In this set, you can choose to read EITHER the “Point” article (which argues in favour of bilingualism) OR the “Counterpoint” article (which argues that multilingualism is more appropriate for a multicultural country like Canada). You are not required to read both articles although you may wish to read them both to gain a greater understanding of language issues in Canada.  You may also choose to watch the video on “multilingual societies” at the end of the chapter. Make sure to look over the “Ponder This” questions for whichever article you choose to read; these questions are found at the end of each article.

Point: Bilingualism Supports a United Canada

Thesis: The protection and advancement of bilingualism in Canada is important for many reasons: bilingualism establishes respect for the nation’s bicultural and bilingual history, protection of the rights of linguistic minorities, and the creation of a national platform that provides equal access for francophones and anglophones.

Summary: Bilingualism is the result of Canada’s bilingual and bicultural origins as British and French colonies. In the eighteenth century, the British Parliament enacted the Quebec Act of 1774 in an effort to manage a mainly Franco-Catholic population in Quebec and the majority Anglo-Protestant population in the rest of Canada. The Act not only implemented distinct rules of governance for English and French Canada, but was also the first official recognition of Canada’s dual linguistic identity. This same legislation set the precedent for protecting the rights of those minorities who speak Canada’s official languages. French-English bilingualism is as entrenched in the Canadian Constitution as it is in Canadian society; it is inseparable from Canada’s cultural identity.

Two Cultures, Two Languages, One Country

French-English bilingualism dates back to the eighteenth century when Britain, victorious from the Seven Year’s War against France (1756–1763), gained possession of the latter’s main North American colony, New France (the province of Quebec). Unlike the British Anglo-Protestants inhabiting most of Canada, the tens of thousands of residents of what is now Quebec were French-speaking Roman Catholics.

To deal with the distinct circumstances of Canada’s bilingual and bicultural composition, the British Parliament enacted the Quebec Act of 1774. It was viewed as a generous piece of legislation at the time, as the act not only guaranteed that most Quebecers would live their lives undisturbed, but also protected their religious and civil rights. Thus, a French Quebecer in 1774, while under the protection of French civil law, could practice Roman Catholicism freely in a British-administered Canada. The act not only implemented distinct rules of governance for English and French Canada, but also included the first official recognition of Canada’s dual linguistic identity. This influential piece of legislation set the precedent for Canada’s official language minorities’ rights and also established a country made up of two cultures.

This early recognition of Canada’s dual cultural identity prevailed until it was officially preserved in the Constitution Act of 1867. The Canadian Constitution Act renewed all the civil and legal rights of the francophone minority in Canada first established in the 1774 Quebec Act. More importantly, for the first time in Canadian history, it contained legal provisions to address Canada’s bilingual nature. Section 133 of the Constitution Act of 1867 permits the use of both French and English in parliamentary debates and in federal court proceedings. Moreover, it requires that parliamentary journals, records and laws be published in both languages. With the Constitution Act of 1867, Canada not only recognized its dual cultural identity, but also began to protect and advance bilingualism in the public arena.

Since the Constitution Act of 1867, great strides have been made to ensure the protection and advancement of bilingualism. In 1927, postage stamps were printed in both French and English. In 1934, in order to meet growing translation needs, a federal Translation Bureau was established. In 1936, bank notes were printed in both languages. In 1959, parliamentary debates began being simultaneously translated in both languages. And in 1974, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act ensured that consumer products were labeled in French and English.

Ultimately, the efforts to protect and advance Canada’s bilingual identity led to two important pieces of legislation: the 1969 Official Languages Act and the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Official Languages Act, renewed in 1988, establishes French and English as Canada’s official languages and guarantees their equality in Canadian society and government. Moreover, both French and English language and educational rights have been protected constitutionally since 1983 under Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Canada boasts a history of coexistence between francophone (French-speaking) and anglophone (English-speaking) cultures and communities. The recognition, protection and advancement of these communities’ rights have shaped Canada into an inherently bilingual society. Thus, to protect and to advance bilingualism is to protect and advance Canadian culture.

A Social Imperative

Canadian bilingualism expresses Canada’s unique dual identity and, above all else, is crucial in protecting the rights of Canada’s official linguistic minorities. It is important to understand that official bilingualism is not an issue of ensuring that Canadians possess the ability to converse in both official languages; rather, bilingualism refers to the social imperative to safeguard the linguistic and educational rights of francophones and anglophones across Canada.

A 2006 census conducted by Statistics Canada revealed that anglophones made up 57.8 per cent and francophones 22.9 per cent of the nation’s population. The majority of Canada’s francophone community resides in Quebec, where the census showed 575,560 anglophone residents and 5,977,660 francophone residents. In contrast to Quebec’s linguistic distribution, the francophone community in the rest of Canada numbers only 939,995 residents, while the Anglophone community includes 17,882,775 residents. As these figures indicate, Canada’s linguistic distribution has created two official linguistic minorities: the anglophones in Quebec and francophones in the English-speaking areas of Canada.

Because Canada has two official linguistic minorities, both of which are fundamentally inseparable from its cultural identity, bilingualism must be protected and advanced.

The situation in Quebec is crucial to the understanding of bilingualism’s role in the protection of minorities’ linguistic rights. Quebec remains the only province with French as its official language, and the Francophone-dominated National Assembly of Quebec has enacted legislation aimed at protecting the province’s unique linguistic identity. For instance, there are several language laws in place that enforce the use of French in the workplace, in the government, in business, in education, and even on restaurant menus, namely: Bill 63, “Loi pour promouvoir la langue française au Québec” (Act to promote the French language in Quebec), Bill 22, “Loi sur la langue officielle” (Official Language Act), and Bill 101, Charte de la langue française” (Charter of the French Language). Minority communities in Quebec, especially the English-speaking community, have denounced these laws repeatedly, arguing that unilingual laws in a fundamentally bilingual country have created a society of first- and second-class citizens. In one 2007 study, 25 per cent of anglophones in Quebec reported being victims of discrimination, compared with 12 per cent of English speakers in the rest of Canada.

Evidence of the pervasiveness of linguistic discrimination can be found in a bill proposed by the Parti Québécois in 2007. Bill 195, the Quebec Identity Act, would establish a Quebec citizenship, if passed. The proposed, but never enacted, bill would require all non-Quebec residents, even Canadian citizens, to pass French language and Quebec culture tests to gain full access to provincial political rights. In doing so, the proposed bill would restrict political rights to otherwise equal citizens of a country based on language and culture. Thus, the Parti Québécois Bill 195 would essentially violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the United Nation’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

To guard against this sort of linguistic discrimination in the public and private sectors, Canadian bilingualism must be protected and advanced everywhere in the country. In doing so, the linguistic, educational, civil and democratic rights of all Canadians will be better protected. The failure to do so represents a violation of Canadians’ fundamental constitutional and human rights. Bilingualism is not just a unique feature of Canadian society—it is its social imperative.

A Bilingual Nation Platform

The protection and promotion of bilingualism fosters the creation of a national platform which allows anglophones and francophones to dialogue equally. The publication of all official documents in both official languages, the creation of the federal Translation Bureau, the simultaneous translation of parliamentary debates and language requirements in the public service sector have been essential in creating a bilingual, democratic system.

Because of the protection and promotion of bilingualism since the Quebec Act in 1774, French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians can engage equally in constructive dialogue within a democratic framework.

Conclusion

In a 2007 CROP/Radio-Canada poll, 81 per cent of respondents stated that they believe Canada is truly a bilingual country, and 91 per cent believed that Canada’s Prime Minister ought to be bilingual.

Though a country with Canada’s linguistic and cultural pluralism is at a higher risk of internal division, Canada stands united by its long history of protection and advancement of bilingualism. Bilingualism is the recognition of Canada’s duality; more importantly, it is integral to bringing together two linguistic communities in equal democratic participation. Because of efforts made at the executive, legislative, judicial and popular levels, bilingualism is inseparable from Canada’s cultural identity.

Counterpoint: Bilingualism is a Discriminatory Policy.

Thesis: The official language policy of Canada discriminates against the multitude of languages spoken in Canada. As a multicultural country, Canada should officially promote true linguistic diversity through education.

Summary: Multiculturalism has been officially promoted in Canada since 1971. However, the country remains bilingual despite the multitude of languages and dialects spoken here. Forcing people to use either French or English in schools, at work, and when dealing with government institutions discriminates against other languages and threatens their continuity. Linguistic diversity needs to be officially recognized and promoted through multilingual education.

Multiculturalism in Canada

Canada is a multicultural country and has officially recognized the diversity of its ethnic population since 1971. Yet it continues to be officially bilingual in French and English, despite the multitude of languages that exist here. In fact, French and English have been the dominant languages since the Official Languages Act was adopted in 1969, and there have been extreme efforts to make Canada a bilingual country. For example, federal institutions and services such as courts, parliament, the military, and law enforcement are required to be conducted in both French and English. English is more widely used than French, but both official languages are taught at schools, and most provincial institutions, businesses and health services are encouraged to be bilingual.

The majority of other languages spoken in the country have suffered as a result of the privileged status of French and English. The languages of Canada’s original inhabitants are most at risk. There are over fifty Aboriginal languages in Canada, yet nearly all of them are in decline and only three–Cree, Ojibwa, and Inuktitut–are expected to survive beyond the twenty-first century. Being an immigrant country, Canada also hosts a number of foreign languages. Dutch, Hebrew, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Polish and Ukrainian are but a few of the languages spoken in Canadian homes. As of 2001, over 10 per cent of the population spoke a language other than English or French at home.

The loss of language is not specific to Canada, but a worldwide phenomenon. Heritage languages are particularly susceptible to extinction; of the 5000-7000 languages and dialects in the world in the early twenty-first century, only 100 are expected to persevere into the twenty-second century. Thus, it is essential that the status of all languages be protected through use and education. Already many languages have already been lost while Canadian language policies promoted English and French above all others.

Language and Identity

Language has been called the heart of a culture since cultural worldviews, histories and value systems are communicated through language. The Canadian government’s assimilation efforts towards Aboriginal peoples are an example of how closely related language and culture are. Beginning in the 1800s, the government and the church aimed to assimilate Aboriginal peoples through the establishment of reserves and residential schools. During this aggressive assimilation process, Aboriginal children were taken from their families and placed in residential schools run by Christian churches across the country. The children were forbidden to speak their traditional languages and were punished severely whenever they did. As a result, many Aboriginal languages are now extinct, and those that remain are at a great risk of being lost in a matter of decades.

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories recognize Aboriginal languages in their provincial policies. Nevertheless, Aboriginal languages are vulnerable because the majority cannot be used outside the home or local community. Most governmental services are not available in Aboriginal languages, including legal, medical, and social services. It is only recently that Aboriginal languages have been reintroduced to the schools on reserves. Yet 50 per cent of the Aboriginal population lives in urban settings and few public schools offer the opportunity for students to study their Aboriginal languages.

Language continuity is not only of concern to Canada’s Aboriginal population. There are a growing number of immigrants settling in across the country whose languages are also at risk. Canada’s official bilingualism policy does not reflect the demographics of the population and consequently, it does not meet the language needs of all its citizens.

Multilingualism as the Official Policy

Multilingualism may seem like a complicated and unworkable policy. However, countries such as India, New Zealand, and many African and European countries have successfully adopted multilingualism as an official language policy. Most of the world’s population is not monolingual. Rather, most people speak at least two languages. They usually speak their regional tongue, another local language, and use English for wider communication. However, when English or French is the dominant language in a country, most of the citizens tend to speak only one of these. Canada is no exception: most second or third generation Canadians speak only one language.

The benefits to multilingualism are numerous, particularly in a country that officially recognizes itself as multicultural. Namely, multilingualism helps to preserve languages, and therefore cultures. Multilingualism is also important for foreign relations and strengthens international trade relations. It also promotes tolerance and understanding in society, which is a priority in a country promoting and supporting so many different ethnicities.

Education is Key

As of 2008, children are taught only one language at school. Either French or English is studied as a second language, with an exception allowed for Aboriginal students to learn their own languages. By promoting multilingualism, children would be engaged with three languages: their mother tongue, English or French, and an Aboriginal or heritage language. This exposure to more languages can create and foster more opportunities in business, travel, and future education. It is also important in teaching children about other cultures, histories, and experiences, as Canada is made up of people from extremely diverse backgrounds.

Conclusion

Language diversity supports and promotes multiculturalism, and official multilingualism is a workable solution. Exclusive bilingualism in Canada is threatening the vitality of the numerous other languages present in the country. Therefore, multilingualism needs to be adopted as an official policy in order to preserve these threatened languages.