CHAPTER SIXTABLE OF CONTENTS

THE FUTURE OF CANADA'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE MINORITIES

TREND LINES ...................................................1 MINORITY LANGUAGE EDUCATION ...................................4 IMMIGRATION ...................................................8 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT ........................................9 SECOND LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS ............................13FERTILITY RATES ...............................................14INTERPROVINCIAL MIGRATION .....................................15FRENCH AS A LANGUAGE OF WORK ..................................16LANGUAGE PLANNING .............................................17EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ......................................22CULTURE .......................................................24GOVERNMENT SERVICES ...........................................24ECONOMIC STRUCTURES ...........................................25THE WORK OF THE COURTS ........................................26CONCLUSION ....................................................31ENDNOTES ......................................................34

CHAPTER SIX

THE FUTURE OF CANADA'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE MINORITIES

TREND LINES

Canada's French speaking communities outside of Quebec are

shrinking. The trend line is more than one hundred years old.

The process of decline is speeding up. Outside of Quebec French

speakers are decreasing as a percentage of total population, and

also decreasing in real numbers.

Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia have

passed the point of no return. In each of these provinces less

than 1% of the population report French as their home language.i

In 1991 the tiny francophone community in Newfoundland represented

a mere 0.2% of the provincial population. In British Columbia,

only 0.4% of the population reported French as their home

language. Franc-Saskois comprised 0.7% of Saskatchewan's

population. Franco-Albertans represented 0.8% of the Alberta's

population. Practically speaking, the francophone populations in

these provinces are gone.

Saskatchewan and Alberta provide portentous examples of how

rapidly the French speaking communities outside of Quebec are

disappearing. Whereas ten thousand Saskatchewan residents used

French in the home in 1981, only seven thousand did so in 1991 - a

disappearance of 30% of the Franco-Saskois community in ten short

years. Franco Albertans declined 31% in the same ten year period.

If current trends continue, the rapidly shrinking French

communities in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Manitoba will

also become extinct in short order.ii

Anglophones in Quebec have had relatively stable numbers

until recently, making up approximately 13% of the total

provincial population from 1951 to 1971. An important trend is

the decline of anglo-celts as the mainstay of the English speaking

community. Eighteen percent of English speaking Quebecois came

from anglo-celtic backgrounds in 1901; only 11% were of this stock

in 1981. At the same time, the ethnic component assimilating into

anglophone ranks climbed steadily, and in about equal proportions

to the decline of anglo-celts. Incorporation of ethnics

replenished the ranks of the English speaking community and kept

its numbers stable.iii

Bill 101iv targeted this process of immigrant anglicization.

Bill 101 sent clear and sharp direction to Quebec immigrants to

assimilate into the francophone community by prohibiting their

children from attending English school and by francizing the

language of work. The result is that Quebec anglophones are in

the process of rapid and ineluctable decline.

Many more anglophones leave Quebec than come in.v The

English speaking population of Quebec shrank thirty per cent

between 1971 and 1991, from 13.1% to 9.2% of total Quebec

population. The community is already close to, and may soon

plunge below, the point at which it will no longer have the

iii. Caldwell, "Anglo-Quebec: Demographic Realities and Options for the Future", in Bourhis, Conflict and Language Planning in Quebec (Avon, England: Multilingual Matters, 1984), at 206-8.

iv. Charter of the French Language, R.S.Q. c. c-11.

numbers to maintain its institutional infrastructure, even if

provincial funding continues at present levels. The near future

may bring profound changes to the linguistic character of

traditionally anglophone hospitals, universities, schools,

libraries and media. If that should happen, anglophones in Quebec

will become like their francophone counterparts in English Canada

- "a family whose home has been destroyed by fire...without

shelter...with eyes fixed on odd belongings scattered here and

there" - a people with an empty soul.vi

Demo-linguistic forces are relentlessly separating Canada

into two linguistic enclaves. Quebec is increasingly French

speaking with the English community in Quebec in a long term

process of decline. The other provinces (excepting New Brunswick)

are increasingly English speaking with the French community

outside of Quebec in a long term process of decline, on the road

to extinction.vii

The decline of English in Quebec is attributable to

migration, not assimilation. Many more anglophones leave Quebec

for other regions than enter the province from other regions.

Between 1976 -1981, 106,000 more anglophones left Quebec for other

parts of Canada then came to Quebec from other provinces. Between

v. Census data based on 20% of the Canadian population indicate that 53,390 Anglophones within Quebec (by mother tongue) left Quebec between 1986 - 1991 while only 31,465 entered into the province.

vii. In 1991, 85.3% with a French mother tongue resided within Quebec and 95.4% of persons with an English mother tongue resided outside of Quebec: Home Language and Mother Tongue, Catalogue no. 93-317 (Ottawa, 1993).

1981 and 1986, 41,000 more anglophones left Quebec for other parts

of Canada then came to Quebec from other provinces.viii

The rate of assimilation may be measured by examining

language transfers using the language continuity index.ix The

French language within Quebec has a continuity index of 1.00 which

i. Statistics Canada, Home Language and Mother Tongue (1992). In the 1991 census, 97% of respondents reported a single mother tongue while 3% reported more than one. Unless otherwise indicated, multiple responses have been divided equally between the languages reported.

Home language refers to "the language spoken most often at home by the individual at the time of the census" (Statistics Canada, Home Language and Mother Tongue, Catalogue no. 93-317 (Ottawa, 1993) 299.

Mother tongue is defined as the "first language learned at home is childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census" (Statistics Canada, Mother Tongue, Catalogue no. 93-313 (Ottawa, 1992), 239. The mother tongue question was asked of all respondents.

It should be noted that use of mother tongue data has been criticized for illustrating trends that are "a generation behind the facts" (Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Report, Book 1 (Ottawa 1967), 18. However, the data on home language are also flawed because only a sample of the population (20%) is asked the question and "the language spoken at home is often determined by the unilingualism of one of the member of the household" (Richard J. Joy, Canada's Official Languages (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1992), 18 translating D'Iberville Fortier, in Minutes of the Joint Committee on Official Languages, 28 November 1989, 5:34.

ii. In the ten years preceding 1991 Prince Edward Island declined by 22.6%, Nova Scotia declined by 13.8% and Manitoba declined by 25.8%. When home language is considered, francophones outside of Quebec are shrinking in real terms in addition to shrinking as a proportion of total provincial population. Fewer Canadians use French at home in 1991 (635,000) than in 1981 (664,000). Only New Brunswick and Quebec reported increases in the number of persons

indicates that French is merely holding its own; it does not

attract anglophones. The continuity index of the English language

is greater that 1.00 (1.19) even though it is in a minority

positionx. This indicates that the English language attracts

francophones, even within Quebec. New immigrants to Quebec tend

to adopt English as their home language, notwithstanding Quebec

government efforts. In Quebec in 1991, 63% of language shifts by

those having a mother tongue other than English or French were

toward English and only 37% toward Frenchxi.

The decline of French outside of Quebec results largely from

assimilation, not migration. The impact of language transfers in

provinces outside of Quebec has been greatest in the three western

provinces. The Francophone population in Saskatchewan, Alberta

and British Columbia has declined by over fifty percent as a

result of language transfers. Such transfers have also resulted

in substantial declines in the Francophone populations in

Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontarioxii.

using french as a home language; however, their percentage of the total provincial population remained virtually unchanged since 1981.

vi. The Heirs of Lord Durham: Manifesto of a Vanishing People (F.F.H.Q., 1978), 19 - 20.

viii. Language in Canada, Canadian Social Trends, No. 12, Spring 1989.

ix. The language continuity index "represents the relationship between the number of persons speaking language "x" at home and the number of persons for whom language "x" is the mother tongue (Statistics Canada, Canada: A Linguistic Profile, Catalogue no. 98-131 (Ottawa, 1986), 25).

The future of Canada's official language minorities may be

discerned better by examining those factors which, theoretically,

impact upon future trends.

MINORITY LANGUAGE EDUCATIONxiii

As discussed in Chapter 4, education is central to the

socialization of individuals. Education shapes the individual's

values, morality, reasoning processes and perceptions of the

world. Like language, education colours the person's mode of

being in the world. For that reason, minority language education

under the control of the minority language community is critical

in reproducing the language and culture of minority language

communities by forming the mindset of its children. Cultural

continuity is an important key to community survival.

"Minority language education is designed to offer the

minority group (Anglophones in Quebec, Francophones outside

Quebec) education in their mother tongue".xiv Minority language

education programs intend to counteract the demise of Canada's

minority language communities. In order to succeed the programs

would have to contribute at least to the ability of minority

language communities to maintain their size either in real numbers

or as a percentage of total population.

In Quebec minority language (English) education is in a

process of long term decline because Anglophones have been leaving

Quebec for other provinces. Enrolment in English schools in

Quebec has decreased steadily, going from 249,000 in 1970-71 to

100,000 in 1991-92 (a decrease of 60%)xv. The process of declining

enrolment is accompanied by shrinking access to English language

education and diminished quality of education.xvi In 1986 just

under 87,000 Anglophone children were enrolled in English language

schools in the Quebec. In addition, 8,000 Francophone and 26,000

Allophone students attended English schools.xvii

The situation of minority language education for French

language communities outside of Quebec is also affected by

declining enrollments.xviii Between 1970-71 to 1991-92 enrolment in

minority language education programs outside of Quebec dropped

from 196,000 to 159,500 (a decrease of 19%)xix. Among the

provinces with Anglophone majorities, only Ontario educates more

students in minority language programs than belong to the minority

language group. Alone among the provinces, Ontario's minority

language education appears to be reviving a small portion of the

assimilated Francophone population.xx

The legal entitlement to minority language schools will

likely mean that even small schools will remain open and offer

minority language education to those who demand it. Section 23 of

the Charter will have a palliative effect in provinces where the

Francophone minorities see their very survival in doubt. It will

give these communities the sense of greater control over their

development. But it will not protect these communities from the

demographic forces producing their assimilation into the English

linguistic community. The availability of minority language

instruction does not blunt the impact of other demographic forces

such as immigration policy, fertility rates inter-provincial

migration and economic opportunity. In most cases, French

communities are not being revitalized by minority language

education.

In certain cases, however, minority language education does

play a role in minority language survival. In Northern Ontario

and New Brunswick, the impact of existing demographic forces is

such that the minority language communities are able to maintain

their numbers. Minority language education increases survivability

of these communities because it encourages transmission of the

minority language to the next generation. Minority language

education is also important in cultural identification and in

community bonding. This is likely to impact on the rate at which

persons marry outside of the community, which is an important

factor in assimilation.

Minority language programs showed small enrolment increases

between 1986 to 1991. Data for 1991-92 and 1992-93 show that all

provinces except Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and

Saskatchewan continue to increase enrolment. Francophone enrolment

is estimated to have increased by 1,705 students between these two

years. These small increases in enrolment are not likely to be

terribly significant to survivability outside of the bilingual

belt, so long as the Francophone communities continue be assaulted

by other, stronger assimilative forces.

Newfoundland may be illustrative of what is to come. The

Francophone community in Newfoundland accounts for only 0.5 per

cent of the provincial population.xxi Minority language students

account for a mere 0.2 per cent of the total school enrolment, or

261 students.xxii The community is too small to have its own

minority language schools or other French institutions. It has

virtually no economic opportunity in the French language. It is

unable to replenish its numbers through immigration.

Consequently, although section 23 is designed to alter the

political status quo, it is an insufficient engine to change

Canada's linguistic demography or to seriously affect demographic

trends. Section 23 is a palliative measure in the sense that it

makes minorities feel better by exercising greater political

power, but it leaves intact the forces which are killing them.

Notwithstanding proclamation of s. 23, the official language

minorities will continue to be assimilated into the dominant

language and culture.

This is not to say that proclamation of section 23 should be

considered futile. The provision of minority language educational

rights operates on a principle deducible from the Canadian

experience: generous treatment of linguistic minorities

alleviates tensions between the linguistic communities. In turn,

linguistic harmony promotes national stability and makes the

Canadian federation a more viable enterprise.

IMMIGRATION

Most immigrants to Canada adopt the English language. In

1986, French was the home language of only 5% of foreign born

Canadians, compared with 27% among native born Canadians.xxiii

Within Quebec, only 29% of foreign-born persons reported

French as their home language, compared with 88% among those born

in Canada.xxiv

The proportion of immigrants to Quebec which adopt the French

language varies from group to group. More than 50% of certain

immigrant groups to Quebec adopt French. This trend is found

among those immigrant populations whose substantial growth, fed by

recent immigration, began in the last 15 or 20 yearsxxv.

Specifically, French language shifts were over 50% among those

groups whose mother tongue was one of the Creole languages (97%),

Vietnamese (88%), Spanish (72%), Arabic (70%) and Portuguese

(57%).

In general, the English language within Quebec exerts an

attractive force despite the government's efforts with Bill 101,

although the attractive power of English varies among immigrant

communities. Immigration policy may thus be an effective tool to

manipulate the linguistic composition of Quebec. Greater control

over immigration policy is one of Quebec's historic constitutional

demands. Quebec achieved greater control over immigration in the

Cullen-Couture federal provincial agreement of 1977, and would

have achieved yet greater control over immigration had the Meech

Lake or Charlottetown Constitutional Accords been proclaimed in

force. The power Quebec exercises under the Cullen-Couture

agreement is not used to stem the decline of the anglophone

linguistic minority. It is reasonable to expect that if Quebec's

historic demand for greater constitutional devolution over

immigration policy ever takes place, it is unlikely to reverse

long standing demo-linguistic trends towards eclipse of the

English language community within Quebec.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT

In 1969 the Official Languages Actxxvi sought to make the

Federal Government open and accessible to francophones by

instituting a comprehensive program of language equality. This

program included provision for bilingual services to the public,

the use of English and French as languages of work in the public

service and the equitable participation of anglophones and

francophones in public service employment. At the same time,

Ottawa provided new support to official language minorities in the

provinces - support for their political lobbies, cultural

activities, educational structures - even support for court

actions brought by them to enforce constitutionally guaranteed

language rights. The purpose of Ottawa's efforts was "to resist

the blandishments of a Canada split along language lines ... to

construct a society in which the minorities can expect to live

much of their lives in their own language"xxvii.

In 1992, 72% of federal employees were Anglophones and 27%

were Francophones.xxviii When the occupational categories are

divided among "officer" (ie. management) and "support" the numbers

vary slightly. Francophones account for 26.5% of officers and

30.1% of support.xxix The trends change little when language

requirements for public service positions are examined. In 1992

30% of positions were classified as bilingual, virtually identical

to the 1988 level.xxx The majority of positions are English

essential (59%); very few are French essential (5%).

The linguistic composition of the public service of Canada is

now roughly reflective of the linguistic composition of the

general Canadian population. This represents a dramatic recasting

of the linguistic configuration of the public service of Canada

since institution of the official languages policy in 1969. This

must be accounted as a significant achievement.

It is of interest to note parenthetically that the province

of Quebec (excluding the National Capital Region) has the largest

under-representation of the official language minority within the

federal public sector (13.2% of the population is Anglophone but

only 5.4% of public sector employees in Quebec are Anglophone)xxxi.

This is a long-standing phenomenon.

The cost of official language programs in federal agencies

for 1992-93 was 655 million dollarsxxxii. The majority of these

expenditures were devoted to education: funds transferred to

support minority language instruction and second-language courses.

The cost of translation, language training, bilingual bonus and

administration totalled just under 325 million dollars.

One might ask: is the official languages policy capable of

maintaining or rebuilding Canada's official language communities?

The answer is no. Canada's official languages policy does not

intend to, nor will it, counteract those demo-linguistic trends

which are producing a Canada territorially split along linguistic

lines. The official languages policy does not address the

principle socio-economic factors which drive the polarization of

Canada's two language groups: fertility rates, interprovincial

migration, immigration, and language shift. While the official

languages policy tries to impact on the language of work, it only

operates in the Federal public sector. Few efforts in the

provincial public sector have been made. The official languages xxxi. Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1992.

xxxii. Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1992.

policy does not touch the vastly larger private economy.

The official languages policy also attempts to address the

language of schooling. Nevertheless, only 7% of students outside

of Quebec participate in French immersion programs. Arguably,

these programs (combined with "core French" programs) may be

making Canadians more bilingual, if not changing the make-up of

the official languages communities. However, in 1991, only 10% of

the Canadian population (excluding Quebec) report knowledge of

both official languages.

Canada's official languages policy does not significantly

alter the trend towards territorial separation of Canada's French

and English communities. It does provide some economic

opportunity in French, but this would appear to have reached a

limit. The communities are now equitably represented in the

public service. Government's long term intention is to shrink the

public service of Canada. In other respects, the official

languages policy does not significantly impact on those

demolinguistic forces shrinking official language minorities.

For this reason, the official languages policy may be

considered palliative as respects the survivability of official

language minorities outside the bilingual belt. The policy will

make the minority communities feel better since something

substantial has been done for them. At the same time the policy

leaves unaltered the forces which are killing them -- immigration,

their relative size and concentration, and Canadian patterns of

migration, marriage and fertility.

This is not to say that Ottawa's official languages policy

failed to redress important grievances. Whereas prior to the

policy, the federal public service had been the preserve of

English speaking Canadians, the official languages policy opened

public service work and public services to francophones. The

policy's impact in that respect was profound. Nevertheless, one

can map the influence of the policy in the flow of forces

impacting on the future of Canada's official language minorities.

In that confluence of forces, the Official Languages Policy is

unlikely to make significant difference to the future

survivability of Canada's official language minorities.

SECOND LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMSxxxiii

The official languages policy seems to have affected Canada's

language minorities in ways unforeseen by the 1969 policy. By

promoting francophones and the knowledge of French in the federal

public service, the policy conveyed the message that bilingualism

eases travel along the path of upward mobility in Canada. Perhaps

in response, parents in the provinces with anglophone majorities

sent their children to immersion schools in record numbers.

French immersion programs in English schools outside of Quebec

xxxiii. Second language immersions programs are defined as ones "whereby students learn the second language by receiving a minimum of 25% of their education in that language" (Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992), 38. However, in practice, for French language schools outside of Quebec, the percentage of education provided in the minority language are much higher. On average, French immersion programs provide 68% of the instruction in French. The percentages range from a high of 82% in the Yukon to a low of 57% in Prince Edward Island: Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992).

were virtually non-existent in 1969. By 1980-81, 2% of students

were enrolled in such programs and by 1991-92 that number rose to

7% (an increase of 71% in 12 short years)xxxiv. The immersion

programs brought the language communities into contact with each

other. The result was a profound transformation of attitudes in

English Canada -- an increasing open-mindednessxxxv. Francophone

minorities viewed the phenomenon as a mixed blessing. It was seen

as an opportunity to replenish their declining ranks, and also,

anxiously, as a new source of competition for economic

opportunities which formerly had been open to them alone because

of their bilingual ability.

Despite its strong beginnings, the annual relative increase

in French immersion enrolment has declined from year to year,

dropping from 19% between 1983-84 and 1984-85 to 7% between 1990-

91 and 1991-92 (up from 3.2% between 1989-90 and 1990-91). For

1991-92, New Brunswick was the only province to register a

decrease in the number of students enrolled in French immersion

programs over the previous year (-10.2%).xxxvi

Participation rates vary greatly according to grade level.

In every province except for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the

participation rate in immersion programs at the 7 - 12 level is

lower than that at the K - 6 level.xxxvii Within the province of

Quebec, English is a mandatory subject for all students from

grades 4 to graduation and comprises approximately 12% of the

school week.xxxviii English immersion programs do not exist in

xxxvi. This is at a time when overall school enrolment within the province increased from 132,843 in 1990-91 to 140,791 in 1991-92.

Quebec.

Immersion programs do not increase the Francophone population

outside of Quebec or the Anglophone population within Quebec per

se. Rather, immersion programs in Canadian schools are intended

to contribute to a growth in bilingualism. However, it is

unlikely that immersion programs will have any effect on demo-

linguistic trends in Canada. Only 7% of the school population is

participating in such programs - and this number appears to have

reached a plateau. In addition, many students do not finish the

program; they drop out before high school. Approximately 10 per

cent of the English speaking community outside Quebec speaks

French. This percentage has not changed significantly since the

beginning of the immersion programs.xxxix

FERTILITY RATES

The survival of the French language also depends of the

fertility of the French speaking community. Until 1981, in Quebec

and in all other provinces, Francophone fertility was

significantly higher than that of Anglophones. However, between

1981 and 1986, the fertility rate among Francophones decreased

below that of Anglophones. In 1986, the fertility rate was 20%

lower in Quebec then in the other provincesxl.These differences in fertility between Quebec and the other

provinces have significantly affected the demographic situation. For example, 85,000 births were recorded in Quebec in 1986. If the fertility rate for women in Quebec had been equal to that of other Canadian women (1.75 children per woman), there would have been 106,000 births, or 25% morexli

xl. Changes in Fertility Among Canada's Linguistic Groups, Social Trends, Autumn 1989.

The differences in fertility impact upon the linguistic

composition of the population. In 1986, 26% of the Canadian

population of child-bearing age spoke French as a mother tongue;

however, only 24% of the children under five years of age had a

mother with French as their mother tongue. This difference is

attributable to the lower fertility rate among this populationxlii.

It is easy to see the important impact these trends are going to

have in the future in diminishing the relative size of the

Francophone population within Canada.

INTERPROVINCIAL MIGRATION

Interprovincial migration is the most important factor

shrinking the anglo-quebec community. Anglophones left Quebec

primarily because they have no economic future. This is partly

the result of a shrinking economy, but the plight of anglophones

is exacerbated by governmental determination to make French the

only language of work, an initiative to which many anglophone

emigrants could not quickly adapt. Anglophones equally left

Quebec because of the perceived punitive nature of Bill 101. Only

time will tell how Anglophones will feel towards Bill 86.

However, since the amendments are merely superficial and do not go

to the root of the problems facing Anglophones within Quebec, it

is likely that little has changedxliii.

Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadians are free

to move from one part of the country to another. Since no records

are kept of these movements, it is difficult to determine the

exact effect inter-provincial migration has on the Canadian

linguistic profile. However, based on the limited data which is

available, some authors have concluded that [I]nterprovincial migration is no longer promoting a blending of

Canada's two major language groups and that, on the contrary, recent migration has actually been acting to increase polarization, with those who prefer to use the English language moving out of Quebec and with francophones tending to concentrate within the province.xliv

FRENCH AS A LANGUAGE OF WORKxlv

Francophones outside of Quebec are assimilated into the

English community by the overwhelming use of English as the

language of work. Outside of the bilingual belt,xlvi French has

little economic value apart from second language teaching and

translation. Anglophones earn, on average, higher incomes than

francophones within Canada ($18,799 compared with $16,893). This

trend holds true for every province except Newfoundland,

Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories where the

average income for those with French as their mother tongue is

higher. It is interesting to note that even within Quebec

anglophones earn more, on average, than francophones ($19,839 and

$16,796 respectively).

It may be that people are attracted to the language of

business, the language which provides the high paying jobs. In

Canada, 8.5% of anglophones earn over $40,000 per year compared

with just 5.7% of francophones. Only Newfoundland and the

Northwest Territories report a higher percentage of francophones

earning over $40,000 per year compared with anglophones. Again,

even within the province of Quebec anglophones are more likely

than francophones to earn over $40,000 per year (9.6% and 5.6%

respectively).xlvii

LANGUAGE PLANNING

Constant battles over the language of schools, government

services, health care institutions and media have worn francophone

minorities down, sapped their will to resist and caused further

losses by emigration to Quebec. Some commentators view the

portending disappearance of official language minorities with

equanimity. They reason from sociolinguistics. English is the

dominant, French the weaker language in Canada. Knowledge of

English is the norm among the Quebec elite; knowledge of French

the exception among its English Canadian counterpart. "The shift

of a French Canadian to English" argues Professor Laponce, "is

increasingly likely to have negative effects on the speaker

alienating him from self and from his cultural group".xlviii The

conclusion drawn is that the only sensible language policy is one

that protects the dominant language in a given territory.

Guarantees for minority languages are ineffective and harmful.

Professor Laponce argues that it is preferable for Canada to

divide into two linguistic islands: French in Quebec, English

elsewhere. Canadian language policy should concentrate on

reinforcements for French in Quebec, and English in the other

provinces. Protection for linguistic minorities should be

withdrawn. The faster linguistic minorities disappear, the more

stable will be Canada's political system, the more rational will

be relations between Quebec, Ottawa and the other provinces, the

more secure the position of the English and French languages.xlix

This line of reasoning is buttressed by developments in the

general theory of language planning. Language planners postulate

"two main principles ... the principle of personality and the

principle of territoriality"l. These principles are explained by

Professor Mackey:According to the first [personality principle], it is the

institution which accommodates the individual: according to the second, it is the individual who accommodates the institution. Countries such as Canada, for example, where

x. Statistics Canada, Canada: A Linguistic Profile, Catalogue no. 98-131 (Ottawa, 1986). It should be noted that the French share of the language shift has been increasing over the years: the French share was 29% in 1986, up from 28% in 1981.

xi. Home Language and Mother Tongue, Catalogue no. 93-317 (Ottawa, 1993).

xii. Language in Canada, Canadian Social Trends, No. 12, Spring 1989.

xiii. "The minority language education programme is designed to offer the minority group (Anglophones in Quebec, Francophones outside Quebec) education in their mother tongue. The minority language is used as the language of instruction for a minimum of 25% of the school day" (Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992), 38.

xiv. Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992), 38.

xv. Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992).

xvi. Brief by Alliance Quebec on bills 106 and 107 presented to the commission de l'éducation, monograph, 1988, as quoted in Martel, ibid. at 142.

xvii. The total English system is slightly in excess of 111,000 pupils. Approximately 12,000 English mother tongue students were educated in the majority French system by choice or because they did not qualify to receive and English education: Angeline Martel, Official Language Minority Right in Canada: From Instruction to Management (Ottawa: Office of the Commissioner of Official

each person has the statutory right to be served by the government in the official language of preference, (according to the provisions of the Languages Act), are governed by the principle of personality. Countries such as Switzerland, where the citizen's relations with the state are in the language or languages of the canton, are governed by the principle of territoriality according to which, cuius regio, eius lingua, the language of the region is that of its rulerli

Those who agree with Professor Laponce see Canadian language

Languages, 1991).

xviii. It is difficult to record an accurate statistical portrait because access to minority language education is not consistent in the provinces with Anglophone majorities, nor are the minority language programs at similar stages of development. Furthermore, some provinces do not keep statistics for minority language programs separate from immersion enrolments.

xix. Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and Secondary Levels, Catalogue no. 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992). Note, however, that since 1986-87 slight increases of approximately 1% per year have occurred.

xx. In 1986 there were over 77,000 students enrolled in minority language programs, but only 70,000 school aged children were considered to belong to the minority mother tongue group (Martel, Official Language Minority Education Rights in Canada, Ottawa: Commissioner of Official Languages, 1991, p. 68). All subsequent references to enrolment numbers are derived from this study unless otherwise indicated.

xxi. Population by First Language Spoken, 1991, supra at 9.

xxii. Statistics Canada, Minority and Second Language Education, Elementary and secondary Levels, Catalogue 81-257 (Ottawa, 1992) at 19.

xxiii. Statistics Canada, Profile of the Immigrant Population, Catalogue no. 93-155 (Ottawa 1989), Table 1.

xxiv. Statistics Canada, Profile of the Immigrant Population, Catalogue no. 93-155 (Ottawa 1989).

xxv. Home Language and Mother Tongue, Catalogue no. 93-317 (Ottawa, 1993).

planning options as a choice between these two principles.

Professor Laponce examines the experience of other multilingual

societies through the prism of Mackey's theory. His conclusion is

irremediably coloured by the assumption of "two main principles",

and the need to choose between them. So Professor Laponce is led

xxvi. R.S.C. 1970, c. O-2, as rep. by S.C. 1988, c. 38.

xxvii. Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1983, preface.

xxviii. According to mother tongue.

xxix. Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1992.

xxx. Approximately three-quarters of bilingual positions require an intermediate level of proficiency (B). However, the superior level (C) has experienced a slow but steady growth over the past 5 years (from 11.4% in 1988 to 15.9% in 1992) (Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1992).

xxxiv. The percentages vary greatly across the provinces. New Brunswick has the highest overall participation rate in French immersion programs at 18.9%. The Northwest Territories have the lowest rate (2.9%) followed by Nova Scotia (3.3%) and Newfoundland (3.4%).

xxxv. See generally, D. Cliff, "Towards the Larger Community" (1984) 12 Language and Society 65 at 66.

xxxvii. The total participation rate, excluding Quebec, is 9% at the elementary level and 5.3% at the secondary level.

xxxviii. Students enrolled in vocational programs are exempt from this requirement.

xxxix. This number was obtained through a comparison of data in volumes for provincial and territorial data in Dallaire, L. and R. Lachapelle. Demolinguistic Profiles of Minority Official Language Communities: Canada, 1986 Census. (Ottawa: Department of Secretary of State).

xli. Changes in Fertility Among Canada's Linguistic Groups, Social Trends, Autumn 1989, p.4.

to say: "Whether I induce from the Canadian, Swiss and Belgium

cases or deduce from the laws of specialization, I conclude in

favour of the solution which seeks to give distinct areas of

monolingual security to each linguistic group"lii. In shorter

language - "let the minorities disappear".

xlii. Changes in Fertility Among Canada's Linguistic Groups, Social Trends, Autumn 1989.

xliii. Following the United Nation's ruling that Bill 101 violated free expression guarantees, the Quebec government introduced Bill 86: An Act to amend the Charter of the French Language. Section 18 of this Bill provides that, subject to government regulations to the contrary, public signs, posters and commercial advertising must be in French. The legislation permits use of another language on the sign provided that the French text is markedly predominant. However, in reality, Bill 86 is merely an attempt to appease opinion makers in the human rights community by meagre compliance with the Committee's views. At the same time, the legislation is respectful of that portion of francophone opinion which shies away from "true bilingualism." Bill 86 reflects a middle ground devoid of principle.

xliv. Richard Joy, Canada's Official Languages: The Progress of Bilingualism (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992), 49.

xlv. In this section the terms anglophone and francophone are based on mother tongue. As well, only single responses are considered. This decision is based on the rational that individuals who are able to speak both official languages will be more marketable and therefore will skew the results for the "pure" language groups.

xlvi. See Joy, Languages in Conflict. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1972 who describes the bilingual belt which stretches from Moncton to the Sault.

xlvii. One possible explanation is the fact that, as previously mentioned, the majority of Anglophones within the province reside in Montreal, the largest urban centre in the province.

xlviii. Laponce, "Relating Linguistics to Political Conflicts: The Problem of Language Shift in Multilingual Societies", in Multilingual Political Systems: Problems and Solutions Quebec, C.I.R.B. 1975 at p.195-6. Professor Laponce reaffirmed this view

The first point to notice is that Canada's linguistic

complexion is utterly different from Switzerland and Belgium.

Switzerland has four principle languages, not two. The Swiss and

Belgian language groups are territorially compact, not

territorially diffuse. Canada, by contrast, must accommodate a

population of 636,630 francophones widely diffused in the

provinces outside of Quebec and 761,812 anglophones who are

somewhat less diffused in Quebecliii. That is alot of people (5% of

the total Canadian population) to condemn to extinction against

their strongly expressed will because they do not fit in with

academic theory. The second point is that the theory is

unsophisticated. Each case of language planning is unique.

Policy must be adapted to specific local circumstances. I know of

no country that presents the same spectrum of problems about

linguistic accommodation as does Canada. As Canada's problems are

in August 1984 in a colloq sponsored by the Royal Commission on Economic and Development Prospects for Canada held in Ottawa.

xlix. Id., p. 201. Professor Laponce reaffirmed and amplified on these views at a colloquium sponsored by the Royal Commission on Economic and Development Prospects for Canada in Ottawa in 1984.

l. Mackey, "Prolegomena to Langue Policy Analysis" (1979) 30 Word 5, 9. Mackey's statement of two main principles is not only accepted by Laponce, supra, note 39, but by most commentators on language planning theory: see Bourhis, "Language Policies in Multilingual Settings", in Bourhis, Conflict and Language Planning in Quebec, Multilingual Matters, 1984, 1, at 14.

li. Id.

lii. Laponce, "Relating Linguistics to Political Conflicts: The Problem of Language Shift in Multilingual Societies", in Multilingual Political Systems: Problems and Solutions Quebec, C.I.R.B. 1975 at p. 201.

singular, so must be its solutionsliv.

A final point must be made in this regard. Language policy

need not be limited to support for demographically viable

linguistic groups. Language policy may equally strive to revive

dying, dead or ancestral languages. The revivification of Hebrew

as the national language of Israel is a spectacular case in point.

At the time the resuscitation attempts began, not a single person

spoke Hebrew as a language in the home. Other revival efforts are

being made in Ireland, Wales and Scotland (Gaelic), France

(Flemish), Holland (Frisian) and elsewhere. Many national

governments have implemented language revival policies in order to

stem the rise of "more radical separatist movements", or otherwise

to pacify national minoritieslv.

Canada's efforts to support French in Manitoba have already

been characterised as a language revival policylvi. Even if that

be true, the effort does not for that reason lose legitimacy. A

language revival policy such as is alleged to be occurring in

Manitoba is certainly in furtherance of appropriate political

objectives. The intricate political interface between Canada and

Quebec which implicates Canada's national stability, the desire to

increase mobility for Quebec francophones so as to give them a

greater sense of belonging to Canada, and the intention to respect

the determined will of 1.4 million affected people in Canadian

linguistic minorities is justification enough for French revival

efforts in Manitoba and elsewhere, if, indeed, those efforts can

even be characterised as revival, as opposed to maintenance.

In certain circumstances determined governments can

counterweight the principle forces causing declining numbers in

official language communities. Economic development, language of

work, language of education, immigration policy, and language of

media are phenomena on which governments can and do impact

profoundly. It is thus appropriate to inquire whether the

political circumstances impacting on Canadian governments favour

coordinating policies of the type that would be required to bring

about change.

It is also worth considering whether Canadian circumstances

allow for a third approach to the "two main principals" of

linguistic accommodation delineated by Professor Mackey. This

third possibility is a modification of the territorial approach.

The third approach conceptualizes territorial groupings as small

separate linguistic islands, linked together by massive

information and communications technology, and by a network of

common institutions. The information and communications

revolutions makes feasible the linking of communities together in

ways that isolated linguistic communities have never before

experienced. The information and communications revolutions also

allow the communities to share universities, libraries, hospital

diagnostic services, data processing centres, media production and

distribution services, and the like. The communities would also

be supported by overarching institutions in the central state

that, on language matters, deal with linguistic minorities on the

same basis as they deal with Canada's two nations, the English and

French speaking majorities within and without Quebec. Many

linguistic minority communities could be linked in this way -- St-

Boniface, Mattawa, Sudbury, eastern Ontario, Gravelsborg, and

other sub-provincial, municipal or sub-municipal groupings where

official language minorities are concentrated -- and they could be

linked also to institutions in Quebec and New Brunswick.

The third approach may be useful because it concentrates

attention on the conditions necessary to promote the survival of

linguistic minorities. Linguistic minorities may be able to

resist the attractive power exerted by the dominant language on

two conditions: (1) That linguistic communities be territorially

concentrated in large or small areas; (2) That linguistic

minorities be supported energetically by a meaningful network of

institutions, services, economic opportunity and inter-community

communication.

Although the first condition is met in Canada -- there are

concentrated groupings of linguistic minorities in Montreal, St-

Boniface, Gravelsborg, eastern Ontario, northern Ontario, P.E.I.,

New Brunswick and elsewhere -- most of these communities are in

the final stages of a long term process of extinction. The second

condition is not met. There is no meaningful network of services

or economic opportunity in the minority language and little inter-

community communication.

Without an adequate institutional infrastructure and economic

opportunity, francophones outside of Quebec rightly perceive that

their communities will not long survive. What would be included

in the network of institutions necessary to support official

language communities? There are four principal ingredients:

educational institutions, culture, government services and

economic structures.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Educational institutions are crucial. As the Symons and Mayo

Commissions on French language education found "... with the

decline of the parishes, the schools are now becoming the centre

of cultural life for the French speaking [outside of Quebec]"lvii.

... minority schools themselves provide community centres where

the promotion and preservation of minority language culture

can occur; they provide needed locations where the minority

community can meet and facilities which they can use to

express their culturelviii.

One important cause of assimilation is the lack of effective

control of French language education and facilities by French

linguistic minoritieslix. Francophones watch their children being

lviii. Mahe v. A.G. Alberta, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 342 at p. 363.

liii. Statistics Canada, Home Language and Mother Tongue (1992). (Table 1 Population by home language).

liv. Accord: Cartwright, Official Language Populations in Canada: Patterns and Contacts, Montreal, IRPP, 1980, p. 147. As I read Professor Mackey, I understand him to agree with the desirability of tailoring language policy to specific circumstances: supra.

lv. Bourhis, "Language Policies in Multilingual Settings," in Bourhis, Conflict and Language Planning in Quebec, Multilingual Matters, 1984, 1 at 10.

lvi. Id., p. 9.

lvii. Report of the Ottawa-Carleton Review Commission [The Mayo Report] (1968), p. 133; Report of the Ministerial Commission on French Language Secondary Education [The Symons Report] (1972), p. 13 - 15).

swept into the net of English in "mixed schools". These schools

are cauldrons of assimilation. Courts, legislatures and executive

commissions have independently found, on extensive expert

evidence, that the grouping of anglophones and francophones

together in "mixed schools" is harmful to the linguistic minority

child and community and leads directly to assimilationlx.

As we saw in Chapter 4, the Courts have been astute in

utilizing s. 23 of the Charter of Rights to cure this mischief.

The Courts have required Provincial legislatures to design

educational facilities which can be said to be of or appertain to

the linguistic minority in the sense that the minorities control

the facilities, and the facilities reflect the minority's social

and cultural fabric.lxi Provincial governments outside of Quebec

have been slow to respond. Most are unwilling partners in

minority language education. As late as 1993 in Reference Re.

Public Schools Act (Manitoba) the Supreme Court of Canada noted

that, by the Manitoba Government's own admission, the province had

"failed to live up to its constitutional obligation since the

release of Mahe in 1990".

Litigation in the education sector is inescapable for lix. Reference re Minority Language Education Rights, Ont. C.A., June 16, 1984, p. 68.

lx. S.A.N.B. v. Minority Language School Bd. No. 50 (1983), 48 N.B.R. (2d) 361. This conclusion was reached independently by the N.B. legislature (School Act, R.S.N.B. 1973, c. s-5 as amended, secs. 3.1 - 3.3, 18.1); and by the Official Language Commissioner, Report (1978), p. 35.

lxi. Reference re. Minority Language Education Rights, [1984] 47 O.R. (2d) 1, 71; Mahe v. A.G. Alberta, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 342; Reference Re. Public Schools Act (Manitoba), [1993] 1 S.C.R. 839.

francophone minorities in the future. The recourse to the Courts

made available by s. 23 is likely to produce mixed results.

Litigation wears the minorities down and further saps their will

to fight. Litigation requires strong leadership -- an item at a

premium in minority language communities. In the past, governments

that resorted to symbolic, palliative measures while the shrinkage

in numbers continues found many linguistic communities willing

partners in the enterprise. This is likely to continue.

CULTURE

A second serious problem is Ottawa's failure to exercise its

constitutional powers intelligently to support official language

minorities in the areas of broadcasting and culture. While the

Broadcasting Act guarantees services in English and French to all

Canadians subject to availability of public fundslxii, the reality

falls far short of that promise. CBC consistently refuseslxiii to

provide francophones outside of Quebec with programming that

relates to the vital concerns of their communities. This is why

the Fédération des francophones hors Quebec stigmatizes CBC

programming as contributing "to the anglicization of Francophones

outside Quebec"lxiv. In addition, since television viewers are at

the mercy of cable distributers, the availability of French

programming varies greatly from province to province, and even

region to region. For example, the French service TV5 is only

available in half the city of Edmonton since the other cable

company does not wish to offer this servicelxv.

GOVERNMENT SERVICES

Ottawa's most significant failure has been with respect to

the language of work. Ottawa's only effort in this regard relates

to the federal civil service. Ottawa has made no substantial

effort in the private sector, and no serious attempt to co-operate

with Quebec's initiate to make French the language of work in that

province, despite the recommendations of the federal Laurendeau-

Dunton Commission to this effectlxvi. The failure of Ottawa to

support Quebec's language of work initiatives by complimentary

legislation for firms outside of Quebec impedes Quebec's efforts

to give French economic value. Quebec is placed in the position

of erecting defensive linguistic barriers around the province, a

strategy that could contribute to the further weakening of

Quebec's economy and the ghettoization of French in Quebec.

Altogether, the French language lacks serious economic value

outside of the Bilingual belt.

ECONOMIC STRUCTURES

Ottawa could support official language minorities by

intervening directly with French language economic structures.

French language research centres and specialized services, such as

laboratories and data processing centres, could be decentralized

and located in francophone communities such as St-Boniface and

Sudburylxvii. Research centres could be blended into existing

French language institutions, for example St-Boniface Hospital or

Laurentian University. Ottawa could make significant investments

in existing francophone institutions like College St-Boniface and

Université d'Ottawa. With appropriate funds, College St-Boniface

could strive to become a major research centre, networking and

contracting with compatible French language institutions

throughout western Canada. With appropriate direction, College

St-Boniface could strive to become self-supporting through

research contracts. This kind of activity would provide much

needed economic opportunity for francophones outside of Quebec,

would imbue French with significance beyond family and church, and

could contribute to the long term survival of official language

minorities.

Economic development in the minority language is the critical

initiative so far lacking in governmental support for linguistic

communities. If progress could be made here, all else could be

forgiven. Needless to say, competition for economic development

opportunities is ferocious.

THE WORK OF THE COURTS

In order to counter-act Ottawa's failures to support their

communities, minority language communities attempted to use

litigation throughout the 1980s to expand the system of official

bilingualism. At first, the minorities seemed to find a willing

partner in the Courts. The Supreme Court of Canada expanded s.

133's protection beyond the express language of the Constitution

Act, 1867. "Section 133", said the Court, "ought to be considered

broadly". It contained a principle "of growth". On that principle

the Court augmented s. 133 beyond its express terms to subject a

wide spectrum of institutions and statutory materials to the

discipline of official bilingualism. In the Manitoba Language

Rights Referencelxviii the Supreme Court continued to breathe life

into official bilingualism through a robust, expanding, purposeful

interpretation of constitutional guarantees. The Court used

impressive rhetoric: "The purpose of [constitutional guarantees

for official bilingualism], the Court stated, "was to ensure full

and equal access to the legislatures, the laws, and the courts for

francophones and anglophones like". The Court began to read

constitutional guarantees for official bilingualism

"purposive[ly]"lxix, finding in them "a specific manifestation of

the general right of Franco-Manitobans to use their own language",

and imposing upon the judiciary "the responsibility of protecting

the correlative language rights of ... the Franco-Manitoban

minority"lxx. In short, the Court had found in the terse phrasing

of ancient constitutional texts a system of minority protection.

Through a purposive, expanding, dynamic interpretation, the Court

set out to reconstruct these special protection so to ensure full

and equal access for the minority, in a meaningful way, to the

range of governmental institutions to which they applied.

The minorities did not realize the extent to which their

litigation efforts were opposed by the federal government,

especially since Ottawa funded their court cases. At first, the

Federal positions in official languages litigation seemed merely

incompetent. The Department of Justice repeatedly intervened in

court against francophone attempts to expand official language

rights. In some cases the action was explained as an oversight or

error, and the Department moved to amend its positionlxxi. In key

cases in Manitobalxxii and Quebeclxxiii designed to inflate the court

clause and records and journals clause of official bilingualism

guarantees the Department of Justice sent only observers, who took

no position at all. Finally, in the MacDonald case, Ottawa showed

its true colours. In MacDonald's case the minorities tried to

expand the court clause in s. 133, an action supported by the

Official Languages Commissioner, who "hope[d], by considered and

effective involvement, to help achieve the most generous

settlement possible in th[is] case"lxxiv. The Justice Department

intervened four-square against the minority's attempt to achieve

expansive reading of official language rights. "A broad and

generous interpretation [of language rights]", Ottawa maintained

in its factum, "cannot be used"lxxv. This position provoked

opposition members to question the Prime Minister about the matter

in the House. The opposition asked that Canada's factum be

withdrawn. Ottawa refused to withdraw its factum.

Ottawa got everything it asked for in MacDonald. The Court

described constitutional language rights as a "constitutional

minimum". "It is not open to the courts, under the guise of

interpretation, to improve upon, supplement or amend this

historical constitutional compromise". This brought language

rights development to an end in the Courts. The expanding and

dynamic reading of constitutional language rights came to a curt

halt. The Court turned onto a new decisive path. The reason

why, explained by the majority in S.A.N.B., was that developments

in the language rights area were to be left to the provinceslxxvi.

lxxvi. S.A.N.B., p. 579: "The Charter reflected "a principle of advancement or progress in the equality of status or use of the two official languages ... this principle of advancement is linked with the legislative process ... The legislative process, unlike the judicial one, is a political process and hence particularly

If this is the real reason, the Court would seem to have

travelled to the other side of the reality principle. The

provinces are not in the mood - and never have been in the mood in

Canadian history - to advance language rights. Canadian history

is a history of bitter, dangerous conflict fought over language

suited to the advancement of rights. ... If the provinces were told that [constitutional language rights were] inherently dynamic and progressive .. that the speed of progress was to be controlled mainly by the courts, they would have no means to know with relative precision what it was that they were opting into. This would certainly increase their hesitation in [advancing language rights]".

lxii. Broadcasting Act, R.S.C. c. B-11, s. 3(k).

lxiii. In a meeting with ACFO, CBC officials said: "The CBC's position is firm: our radio programming will not change and televised production outside Quebec will not exceed 5 to 7 hours per week. This objective is already considered as ideal and it will not be achieved in the near future": see The Heirs of Lord Durham, (F.F.H.Q., 1978), p. 61.

lxiv. The Heirs of Lord Durham: Manifesto of a Vanishing People, F.F.H.Q., 1978, p. 60. Recent amendments to the Broadcasting Act appear to take account of this criticism, and may produce changes on the ground. In particular, section 3(c) provides that "English and French language broadcasting, while sharing common aspects, operate under different conditions and may have different requirements;" and section 3 (m)(iv) provides that "the programming provided by the Corporation should be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities."

lxv. Fédération des Communautés Francophones et Acadienne du Canada, État des Minorités Linguistiques au Canada, 1990.

lxvi. Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Ottawa, Queen's printer, 1969, Book 3, p. 554 ("We recommend that in the private sector in Quebec, governments and industry adopt the objective that French become the principle language of work at all levels ...").

rights as a result of stingy, vindictive aggression by provincial

majorities. It is a dangerous history, resulting in federal

provincial conflict, heightened tension between Ottawa and Quebec,

sullen brooding in French Canada, suspicion, hostility, and growth

of nationalism in Canada's regions, particularly in Quebec. The

Manitoba School crisis, Regulation 17, Penetanguishene, Gens de lxvii. See Allaire and Miller, Canadian Business Responses to the Legislation on Francization in the Workplace, C.D. Howe Institute, 1980, p. 43 ff, for a discussion of organizational structures and modalities of francization in various organizational units.

lxviii. [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721. This reference was occasioned by the failure of Manitoba politics to resolve the constitutional difficulties posed by the 1979 Forest case. A Manitoba francophone forced the issue by challenging the validity of two unilingual Manitoba statutes in a Highway Traffic Act prosecution. At the request of the Société Franco Manitoban, the Federal government referred the issue to the Supreme Court directly.

lxix. Ibid. at 751.

lxx. Ibid. at 744-5.

lxxi. Bilodeau v. A.G. Manitoba, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 449, (Justice withdrew its factum); Reference re. Minority Language Educational Rights, [1984] 47 O.R. (2d) 1 (Justice filed supplementary notes); Manitoba Language Rights Reference, [1985] 2 S.C.R. 721 (Justice intervened against the position of the francophone minority and did not amend its position); MacDonald v. City of Montreal, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 450 (Justice intervened against the anglophone minority and refused to change its position). If there were not something to be said on both sides of the issue, these cases would not be in the Supreme Court of Canada. This is what makes Justice's choice of positions difficult to understand.

lxxii. Robin v. Le College de St-Boniface (1984), 15 D.L.R. (4th) 198 (Man. C.A.).

lxxiii. A.G. Quebec v. Collier, Que. C.A. (Mtl.) Sept 19, 1985, no. 500-36-000189-830.

lxxiv. Commissioner of Official Languages, Annual Report, 1985 at 16.

l'air, Bill 101, the Manitoba Language Rights crisis - these

bitter language wars threaten to tear Canada apart at the seams.

Canada's political system cannot control these pathological

crises. Each new conflict threatens the security of this country.

That is why they are given to the courts. Courts are expected to

channel political conflict into legal procedure, and to enforce a

consistent bright line.

The Supreme Court of Canada made a significant, costly error.

The real reason behind the Court's decision is that the Court does

not want to present the spectacle of a Federal institution in

Ottawa challenging provincial authority over language initiatives

in Quebec. The Court is concerned that this portrait will

increase separatist sentiment in Quebec, a point which counsel for

Quebec forcefully made during argument of the cases testing the

constitutionality of Bill 101. The Court sat silent as he

spoke.lxxvii A year later the Court returned the issue of bilingual

signs to Quebec politics from whence it emerged.

The Quebec government moved quickly to break its promises to

the English speaking community by reenacting modified unilingual

French requirements in commercial advertising and signage. The

reaction in English Canada was fury. It led directly to failure

of the Meech Lake Accord, and from there to the most serious

Constitutional crisis in Canadian history, still raging today.

The Court was wrong -- its reasoning hopelessly wrong. The

results the Court produced are serious, creating strains in the

lxxv. MacDonald v. City of Montreal, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 460, Factum of the Attorney General of Canada at 10.

Federation much worse than those the Court seems to fear. Premier

McKenna of New Brunswick summed up the situation: "Canadians" he

said "are adopting an attitude of to hell with minorities that

threatens to divide the nation and pit anglophones against

francophones. ... We are beginning to see a reversal of the vision

we have seen emerge in the last 20 years ... The Province of

Quebec is increasingly looking to become unilingual French and the

other provinces unilingual English - to hell with minorities. We

are going to be facing, in the future, two solitudes in this

country.". The Court should have enforced a consistent, bright

line -- one way or the other. When charged linguistic issues are

thrown into the Court by dysfunctional provincial political

systems, the Court should resolve those issues decisively. The

issue should never be returned to provincial politics. This

prolongs and magnifies the split between French and English.

Wherever possible, the Court should act on the principle deducible

from Canadian experience: generous treatment of linguistic

minorities best promotes linguistic peace. The Court should turn a

blind eye to hostile race-bating sentiment, whether it comes from

reactionaries in the West or from separatists in Quebec. The

Court must learn to resist the siren's song of majoritarian

pressure. This harmony has too often lured the Justices onto the

constitutional rocks.

CONCLUSION

Parliament, the legislatures, and the courts have no serious

policy to counteract the forces demolishing Canada's official

language minorities. In the absence of a determined policy aimed

at altering clear demographic trends, numbers tell all. In Canada

the numbers are clear and the trends are unmistakable.

Outside of Quebec francophones are declining in real numbers,

and also as a percentage of total provincial population.

Anglophones within Quebec are declining in real numbers, and as a

percentage of total provincial population. The decline is swift,

steep and alarming. The assimilation rates are extraordinary.

The official language minorities are disappearing rapidly. Canada

is quickly developing into two monolingual enclaves: French in

Quebec, English in the rest of Canada (excepting New Brunswick).

The forces assimilating Canada's linguistic minorities are

clearly discernable. Francophone fertility rates are low, 20%

lower then that of Anglophones. Low fertility shrinks each

subsequent generation of francophones as a proportion of the

Canadian population. Immigration attracts groups that assimilate

to the English speaking community, even in Quebec. Anglophones

are migrating out of Quebec. Francophones (to a lesser extent)

are migrating out of the provinces with English majorities. There

is much more contact between the minorities and the majorities,

and much more tendency thus to intermarry. There is little

economic opportunity in the minority language. There is

insufficient cultural stimulation. There is an inadequate network

of institutions. There is inept communication trunks between

communities.

What can be done to counter these trends? This chapter has

examined a number of possibilities. Whichever alternative is

chosen it cannot succeed without the support of a committed

government. History has taken a different course: neither level

of government is willing to mount a co-ordinated effort for the

promotion and maintenance of minority official language

communities. Given today's climate of economic restraint, it is

difficult to see how this will change in any future scenario.

Francophones outside of Quebec realize that: "A race

disappears when it depends entirely on the benevolent kindness of

others for its survival"lxxviii. They therefore speak of "taking

charge of their future". What does taking charge entail? It

includes representation in "provincial governments, regional or

municipal councils, diocesan administrations and even hospital

boards and banks, credit unions, [and] Chambers of Commerce"lxxix.

How realistic is this plan? The programs and changes

required to implement this vision require resources. Unless the

Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada is

able to generate sufficient funds from the private sector, which

is unlikely, federal and provincial governments will be required

to restructure institutions and provide considerable monies.

Minority language communities represent five per cent of the

Canadian population. Is it reasonable to expect governments to

overweight the political representation of language minorities in

important institutions given the traditional behaviour of

governments? Is it plausible to expect that the governments will

provide substantial moneies to these communities given the current

fierce competition for scarce resources and the potential

political backlash which this may generate?

The demographic trends are likely to continue relentless,

accelerating in a final terminal stage as the last minuscule mass

of the minorities melts away. The unilingual character of a

predominantly French Quebec will be reinforced, as will the

unilingual character of a predominantly English Canada outside of

Quebec. These populations will be joined along a bilingual belt,

and they will be inhabited by a slightly increased population of

bilinguals, both in Quebec and in the other provinces - the result

of the immersion phenomenon. Superimposed upon these populations

will be an increasingly bilingual federal administration, and a

robust official languages policy. This policy will strive to

lessen the pain of official language minorities -- to palliate

them -- while current demographic trends conclude their

demolition. This policy may differ from what is parroted by the

authorities, but it is the real policy, judged by the only

acceptable measure -- what it actually does.

This is where the demographic trends tell Canadians that they

are heading -- rapidly. Is this where Canadians want to be?

ENDNOTES

lxxvii. Ford v. A.G. Quebec, [1988] 2 S.C.R. 712, Devine v. A.G. Quebec, [1988] 2 S.C.R. 790.

lxxviii. Lacasse, Maurice, Le lion de la Péninsule, Biography and poems of Senator Gustave Lacasse (1890 - 1953) in Fédération des communautés Francophones et Acadienne du Canada, Project 2000: For a Francophone Space (Final Report), 1992 at p. 10.

lxxix. Fédération des Communautés Francophones et Acadienne du Canada, État des Minorités Linguistiques au Canada, 1990 at p. 30.