Foreword
Page 2 of 36
A central feature of the Official Languages Act requires federal institutions to contribute to the development and vitality of official language minority communities. Vitality, to which all the communities aspire, is a complex matter. It may also pose certain challenges when federal institutions design or implement public policies to strengthen it. Specifically, public officials are wondering which actions will produce the best results and how they can go about evaluating vitality.
There is a growing interest in this question of vitality, both in the communities themselves and among researchers, and it is certainly now a matter of great interest for the government. On November 24, 2005, Parliament adopted Bill S-3, which clarifies the obligations of federal institutions under Part VII of the Official Languages Act. Every federal institution must now take "positive measures" to fulfil the government's obligations with respect to the vitality of official language minority communities and with regard to promoting linguistic duality. The need to take action implies that federal institutions will be open to acquiring knowledge about vitality.
In September 2005, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages held a discussion forum on vitality, with participation from researchers, governments and the communities themselves. Support in this effort came from researchers Marc L. Johnson and Paule Doucet, who produced a discussion paper that presented the key issues and studies on the topic. Through dialogue and sharing of experiences, we were able to validate certain findings about vitality and identify a framework for measures that could have a lasting impact.
Johnson and Doucet continued their work and they have now completed a current state of research on vitality, which they are sharing with all involved in this collective effort. They have done an admirable job of synthesizing key studies, presenting the issues, and suggesting how we might cooperate even more closely in the task of evaluating vitality. This is a necessary step because there cannot be genuine vitality unless we can evaluate it and measure the impact of factors that have a positive effect on the official language communities in this regard.
The study by Johnson and Doucet goes over the various concepts used in work that has advanced our knowledge of official language communities and their vitality. It identifies the main contributions of researchers who have sought to describe community realities and to explain the conditions that affect vitality. Such researchers have a key role to play in developing new knowledge about vitality as well as measures that can be put into practice in the communities.
The study's conclusions are also relevant to the daily activities of community associations and federal institutions that work to make vitality a reality. Communities are increasingly organized and are developing plans or arguments that rely on research. They need to be able to take part in creating and interpreting the knowledge that they will use to strengthen community vitality. As for public institutions, they need reliable information about community needs and about the vitality-related outcomes toward which they are required to work.
The study points to the importance of proper diagnoses and proper planning of development activities, and the need to draw on knowledge in order to empower ourselves in achieving the objective of greater vitality. All involved need to equip themselves with tools for evaluating activities and initiatives that will strengthen community vitality. The study provides a very useful reference and starting point for those seeking such tools.
Vitality will not come into being by itself. Rather, all parties involved must take responsibility and work together more closely. The vitality of official language communities will be the cumulative result of ongoing cooperation between the communities, governments and researchers.
Dyane Adam
Commissioner of Official Languages
