Ottawa, April 29, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Official languages on the web sites of embassies and international organizations: Reflecting Canadian identity on the international stage
The Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, released a new study this morning that analyzes the presence of our two official languages on a sampling of the Web sites of Canadian embassies, foreign embassies in Canada and international organizations. This study follows up on a preliminary analysis in a study released by the Commissioner in March 2002 and entitled, "French on the Internet: Key to the Canadian Identity and the Knowledge Economy."
Canadian embassies are obliged to offer services in both official languages and this study shows that the use of English and French on their Web sites is generally well respected. In order to promote linguistic diversity, Dr. Adam encourages all Canadian embassies to also use the language of the host country on their Web sites, a practice that many of them have already adopted.
Our analysis shows that English is very much the predominant language on the Web sites of 40 foreign embassies in Canada that were studied. In fact, French is completely absent from more than half of the sites that were visited. Only two out of the 40 embassies serve English- and French-speaking Canadians equitably on their Web sites. While foreign embassies in Canada are not subject to the Official Languages Act, the Commissioner asks the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to actively pursue efforts to encourage foreign embassies to give adequate representation to both English and French on their Web sites. "The results of this analysis show that many foreign embassies seem to perceive Canada as a country that is unilingual English.The Department must take steps to correct this perception," stated the Commissioner.
Canada is a member of many international organizations that have English and French as working or official languages. However, only four of the 28 Web sites of major international organizations in which Canada participates use English and French in equal proportions. In the Commissioner's view, the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that the international organizations to which Canada belongs respect the official or working languages that they have adopted. Dr. Adam recommends that the federal government take the appropriate steps to make Canada a world leader among the nations of the Francophonie in promoting the use of French within international organizations, particularly with respect to their Web sites.
One of the stated aims of Canada's foreign policy is to promote Canadian values and culture. The promotion of our two official languages should thus be an important consideration of this policy, including when it comes to communications on the Internet. "This is a question of respecting our identity as a country, but also, on a wider scale, of promoting linguistic and cultural diversity on the international stage," concluded Dr. Adam.
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