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<h1 itemprop="headline" class="">Movement pushes for official bilingualism policy in Ottawa</h1>
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<a itemprop="name" class="" href="http://ottawacitizen.com/author/mariedaniellesmith"><img alt="" src="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/e034864dbc79e4b00ccaa4a3ebc96f32?s=33&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D33&r=G" class="" height="33" width="33"> <span class="">Marie-Danielle Smith</span> <span class="">More from Marie-Danielle Smith</span></a> </div>
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Published on: August 13, 2014Last Updated: August 13, 2014 10:01 PM EDT </div>
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<img itemprop="url" class="" alt="Jacques de Courville Nicol, leader of the National Movement for an Officially Bilingual Capital of Canada, says more than 40 federal, provincial and regional associations support official bilingualism in Ottawa, as do the federal Liberals and NDP." src="http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2014/08/0813-francais.jpg?w=1000">
<p>Jacques de Courville Nicol, leader of the National Movement for
an Officially Bilingual Capital of Canada, says more than 40 federal,
provincial and regional associations support official bilingualism in
Ottawa, as do the federal Liberals and NDP. </p>
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<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">An
Ottawa group is renewing a nearly 45-year-old plea to make Ottawa an
officially bilingual city ahead of the 150th anniversary of
confederation in 2017.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">The
National Movement for an Officially Bilingual Capital of Canada is
finding little support with Mayor Jim Watson, however, despite municipal
and provincial politicians’ throwing their support behind the idea.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Jacques
de Courville Nicol, leader of the movement, says more than 40 federal,
provincial and regional associations support official bilingualism in
Ottawa, as do the federal Liberals and NDP.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">The
provincial minister for francophone affairs and MPP for Ottawa-Vanier,
Madeleine Meilleur, also came out in support of the idea Monday. She
told Le Droit that she would “strongly support” a bilingualism policy,
which she said would protect the rights of francophone residents.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">The
concept was first brought to the fore by a report of the Royal
Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1970, which recommended
that Ottawa give both French and English full equality, with all
services and facilities reflecting both languages. This would also
include an “invitation to the private sector” to do the same, the report
states.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">De
Courville Nicol said that despite improvements in Ottawa’s French
services over the past decade, the city’s lack of official bilingualism
is unfair for francophone residents and damages its international image.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“We
don’t believe that this is a local issue. We believe this is a national
issue,” he said. “It is the capital of Canada and as such, it has to
reflect the existence of English and French Canadians.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">The
Citizen approached the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages, Shelly Glover, on the issue. A spokesman for the
minister, Mike Storeshaw, said that “it falls entirely within the
jurisdiction of individual municipalities to decide whether to become
officially bilingual.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“It would not be appropriate for the federal government to intervene in those decisions,” he said.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><a name="pd_a_8242762"></a>
</p><div class="" id="PDI_container8242762" style="display:inline-block"><div style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-top:0px" name="PDI_form8242762" id="PDI_form8242762"><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class="">
<div class=""><div class=""><div class=""> Poll: Should Ottawa become an officially bilingual city?</div></div></div></div><div class=""><span id="pds-answer8242762"><span class=""><span class=""><input class="" id="PDI_answer37492634" value="37492634" name="PDI_answer8242762" type="radio"></span><label for="PDI_answer37492634" class=""><span class="">Mais oui/of course</span></label><span class=""></span></span><span class=""><span class=""><input class="" id="PDI_answer37492635" value="37492635" name="PDI_answer8242762" type="radio"></span><label for="PDI_answer37492635" class=""><span class="">It doesn't make sense</span></label><span class=""></span></span><span class=""><span class=""><input class="" id="PDI_answer37492636" value="37492636" name="PDI_answer8242762" type="radio"></span><label for="PDI_answer37492636" class=""><span class="">Eventually, but it won't happen by 2017</span></label><span class=""></span></span><span class=""><span class=""><input class="" id="PDI_answer37492637" value="37492637" name="PDI_answer8242762" type="radio"></span><label for="PDI_answer37492637" class=""><span class="">It's insulting it isn't already</span></label><span class=""></span></span></span></div>
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<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Moncton,
N.B., which was about one-third francophone in 2011 according to
Statistics Canada, became the first officially bilingual city in Canada
in August 2013, and Dieppe, N.B., implemented a bilingual signage by-law
in 2010.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">But Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is skeptical about taking such measures in the majority-anglophone capital.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“I
don’t support designating Ottawa as officially bilingual, because we
already have a very good language policy in Ottawa. We’ve had it for
over a decade, and it works well,” said Watson. “There’s some confusion
as to what this group is asking for.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">If
the group is asking for all city staff positions to be bilingual, “I
fundamentally disagree with that,” he said. “We don’t need to have every
plow operator and planner being able to speak fluently in both
languages.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Mayor
Watson said that since the city was amalgamated in 2001, there have
been fewer than 50 complaints per year, on average, relating to language
issues.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">From
time to time there are mistakes, on signage, for example, but these are
fixed promptly. “We’re not perfect, but the level of service that we
offer in both languages is very good,” he said. “We’re the only city
that’s required to have an official language policy. We have everything
from a francophone caucus of council to a French-language advisory
committee.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">De
Courville Nicol said it would be unrealistic to ask all city employees
to be bilingual, but French-language services could be increased and
French could be a more accepted language of work in city offices and
communications. The city could also encourage local businesses to deal
in both official languages, he said.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“It’s
not a question of grabbing the Anglophones by the throat and saying,
‘You’re not speaking French. You’re not going to be in business long,’ ”
he said, “but being more forthright in asking them to respect Canada’s
two official languages.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">For
Coun. Mathieu Fleury of the Rideau-Vanier ward, home to many
franco-Ontarians, the idea of official bilingualism is a good one.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“We
have a lot of English-speakers who are open to that dual linguistic
reality of our country and our city,” he said. “There seems to be
momentum, and a lot of interest in the French community. But it’s very
important to take it as a community-building tool and not a dividing
one.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">He said he hopes to see public discussion about the practical implications of an official bilingualism policy.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Marc
Aubin, who is running in the upcoming municipal elections for the same
ward, said he believes De Courville Nicol’s movement is heroic.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">The
fact that Ottawa isn’t yet officially bilingual is “sad for Ottawa as a
city and quite embarrassing,” he said. “I think it’s unfair for
the mayor to decide for the francophone community in the city whether
the policy that’s in place is enough.”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Aubin
said he would like to see more presentations made at city council in
French, fewer errors made in official translations, and a greater
emphasis placed on francophone heritage in neighbourhoods such
as Vanier, Lowertown and Orléans.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">De
Courville Nicol’s movement is not the first group to go down this road,
said Michael Behiels, an emeritus professor of Canadian history and
politics at the University of Ottawa.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“I
hope they can get organized and get broader support, but I’m not naive
and I’m not overly idealistic, having watched these battles,” he said,
adding that even in Moncton, where a significant Acadian population
supported official bilingualism, creating the policy was a struggle.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">Behiels said the fact that Gatineau is unilingual French and unlikely to become bilingual doesn’t help.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">“That’s
the kind of asymmetry that a lot of Ottawa English-speakers would find
difficult to swallow,” he said, especially since many people live in one
city but work in the other.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)">According
to Statistics Canada, which views Ottawa and Gatineau as one major
metropolitan census area, nearly 600,000 people in the region report
English as their mother tongue; about 384,000 say it’s French. Almost
16,700 say both.</span></p><p style="line-height:14.25pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Georgia','serif';color:rgb(51,51,51)"><a href="http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/movement-pushes-for-official-bilingualism-policy-in-ottawa">http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/movement-pushes-for-official-bilingualism-policy-in-ottawa</a><br>
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