Moncton, March 22, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The courts and language rights: A dynamic vision
At a symposium marking the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Law at the Université de Moncton, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, made public a new report that analyzes key court decisions relating to language rights in Canada in 2001 and 2002.
The report examines a range of decisions in areas such as the justice system, education, health, the federal public service, economic development and communications.
"The number and range of issues raised in this report confirm the courts' growing role in clarifying and advancing language rights in Canada. These rulings breathe life into the legislative and constitutional texts that protect the rights of the minority official language communities," the Commissioner stated.
A number of the decisions examined in the report reveal the importance of governments remaining alert to the needs of minority official language communities and taking positive measures to implement language rights.
As an example, the Commissioner pointed to a court judgment in New Brunswick invalidating the unilingual operation of the city of Moncton (Charlebois decision). The Government of New Brunswick accepted the ruling and also undertook to review the province's Official Languages Act in its entirety. The concrete changes that followed went far beyond what the New Brunswick Court of Appeal had ordered. The Government of New Brunswick's decision to affirm its leadership and take proactive measures had a major positive impact on the language rights of the citizens of the province.
"In my role as an agent of change, I feel it is important to inform the public of its language rights. At the same time, I also want to encourage governments to demonstrate enlightened leadership in the implementation of Canadians' language rights. It is in this way that we will make progress toward the constitutional objective of the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society," Dr. Adam concluded.
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