The Decline of Official Language Minorities in Quebec and English Canada

1982 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderic P. Beaujot
Keyword(s):  
English Canada ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Minorities

The Official Language Problem

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Pool
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Policy Maker ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Problem ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Elegant Solution

Polities and organizations use and require particular languages for official business. The choice of official languages is a vexing issue. Theorists, convinced that a fair language policy cannot be efficient, have despaired of an elegant solution. To investigate this apparent dilemma, I mathematically model the problem of choosing an efficient and fair language policy for a plurilingual polity. The policy designates official languages and taxes the language groups to pay for translation among the official languages. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, this model implies that a fair language policy can be efficient. But what if language groups rationally misrepresent the costs of using a nonnative official language? Even then, the policy maker can discover a fair language policy and, under some conditions, can use a cost-revelation procedure that discovers a fair and efficient language policy. The results challenge the claim that efficiency and practicality excuse the inferior treatment of language minorities.

scholarly journals Determinants of self-rated health of Francophone seniors in a minority situation in Canada

2013 ◽  
pp. 144-170
Author(s):  
Hubert Tote Alimezelli ◽  
Anne Leis ◽  
Chandima Karunanayake ◽  
Wilfrid Denis
Keyword(s):  
Minority Language ◽  
The Self ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Linguistic Barriers ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Health Institutions ◽  
Developed Nations

Current trends show that governments and health institutions in Canada and other developed nations are responding inadequately to the growing need for health services of the increasingly aging population. The Analysis of Statistics Canada’s 2006 post-census Survey on the Vitality of Official Language Minorities show that in addition to age and other socio-demographic determinants, linguistic barriers affect the self-rated health of seniors of official languages living in a minority situation. This study suggests among other things a greater understanding of Official language minorities’ contextual realities, the improvement of both the linguistic environment and services in the minority language.

scholarly journals Les droits linguistiques canadiens en évolution

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-238
Author(s):  
D’Iberville Fortier
Keyword(s):  
Royal Commission ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Quiet Revolution ◽  
Federal Level ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Common Basis ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Droits Linguistiques

The Commissioner of Official Languages presents the evolution of linguistic rights from the time of Confederation up to the period of the Quiet Revolution in Québec. This survey dwells upon guarantees granted to linguistic minorities in Canada. At the Federal level of government, the author describes the consequences of the Royal Commission of Enquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism : The Official Languages Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At the provincial level of government, he draws up an overall account of the factual integration of these laws. His observations lead him to conclude that Canada will never be a homogeneous country with regard to linguistic rights and that minority aid systems are deficient. As a solution, the author underscores the timeliness of Federal-provincial arrangements with a view to creating specific development projects for official language minorities in accordance with local needs, but founded upon a common basis.

scholarly journals Impact of Language Barriers on Quality of Care and Patient Safety for Official Language Minority Francophones in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle de Moissac ◽  
Sarah Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Language Barriers ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Delayed Treatment ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Canadian Provinces

Introduction: The risks to patient safety and quality of care faced by members of linguistic minority groups have been well-documented. However, little research has focused on the experience of official language minorities in Canada. Methods: This multiple method study (online and paper-based surveys combined with semi-structured individual interviews with patients and interpreters-health navigators) explored the experience of minority Francophones living in 4 Canadian provinces. Results: Patients and interpreters-navigators described experiences where language barriers contributed to poorer patient assessment, misdiagnosis and/or delayed treatment, incomplete understanding of patient condition and prescribed treatment, and impaired confidence in services received. Reliance on Google Translate and ad hoc, untrained interpreters are commonly reported, in spite of evidence highlighting the risks associated with such practice. Conclusion: Increased awareness that the risks of language barriers apply to official language minorities is essential.

scholarly journals La modification constitutionnelle de 1987, la reconnaissance du Québec comme société distincte et la dualité linguistique du Canada

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-63
Author(s):  
José Woehrling
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
The Other ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Division Of Powers ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
La Modification

On June 3, 1987, the Prime Minister of Canada and the ten provincial premiers signed the 1987 Constitutional Accord in which they agreed to amend the Canadian Constitution in order to meet the Quebec government's conditions for adherence to the Constitution Act, 1982. The recognition of Canada's linguistic duality and of Quebec as a distinct society were among the constitutional amendments agreed upon. These clauses continue to spark controversy, with some commentators claiming that the terms used in the Accord are too ambiguous, while others argue that their insertion in the Constitution will give rise to politically undesirable results. The author considers the meaning of these clauses and presents an historical account of the notions of “duality” and “distinct society” by analyzing their essential elements. He argues that if governments have recognized duality in order to protect the official language minorities, the purpose of the clause dealing with the protection and promotion of Quebec's distinct society is to maintain and develop its Francophone character. Where these two objectives conflict, the clause in the Constitutional Accord recognizing Canada's linguistic duality will prevail. The Accord's potential impact on the division of legislative powers and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are also examined. In the author's opinion, the division of powers will not be modified; however, the recognition of duality and of Quebec as a distinct society may limit the potentially centralizing effects of the Charter. On the other hand, by relying on the duality clause, the courts will be able — should they so desire — to give the Charter's language guarantees a broader interpretation than they have until now been accorded. The author concludes by considering the possible interplay between the linguistic duality and the distinct society clauses once they are entrenched, and the multiculturalism clause (section 27 of the Charter,).

scholarly journals The Future of Official Language Minorities

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Joseph Eliot Magnet
Keyword(s):  
Official Language ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
The Future ◽  
Développement Économique

Quelle est la situation actuelle des langues minoritaires au Canada ? Tandis que les communautés de francophones hors Québec n'ont cessé de décroître depuis le siècle dernier, celle des anglophones du Québec avait su se maintenir jusqu'à récemment. Cependant l'avènement de la Charte de la langue française a modifié considérablement la situation. Tout cela nous amène à nous interroger à savoir si les minorités linguistiques survivront au Canada. Pour cela, il faudrait que ces minorités soient centralisées territorialement et que soient mises sur pied des institutions permettant l'usage de leur langue, telles des écoles, des structures gouvernementales, culturelles et économiques. La grande lacune au Canada en matière de protection des communautés linguistiques se situe au plan du développement économique. Le gouvernement, en implantant des centres de recherches et des services spécialisés au sein d'une communauté minoritaire, assurerait sa subsistance.

The Leadership of Heritage: Searching for a Meaningful Theory in Official-Language Minority Settings

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Lapointe ◽  
Lyse Langlois ◽  
Jeanne Godin
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Language Minority ◽  
French Language ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Official Language Minority

This article has two purposes: the first is to give a voice to school leaders in official-language minority schools; the second is to present an empirically based critical analysis of some of the main current models in the field of educational leadership in order to verify whether they are relevant in official-language minority settings. This original perspective is gleaned from a research project that is currently being conducted in official French-language minority schools across Canada. The article presents a brief explanation of the Canadian context with regard to the constitutional rights of official-language minorities to education in their language, describes the method used to conduct the first phase of the research project, and presents some of the main findings.

scholarly journals L'expérience canadienne et québécoise de révision constitutionnelle : leçons et perspectives

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Morin
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Canada ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Canadian Federalism ◽  
Selection Of

The author suggests various answers to two questions dealing with constitutional reform in Quebec and Canada. The first question is : What can be learned from the experience of Quebec and Canada in the field of constitutional reform ? The author makes two suggestions which underscore the following : the concern with constitutional matters has been greater in Quebec than anywhere else in Canada i.e., in part because the conception of federalism in Quebec differs from that of English-Canada, despite the use of the same words. In discussions about constitutional reform, priorities have been different for Quebec and for the rest of Canada. None of the serial discussions about constitutional reform has given Quebec the type of federalism that it wants ; Ottawa falls back upon federal official language and bilingualism policies as a placebo for an in-depth reform of federalism. The second question is : what is the present perspective for Quebec ? Here, a distinction must be made between what should be done and what could be done. What should be done includes, among other things : recognition in the Constitution of the existence in Quebec of a distinct society ; new separation of federal and provincial powers : veto right for Quebec to constitutional amendments excepting in matters regarding federal institutions ; selection of members of the Senate by the provinces. As to what could be done, let it be said that most of these reforms would probably not be accepted by the other governments in Canada because they would probably modify Canadian federalism.

The Politics of Arabic in Israel

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camelia Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
The One

Arabic became a minority language in Israel in 1948, as a result of the Palestinian exodus from their land that year. Although it remains an official language, along with Hebrew, Israel has made continued attempts to marginalise Arabic on the one hand, and secutise it on the other. The book delves into these tensions and contradictions, exploring how language policy and language choice both reflect and challenge political identities of Arabs and Israelis. It combines qualitative methods not commonly used together in the study of Arabic in Israel, including ethnography, interviews with journalists and students, media discussions, and analysis of the production of knowledge on Arabic in Israeli academia.

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