Bilingualism in Canada: Good or Bad?

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. Bilingualism has many different interpretations and definitions and can cause problems in the community or unite it. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers, Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez share in their essays their personal stories about being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They share their views of what bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept. The two essayists bring awareness to the major role bilingualism plays in the communities today and highlight the effects of disagreements between cultural groups.

“Section 27 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires that the Charter “be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians.” The Official Languages Act has significantly made an effective contribution on Canada’s immigration success. It has allowed Pierre Elliott Trudeau to further expand his ideas on allowing individuals of all ethnicities and races to live their lives freely. English and French languages can be used in all government institutions of Canada, communicating freely within the public area and in the home. Both the English and French languages can be used in debates, courts, schools and any public institution. The importance of the Official Languages Act is to guarantee equality rights such as privileges and status between the French and English Canadians. Nevertheless, Pierre Elliot Trudeau was productive in ensuring the equal opportunities and rights of citizens. In modern day society, Pierre Trudeau’s accomplishments in enacting human rights has significantly improved. Overtime, it has diversified the cultures in schools and other public institutions. More individuals are becoming acceptant of race, ethnicity, homosexuality and religious beliefs. Due to the result of the diversity of cultures in schools, it has brought humans closer to one another and accepting of ones’

Canada was set up to be a bi-lingual country for both English and French to be equally represented in the government. However, the number of French speakers began to disappear in the country. “In Quebec, 7.7% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 78.1% reported French only, and 12.3% reported only a non-official language, in 2011. In comparison, the national percentages were 56.9% for English only, 21.3% for French only and 19.8% for non-official languages only” (Canada). While the providence is not officially bilingual, it is apparent that francophones are dominant in Quebec and Anglophones are more common in the rest of Canada. Before traveling, one should be sure to make note of the prominent language within that city to be

Trudeau fought for Canada to be a country of many languages and cultures, he did this by introducing The Official Languages Act. In 1969 Trudeau established The Official Languages Act, this made English and French the official languages of Canada. It required all federal institutions to provide services in English and French. The Act was passed on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism on 7 September 1969. The act was to ensure respect and equality of all rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions. The act supported the development of English and French linguistic minority communities and advanced the equality of English and French languages within Canada’s society. Trudeau truly lead Canada to success and wanted the nation to become more diverse. Trudeau noted, “Bilingualism means you can speak to the other; duality means you live in one language and the rest of Canada will live in another language.” Trudeau strongly pushed for Canada to be Bilingual and thought it would make Canada stronger as a country. Trudeau felt that Quebec had to be less isolated and that it would allow French Canadians to maintain their culture while playing part in a key role in Canada. It was because of Pierre Elliott Trudeau that Canada kept peace amongst everyone and continued to be a united country. Trudeau made Canada better by bringing

Being an English speaker myself it is very encouraging and helpful that I am perfectly bilingual, being bilingual has helped me in the work force, in my studies and in my social life. These are some factors that have English speaking Quebecers speak more French and really made an impact among English and French speakers of Quebec. In Bernard Landry’s video he talks about speaking to his cousins that live in British Columbia and displays how they have lost their French Background it is in the Parti Quebecoise best interest to prevent this from happening. As we have seen, la survivance was the notion that fuelled traditional Quebec nationalism. The Quiet Revolution gave rise to a new type of nationalism in Quebec which had a different vision of the state and its ability, through its institutions, to help the French survive (L7, S49). The French-English divide was further aggravated when the Quebec government decided to use its institutions to implement legislation to ensure the survival of the French language in Quebec. This caused a great deal of controversy in English .In an attempt to counter such nationalist language tactics and appease the French, the federal government also used its institutions to enact legislation related to language. There is no doubt that the

The historical context of the Quebec Separatist movement includes The Quiet Revolution. The Quiet Revolution was a long built up of many groups that mostly contained with Francophones, French-speaking citizens, who wants independence from Canada. First, Canada made a bill stating that it will create a better future for Canada. “The Official Language Bill is a reflection of the nature of this country as a whole and of a conscious choice we are making about our future.” Canada wants to be a whole and having one language will make them feel like a whole. After this bill, Canada’s government did believed that there should be two official language, yet the citizens of Canada was still deciding if they wanted that to become a law. “We believe in two official languages and in a pluralist society not merely as a political necessity but as an enrichment.” This started to upset Francophones because the government was still deciding if they wanted French to be the second

During the 15 years as prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau treated Quebec equally which helped Quebec stay united with Canada. Pierre Elliott Trudeau stated that "I am trying to put Quebec in its place — and the place of Quebec is in Canada."(Pierre Elliot Trudeau, "Quotes by Prime Minsters- Pierre Trudeau”). Quebec place is in Canada because Quebec had a major impact for Canada confederation. This is why Pierre Trudeau said this to the country. Pierre Trudeau passed a bill that was called Official Languages Act in 1969, that made English and French the official languages of Canada.The act declared that “the English and the French languages are the official languages of Canada, for all purposes of the Parliament and Government of Canada and possess and enjoy equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada.” (Cruxton, Bradley and Douglas Wilson, “The Official Language Act 1969”) Until that time, only 14 percent of the high rank government jobs were held by French Canadian, even though they made 25 percent of Canada population. Pierre Trudeau believed that the Official Languages Act was the only way to keep the French heritage in Canada and to treat the Quebec people equally like English Canadians. Trudeau’s ability to keep French and English Canadians

One of the major problems associated with a bilingual country, inevitably, is national unity. In Canada, national unity usually refers to the relations between both the French and English Canadians. English-French relations have always been unstable, ever since the English conquest on the French in the late 1800s. In the twentieth century, this link was further depreciated primarily because of conscriptions during the First and Second World War along with the Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis. Conscription during the First and Second World War was one of the initial major causes that began the deterioration of French-English relations largely because the French had no desire to go to war. The Quiet Revolution was an effort to

Many ethnic groups live and work in peace as proud Canadians. In Canadian home non-official languages are widely spoken. In two of Canada’s biggest cities, Chinese languages are the second most spoken language at home. Canadian has a wide range of religion, the majority of Canadians identify as Christians. The largest religious affiliation is Catholic, followed by various Protestant churches. Other religions are slowly growing.

Canada’s identity is tremendously challenging to delineate, due to encompassing a vast population of various cultures, traditions, and values spanning an enormous landmass. From various historical perspectives, Canadian identity has changed over the course of the last century - valuing discrete ideologies through various time periods. Due to various government policies and acts, as well as reformed beliefs and ideas regarding large social issues, Canada’s identity has shifted and constantly renewed its identity over the course of the past half century.

With Quebec on the rise of disuniting, Trudeau believed that Canada would not be Canada without Quebec and the french Canadian heritage. With the 1980 Quebec Referendum, Prime Minister Trudeau verbalized with the citizens of Quebec about his French and Scottish origins, a bilingual, bicultural personality [1]. Trudeau pointed out that he was born in Quebec and strongly knew that Quebec was just as part of Canada and that they were all connected: "I am a Quebecker. I am a French Canadian with all my heart. However, I am also deeply and irrevocably a Canadian. I am convinced that one does not prevent the other” [2]. Trudeau touched the hearts of many Quebec citizens that once supported Quebec’s independence. “The concept of sovereignty-association was rejected by about 60 percent of voters, although it is estimated about 50 percent of francophones voters supported it …ultimately reversed the initial trend of 47 percent in favor of the “Yes” side to a clear minority of 40 percent” [3]. Trudeau would later defeat the 1980 Quebec referendum and as a result, made Canada the uniquely bilingual and accepting of all nationalities and languages. Prime

This research paper will be looking into and discussing, whether or not the French language in Quebec is still under threat. This project will discuss the existence of a threat to French language, and its culture. Also look into possible reasons why people may believe that there is a threat or not.

Finally in 1867, the United Canadas joined two other British Colonies, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Dominion of Canada (McRoberts 1991, 413). French-Canadians continued to fight against assimilation and received autonomous privileges with exclusive jurisdiction over matters regarding its cultural distinctiveness***. Thus, the Francophone language and culture has always been at the forefront of Quebec priorities. Since Confederation, Quebec nationalist have felt that the Francophone language and culture has been at risk of assimilation by the rest of Canada. As a result, Quebec nationalism is fundamentally rooted in the preservation of the Francophone language and culture (Guiberneau 2006, 52). Political leaders in Quebec continuously urge for the recognition that Canada is composed of two nations or cultures (McRoberts 1991, 413). Prior to confederation Quebec enjoyed numerous autonomous privileges. Unfortunately, post-confederation Quebec did not enjoy as many autonomous privileges because Canada was created as a relatively centralized federation (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). A centralized federation not only took several of these autonomous powers away from Quebec, but it also threatened the Francophone language and culture (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). With this said, Quebec nationalism has placed a great deal of pressure on the federal government to decentralize, giving more powers to provincial governments.

Language is an important part of our lives. I remember when I arrived to USA I could speak a little English. I went to school to improve my language, reading and writing skills; even now I am learning my second language, without English I cannot survive in this new environment. Now I am raising my own kids and I want them to have this important skill, this privilege of knowing a second language, language of their parents and grandparents. By looking at studies of bilingual children, research shows how important it is for a child to learn a second language. Raising a bilingual child is a benefit because it improves social skills, academic proficiency, introduces child to a different culture, and prepares for the future.

While the rest of Canada employs the concept of multiculturalism, Quebec emphasizes on another theory: interculturalism, or the notion of support in cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. In the province, the word multiculturalism announces pejorative meanings. This was due, in part, to the fact that “a federal commission which was charged several years ago with the task of developing policies for Canada, based on its bicultural and bilingual character emerged with a recommendation that Canada think of itself as a multicultural and bilingual country.3”. Francophones, on the other hand, felt that this concept placed them at the same level as minority ethnic groups, thus erasing their thoughts of being seen as one of the country's founding nations.