an autonomous French city where the municipality is free to reinforce the culture of its French-speaking citizens. In our region, then, the condition in which each linguistic community finds itself is not equal and any policy designed around a symmetrical and equal vision of both would have inequitable and unfair implications.

Secondly, we know that in the modern world where reading and writing are so highly valued, one language tends to dominate in a given territory. Opening a community up to total/outright bilingualism in North America is equivalent to anglicizing it. This reality of linguistic territories proves the idea that the fathers of Confederation had of leaving the protection of language and culture to the provinces. This is why Quebec has become more and more French-speaking. And, Gatineau is part of Quebec.

French-speaking leaders in the region are well aware of these two tendencies. Any effort to impose official bilingualism in the City of Gatineau would only have the effect of creating discord in English-French relations.

Discord, anglicization, inequity, injustice, redirecting the federal agreement: these are all reasons for refusing that Gatineau be given bilingual status.

It is still the case that Gatineau is part of the National Capital Region and derives enormous benefits from that. Good sense suggests that the city also has responsibilities toward its English-speaking citizens. The city's own economic interest in attracting investors, as well as the democratic rights of English-speakers, prove the need for an official policy on linguistic services implemented by a permanent committee on linguistic questions and hiring by the city of bilingual English-speaking young people in reasonable numbers, to better integrate all citizens in the city.

John Trent is Vice-president of the Regional Association of West Quebecers and Fellow at the Centre on Governance of the University of Ottawa.(819) 827-4407 or (819) 682-9602.

ANGLO FLAG CAUSES HARD FEELINGS IN BATHURST

BATHURST - The Anglophone Society flag's presence in two New
Brunswick
cities is causing a flap among some Acadians.

The red and white flag will fly on municipalities in Saint John and
Bathurst
for the next week to celebrate the unofficial "anglophone" day.

But some Acadians see the flag raising as an insult, because the group
it
represents is well known for its views against bilingualism.
The New Brunswick Acadian Society's Adrienne Deveau is upset that
Bathurst
City Hall has allowed the flag to fly in a city that's 50 per cent
French.
"I find that deplorable really. I find it sad. It's a sad day for
Bathurst."


Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet doesn't see the problem. He says people
should
feel free to express their views. "I'm pleased because we should
celebrate
our diversity and I think this is doing so," he says. "I would hope
they are
just celebrating their culture, not against another culture, because I
don't
like these wedges that can be driven between people."

It's the first time the city has flown the flag. In the past, requests
have
been rejected.

Brunet says the Anglophone Society's flag is no different than the
Acadian
flag or the Union Jack, which also fly outside city hall.

But Deveau disagrees. She says the Anglophone Society is a small group
with
little official recognition and the Acadians, Irish, Aboriginals and
other
cultural groups have hundreds of years of history behind them.