[lg policy] Canada: 40th Anniversary of the Official Languages Act

[Harold Schiffman]

40th Anniversary of the Official Languages Act



A Lever of Change


“But that conference has always been held in English.” That was the
rather unenthusiastic reply that Louis-Philippe Albert got from his
boss when he suggested that the provincial 4-H conference take place
in French as well. The proposal was quite logical since the event
brought together young anglophones and francophones from all over the
province. At the time, though, English and French were not officially
on equal footing in New Brunswick. Back in 1967, Louis-Philippe Albert
was a young agrologist with the provincial Department of Agriculture
who had arrived in Fredericton a few years earlier. He remembers the
virtual absence of French in the capital city at the time. “People
speaking French stood out like a sore thumb,” recalls Louis-Philippe.
“They were considered foreigners.”

While Louis-Philippe’s boss showed little interest in his proposal,
the young people were very receptive. Louis-Philippe dared to stick to
his guns, and the conference was held in English and French. Other
civil servants would not have had the guts to do it. But all that
would change thanks to the first Official Languages Act. Daring would
be replaced by exercising a right. At the Heart of the Official
Languages Act, the Notion of Equality…

In the 1960s, strong winds of change and equality were blowing
throughout the world, including New Brunswick. The Premier, Louis J.
Robichaud, undertook a vast program of social reform known as Equal
Opportunity. Its goal was simple: ensure equal access to quality
public services for all citizens. Those services (education, health,
social services) had until then been provided by county councils
through local taxation. Rich regions were able to offer quality public
services while keeping taxes low, whereas poor regions struggled to
offer the bare minimum while at the same time taxing the population
heavily. To put an end to that inequality, Louis J. Robichaud’s
government eliminated county councils, reformed taxation, and
centralized public services within the provincial government.

For Robert Pichette, former Executive Assistant to Premier Robichaud,
the Official Languages Act was a logical extension of that notion of
equality. “Louis Robichaud knew he would bring in official languages
legislation one day, but the timing was another story,” said the
Premier’s former right-hand man. “That legislation was part of his
social equality agenda.”

… and the Issue of National Unity

The notion of equality was no less present at the heart of the work of
the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, also known as
the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission. In 1963, the Commission began
criss-crossing the country looking for ways to restore a degree of
harmony between anglophone and francophone communities. One of its
objectives was to recommend measures enabling the Canadian federation
to develop on the basis of linguistic equality. In 1967, it
recommended in particular that New Brunswick and Ontario recognize
English and French as official languages for their province.

Spurred on by the desire to recognize the equality of his province’s
two official languages and contribute to national unity, Louis J.
Robichaud seized the opportunity to make New Brunswick the first – and
the only – officially bilingual province.

Laying the Cards on the Table

The Premier carefully prepared the minds of the public for the
introduction of official languages legislation. He began by announcing
his intentions in the Speech from the Throne of January 27, 1968.
Next, a motion was debated in the Legislative Assembly. And on
December 4, 1968, a White Paper outlining the content of the future
legislation was presented to the members.

Entitled Statement on Language Equality and Opportunity, the White
Paper set out in detail the rationale of an official languages act. It
described how the act would be implemented, indicated that financial
support from the federal government would be necessary, and noted that
the success of the undertaking depended as much on the population’s
goodwill as on regulations. It even contained excerpts from an address
by Queen Elizabeth II in favour of a harmonious dialogue between the
communities: “True patriotism does not exclude an understanding of the
patriotism of others….” The White Paper also sought to reassure those
who might fear the effects of official bilingualism, stating that its
aim was to ensure that “no unilingual New Brunswicker finds himself at
a disadvantage in participating in the public life of our Province.”

A First in Canada

At last, one fine day in April 1969, Premier Robichaud introduced Bill
73 dealing with New Brunswick’s official languages.

The document was short, consisting of only four pages. However, its
content was dense. The bill stated that English and French were the
official languages of New Brunswick and possessed and that both
languages enjoyed equality of status and equal rights and privileges.
And there was more. The bill provided that the provincial government
had to serve citizens in the language of their choice when so
requested. Before a court, citizens could be heard in their official
language of choice. The bill also confirmed that classes had to be
arranged such that the students’ mother tongue was the chief language
of instruction. It is interesting to note that the future legislation
would apply to the entire province and not just to certain regions.
The Premier therefore did not support the concept of bilingual regions
that would later be used in the federal official languages
legislation.

On April 12, 1969, after only a few days of debate, the members of the
Legislative Assembly passed New Brunswick's first Official Languages
Act, and they did so unanimously. The Leader of the Official
Opposition, Richard Hatfield, and all of his members supported the
bill introduced by Louis J. Robichaud.

New Brunswick therefore became the first province to declare itself
officially bilingual, and in so doing, Fredericton stole the limelight
from Ottawa: the Canadian Parliament passed the federal Official
Languages Act a few months later.

One Act, Two Communities, a Variety of Reactions

As might be expected, the first Official Languages Act generated some
very favourable reactions in the francophone community. As an article
in the daily newspaper L'Évangéline put it, “After such a long time,
it is hard to believe that, finally, French and English will be on an
equal footing in New Brunswick, clearly and unmistakably.”
[Translation]

In the anglophone community, opinions were more varied. “The
advancement of French aroused concern among certain anglophones,”
recalls Louis-Philippe Albert. “The fear of the unknown.”

Jackie Webster was a journalist in Fredericton in 1969 and wrote
regularly for The Globe and Mail. She remembers perfectly the
atmosphere at the time. “It was a big story, because there was so much
to write about. There were all kinds of different views,” she said.
“The Richard Hatfield elements saw it as absolutely correct, were very
supportive, and they all saw the advantage of a second language. But
out in the communities, they were not nearly so supportive. They had
to be persuaded.”

She also recalls the fears that the legislation raised. “Work was one
of the things, and it is one of the things that is still there today.
Will the unilingual anglophones lose their jobs or would we all have
to be bilingual? The other was the cost. We are a poor province, and
that costs us a lot of money. The third thing was the thing that we
don’t want to acknowledge, any of us; but we all have it in various
ways: bias.”

Louis J. Robichaud was well aware of the biases against French. And it
was not just the highly publicized opposition of the mayor of Moncton,
Leonard Jones, to bilingualism. Robert Pichette remembers the day that
the Premier, flushed with anger, walked into his office and commanded
him to drive him to the Department of Fisheries. The Premier had
phoned his Minister of Fisheries, who had a bilingual secretary.
Believing that he was talking to her, Louis J. Robichaud had spoken
French. But the person on the other end of the line was not the
Minister’s secretary. After a moment, she said to the man whose voice
she had not recognized "Speak white." A few minutes later, that young
woman had a private conversation with the Premier.

>>From Words…to Actions

While the enactment of the first Official Languages Act took only a
short time, the same was not true of its implementation. That
represented a challenge from the financial, technical, and human
standpoints.

“The government couldn’t proclaim the whole thing because it didn’t
have the money,” said Robert Pichette. “It had to ask Ottawa for help.
Just imagine, all the province’s statutes had to be translated. That
was a huge job. You can’t proclaim the fact that you have the right to
be tried in French if the laws aren’t available in French.”

Another reason for the gradual implementation of the act was the need
to ensure that unilingual civil servants were not put at a
disadvantage by the introduction of bilingual services for the public.
It actually took until 1977 for all of the sections of the Official
Languages Act to come into force. It was therefore up to Richard
Hatfield, who won the 1970 election, to implement the fundamental
parts of the act, notably government services in both official
languages.

The Power of Symbols

A number of people thought that the 1969 act was more symbolic than
practical. The slow implementation of the act explains that to a large
extent, as does the way it was presented. In that regard, Louis J.
Robichaud said the following to the Canadian Press: “Much of what is
proposed in the bill has been already in effect traditionally, in some
cases, for generations. However, it is the aim of the bill to give
clear, unequivocal effect to provincial custom and convention.”

But symbols are powerful, and it is widely recognized today that the
first act marked the beginning of a major shift. For Louis-Philippe
Albert, this legislation led francophones to demand more. “At the
time, we were losing the productivity of many francophone farmers who
did not have access to technology transfer in their language,” he
explained. “The 1969 act legitimized the efforts we were making to
offer them services in French. There were some deeply rooted habits
that had to be changed, and francophones had to exercise their rights.
The act therefore helped us to move things along. We wouldn’t be where
we are today without that piece of legislation.”

This feature story has been produced by the Office of the Commissioner
of Official Languages for New Brunswick.

http://www.officiallanguages.nb.ca/40th.cfm?anni_id=7

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