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Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa [7] Royal Military College Paladins Bilingual (English/French) Scoreboard, inner field, Royal Military College of Canada [8] Bilingual (French/English) sign for Preston Street (rue Preston) in Ottawa, placed above a sign marking that the street is in Little Italy, an example of bilingualism at the municipal government level [9
1964: A private member's bill, initiated by Liberal backbencher Jean Chrétien, gives Canada's state-owned airline, Trans-Canada Air Lines, the new bilingual name "Air Canada," starting a trend of giving bilingual names to federal institutions which formerly had borne English-only names.
The Official Languages Act was one of the cornerstones of the government of Pierre Trudeau.The law was an attempt to implement some of the policy objectives outlined by the federally commissioned Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which had been established in 1963 and since that time had been issuing periodic reports on the inequitable manner in which Canada's English ...
Prime Minister Pearson's policy statement on bilingualism was strengthened by the Official Languages Act, 1969, making Canada an officially bilingual nation. The provinces were also recommended to make reforms, and many did. Canada's education system was overhauled and school children across the country were made to learn both languages.
Until 1969, Quebec was the only officially bilingual province in Canada and most public institutions functioned in both languages. English was also used in the legislature, government commissions and courts. An Act to promote the French language in Québec was passed in 1969 by the Union Nationale government of Jean-Jacques Bertrand.
However, this trend has reversed itself in recent decades. Today, French is the first official language of 23% of Canada's population, [1] with 29.2% of Public Service of Canada employees identifying French as their first official language, [2] including 32% of management-level jobs. [3]
A bilingual (English and French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.An example of bilingualism at the federal government level. Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the first of several sections of the Constitution dealing with Canada's two official languages, English and French.
The beginnings of the development of Canada's contemporary policy of multiculturalism can be traced to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which was established on July 19, 1963 by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in response to the grievances of Canada's French-speaking minority. [19]