Ottawa, June 20, 2006
"What’s the Future of Official Languages?"
Notes for an Address to the Club canadien de Toronto
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Ladies and gentlemen; dear colleagues and friends:
When we are with our friends we feel the most at home! So many of you here are part of my life history: people from Sudbury, from Ottawa, from Glendon, from Toronto and, of course, from other parts of the province and the country.
Seven years later, here we are again at the Club canadien. You invited me to speak to you when I had just begun my term as Commissioner of Official Languages. I have the feeling that I am closing something that I opened with you.
After seven years as Commissioner, monitoring the evolution of linguistic duality in Canada and, more importantly, seeking to influence that evolution, I must admit that this work raises more questions than answers. What I would like to share with you today is not so much a report on these years, but some thoughts on the future outlook for linguistic duality at the outset of the new millennium.
When I took office, the Commissioner of Official Languages was seen mainly as Canada's language watchdog or police. However, where official languages are concerned, the important thing is not to doggedly protect what we are, but rather to fully realize who we are. As Commissioner, I had to not only be a watchdog, but I also had to put a spark to the powder when that was called for.
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages had to bring about change.
As an agent of change, I made it my business to ensure that my position provided impetus for those persons who breathe life into linguistic duality. Why? Because linguistic duality is composed not only of principles and legislation, but also of institutions, communities and citizens. The idea behind my approach was to reach as much of Canadian society as possible, while energetically and rigorously pointing out shortcomings in federal government action. Primarily, my role has been to promote a vision of Canada, a way of living together. This vision is Canada's social contract between its two official language communities: it is based on respecting and valuing differences.
This approach has certainly had its advantages: the past seven years have seen some fine achievements that have carved out a larger place for official languages in this country.
Essentially, ensuring a future for official languages lies in giving them a bigger platform in all parts of Canada and in all sectors of Canadian society. And, undeniably, making more room for official languages means making more room for the French fact!
In 1998, Stacy Churchill rightly noted, "The overriding objective of federal policy was to create a situation of linguistic duality […] which implies equitable treatment of speakers of English and French in all aspects of life, whether in public institutions, private life, industrial and commercial activities or civil society […] Its success would depend not only on widespread public support but also on the cooperation of provincial and territorial governments."
After over 35 years of official bilingualism in Canada, how far have we come in our ongoing quest for linguistic duality in action? What major gains have been made in recent years? What new horizons have opened up for Canada’s French-speaking communities? What opportunities need be seized, and what thresholds need to be crossed, if we are to expand and consolidate linguistic duality in Canada?
Rest assured: I have no intention of attempting to answer all of these questions in the next 20 minutes. What I will do is touch on some progress made and some current issues.
Constitutional and legal dimensions
More than 35 years after the Official Languages Act was passed, the social pact for linguistic duality is solidly enshrined not just in that Act, but also in the Constitution itself. During my term of office, additional legislative changes—particularly in the areas of immigration, amateur sports, and broadcasting—have strengthened the federal system of support for the official languages. In addition, nearly half of the provinces and territories (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nunavut) have adopted new language legislation and policies on French-language services or have improved existing ones. Today, only two provinces—Alberta and British Columbia—have no language framework for their official language minorities.
Franco-Ontarians know better than anyone how important it is to have a clear legislative framework for government action. The Montfort Hospital case placed the issue of linguistic duality in health care front and centre, and resulted in constitutional recognition for the unwritten principle of protection of official language minorities. It is largely because of community mobilization and leadership, right here at home, that the federal government and a number of provincial governments now see health care though the lens of the official languages. As a result, all of Canada's French-speaking minority communities can now benefit from major nation-wide initiatives in health care training, networking, and planning.
Still, this important gain must have a more solid basis than a federal action plan for official languages that is subject to one-time funding and to the whims of the government in power. We must ensure that the official language minorities' right to access health care and institutions in their language is unequivocally recognized. At the federal level, there are several ways in which access to this care and these institutions could be facilitated, including in particular the Official Languages Act, the Canada Health Act, and federal-provincial-territorial agreements. That said, action at the provincial level is called for as well. In this regard, Ontario recently included in its Local Health System Integration Act, 2006 a duty to consult the French-speaking communities in planning services.
Where the federal Official Languages Act is concerned, the recent amendment to this Act constitutes the high point of this seven-year period. At the beginning of my term of office, we disagreed with the government about its obligations under Part VII. The government argued that Part VII of the Act was solely declaratory and that the obligation to support official language minority communities' development and to promote linguistic duality was no more than a statement of principle, the implementation of which could be left to the goodwill of federal institutions. We argued the opposite view.
The bill, which was tabled four times by the Honourable Jean-Robert Gauthier, who was a senator at the time, and eventually adopted in the fall of 2005, strengthened and clarified Part VII of the Act. The obligation to support official language minority communities' development and to promote linguistic duality is not just a statement of principle, but a firm commitment for which the government is accountable to Canadians.
Now, as part of its mandate, every federal institution must take "positive measures" to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities and promote linguistic duality. Now, government foot-dragging in this regard can result in legal proceedings. In particular, federal institutions must demonstrate that their policies and programs take into account the interests and needs of the official language minority communities, so that these communities enjoy the same benefits as those available to the majority communities.
In addition, federal institutions must actively promote linguistic duality in Canadian society. To this end, they need to work with other governments and engage the majority communities as well as the various sectors of civil society. I will come back to this point later.
In short, federal institutions must develop what I call the "Part VII reflex" in order to move toward substantive equality of English and French.
Political and community dimensions
The amended Part VII of the Official Languages Act also opens up a new model for official languages governance with minority communities. These communities must learn to make use of this model if they are to maximize its effectiveness as a new tool for their development.
It goes without saying that making more room for the Canadian Francophonie means making room for both province-wide and nation-wide cooperation among its various segments. The past few years have been productive in this regard. In terms of politics, let me highlight the conference of ministers of La Francophonie, which has brought together representatives of all the provinces and territories, including Quebec, since 2003. This conference aims to stimulate leadership and intergovernmental cooperation in enhancing the vitality of Canada's Acadian and Francophone minorities, and to facilitate initiatives such as the Ontario-Quebec multi-sector framework agreement on Francophone affairs. Although some provinces have similar groups at the municipal level, very few such groups are active at the national level.
Where community action is concerned, let me start with Ontario and its new Assemblée de la francophonie ontarienne. A number of regional initiatives have provided for cultural mediation, such as the new regional dramatic arts networks in Ontario, Atlantic Canada, the Western provinces, and the North. In addition, the creation of the Alliance des réseaux de diffusion des arts de la scène brings together performing arts broadcasting networks in Ontario and Quebec around common concerns. We can feel the energy of these new groupings all around us, whether they cater to specific client groups such as young people, seniors, women and business people or focus on a particular sector of community life such as immigration, economic development, health care, justice and education. Canada’s Francophone population—both in official language minority communities and Quebec——are definitely expanding their spheres of influence and participation, as well as progressively moving into new areas where they can live their lives in French.
French writer André Gide said, “culture is not inherited; it is won.” Day after day, your commitment and action are gaining ground for you, and that commitment and action must leave no ground fallow.
I have a challenge for you, particularly for the business people in Canada's largest city, the challenge of firmly anchoring official languages and cultural diversity into our knowledge-based economy and the prosperity that goes with it! That is how we can ensure that the official languages have a future. In a global economy based on social and human capital, the ability to establish genuine communication with partners and clients from different cultural backgrounds is a great asset. We know that online shoppers are three times more likely to buy from suppliers that communicate with them in their language,1 but many Canadian businesses are failing to use Canada's linguistic duality and cultural diversity to their advantage.
Interaction and communications dimensions: Enabling the two official languages communities to meet and connect
Making room for the Francophone reality in Canada means creating new dynamics between our two official language groups.
Many people consider linguistic duality and cultural diversity to be issues that are limited to minority communities. But should we not get the majority communities involved, invite them to play an active role, and point out the benefits of Canada's official language policy for them? Canada seems to be having some difficulty articulating a comprehensive vision of its linguistic identity and future. Although this difficulty can certainly be attributed to many factors, the following two appear to be key.
1. Canadian society is atypical in comparison with its main partners, which still define themselves as nation-states that are unilingual and relatively homogeneous culturally. Those countries still tend to see linguistic duality and cultural diversity as oddities or exceptions.
2. Canada appears to view the benefits of linguistic duality and cultural diversity as unexpected windfalls, whereas, according to all indicators, they constitute two fundamental aspects of the human and social capital of Canadian society.
But the model of the unilingual, homogeneous nation-state is becoming more and more outdated. In fact, the trend now is toward differentiation and cohabitation, phenomena that require each country and each government to manage an increasingly complex society characterized by multiple allegiances and values that are often contradictory.
Internationally, Canada is perceived as a beacon of linguistic duality and cultural diversity. An ever-growing number of nations and supra-nations such as the European Union, grappling with internal tensions and conflicts, are turning to Canada's experience with linguistic and cultural diversity governance. However, linguistic duality and cultural diversity are only the tip of the iceberg, and no matter how attractive and inspiring they may be to outside observers, they remain largely misunderstood and overlooked by most Canadians. Nor have successive Canadian governments been much inclined to actively promote these concepts among majority communities.
Despite lacklustre government promotion of linguistic duality and cultural diversity, support for bilingualism in Canada's English-speaking majority jumped from 32% in 1991 to 44% in 2003, and to 65% in 2006. Regardless of language group, 77% of all Canadians think that bilingualism is important for Canada. In addition, most Canadians believe that bilingualism contributes to individual success and is part of what it means to be Canadian. Individual bilingualism among young Anglophones is increasing slowly but steadily.
At our 2003 Symposium on official languages organised here in Toronto, participants emphasized the need to foster cooperation to build bridges and support exchanges between the education sector and the business world, the arts and culture community, and the sporting community. People told us, "Make it real." French must be relevant in society and in day-to-day life, not just in the classroom.
In many ways, Canadians are much more daring than politicians. Now, given the clear obligation to take positive measures to promote linguistic duality in Canadian society, the federal government can no longer evade its responsibilities and must, as is recommended in my most recent annual report, develop a concrete, co-ordinated strategy for more vigorous promotion of linguistic duality, both in Canada and abroad.
I would like to conclude my remarks by sharing a few personal thoughts with you. One does not emerge from an adventure like this one without being personally enriched or without learning a few lessons. There is no doubt that, now more than ever before, I have official languages tattooed on my forehead and on my heart. Over the past seven years, I have worked with four different governments, three prime ministers, three clerks, many parliamentary committees, and a broad range of stakeholders. To me, in terms of political affairs learning, this experience is probably worth a bachelor's if not a master's degree in political science or public administration.
Seven years of being a watchdog and nipping at the heels of those responsible for making more room for linguistic duality have taught me that change comes from results, not from plans or words or means, however necessary those things may be! Getting results for Canadians and for official language minority communities must be the impetus for any government action.
That said, when we talk about promoting linguistic duality and moving towards substantive equality between Canada's official language minority communities, we are talking about societal change. Since societal change takes time, we need to show patience, perseverance, and determination. Most importantly, however, we need vision and planning. A society, like a house, is built one brick at a time. We must never lose sight of the end result of this construction project, and we must undertake the various stages of construction with conviction and determination.
We will need to call upon every key player and stakeholder and to ensure that they are committed to the project and that they will grow and become stronger as a result. In short, the project is ongoing. A society, like a human being, is continually changing. As a result, linguistic duality must always adapt and take its place among the distinctive characteristics of the Canadian identity.
There will be times when linguistic duality will be simmering quietly on the back burner; there will be other times when it will come to a full rolling boil. The important thing is that linguistic duality is not only represented in the political and constitutional landscape of our country, but also be ever more deeply rooted in Canada's community and social landscape.
I want to leave you with a picture: imagine Canada as a fresco. Of course there would be infinite shadings of the blue and green of our oceans, lakes and forests, but everywhere there would also be red: the colour of passion and the blood in our veins, from the deep garnet of fall maples to the soft pink of human skin. This range of reds, of course, represents the linguistic duality that pulses at the heart of Canada's collective identity and its national future.
Unlike the great frescos people admire in European cathedrals, however, Canada's linguistic landscape is still a work in progress, because the artists of this collective creation, all of us, are still at work.
Thank you for your attention and for your support over the past years!
1 Schwartz, Howard, "Going Global", Webtechniques, September 2002, http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2000/09/schwartz/.
