Document Information

Date: 1978-10-30
By: William G. Davis
Citation: Federal-Provincial Conference of First Ministers on the Constitution, Language Rights, A Statement by the Honourable William G. Davis, Premier of Ontario, Doc 800-8/032 (Ottawa: 30 October-1 November 1978).
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).

DOCUMENT: 800-8/032

Ontario

LANGUAGE RIGHTS

A STATEMENT BY THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM G. DAVIS

PREMIER OF ONTARIO

TO THE

FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE OF FIRST MINISTERS

ON THE CONSTITUTION

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1978

LANGUAGE RIGHTS

CANADA IS A COUNTRY WHOSE ORIGINAL EUROPEAN
SETTLERS WERE PEOPLE MAINLY FROM BRITAIN AND FRANCE. TODAY,
CANADA IS ALSO A COUNTRY OF PEOPLE FROM MANY OTHER LANDS AND
MANY OTHER CULTURES.

NOT WITHOUT DIFFICULTY, YET IN A REMARKABLE WAY,
ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE MANAGED TO LIVE TOGETHER AND CONTRIBUTE
RICHLY TO THE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS
COUNTRY.

WE HAVE, IN FACT, BECOME A COUNTRY WITH TWO MAIN
LANGUAGES AND MANY CULTURES, BUT THESE LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
ARE NOT REPRESENTED EVENLY ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THOSE ARE THE
FACTS OF OUR COUNTRY, AND INDEED THE REALITY OF OUR
NATIONHOOD.

WHEN IT COMES TO OUR CONSTITUTION, THE ISSUE IS HOW
DO WE BEST EXPRESS IN IT THESE TWO GREAT DIMENSIONS OF CANADA
— OUR BILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE?

THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS, BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE
TO OUTLINE IN THIS INITIAL DISCUSSION ARE SOME CONSTRUCTIVE
DIRECTIONS WE MIGHT TAKE BEFORE WE GET INTO ANY CONSIDERATION
OF THE FINE PRINT OF CONSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE. LET US FIRST
DISCUSS AND AGREE ON THESE DIRECTIONS, AND THEN CONCERN
OURSELVES ABOUT HOW WE EXPRESS OUR AGREEMENT IN WORDS.

WHAT IS FAIR AND REASONABLE TO EXPECT FROM
ACROSS THIS COUNTRY ON MINORITY LANGUAGE RIGHTS AND SERVICES?

I THINK THAT WE ARE ALL AGREED ON A COMMON
OBJECTIVE. WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE PROTECTION, MAINTENANCE,
AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR OFFICIAL MINORITIES ACROSS CANADA
AND IN EACH PROVINCE. WHAT, THEN, IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE
METHOD OF DELIVERING THIS COMMITMENT?

FIRST, ONTARIO BELIEVES THAT THE
CONSTITUTION SHOULD CONTAIN A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT ENGLISH
AND FRENCH ARE THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF CANADA.

SECOND, IT IS OUR VIEW THAT THE CONSTITUTION
SHOULD PROVIDE FOR THE RIGHT OF CANADIANS TO USE ENGLISH OR
FRENCH IN OUR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND WITH REGARD TO
FEDERAL SERVICES.

THIRD, BECAUSE OF DIVERSE DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS,
IT IS MY VIEW THAT, AT THE PROVINCIAL LEVEL, EACH GOVERNMENT
SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES ACCORDING
TO THE NEEDS OF ITS RESIDENTS.

OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG ENOUGH TO ENCOMPASS AND
EMBRACE DIVERSITY IN MANY RESPECTS, AND THIS IS NO
EXCEPTION. IT IS ALSO MATURE ENOUGH TO ASK ITS MAJORITY
TO RESPECT AND ENCOURAGE THE RIGHTS OF ITS MINORITY,
GIVEN OUR BASIC COMMITMENT, I AM COMPLETELY CONFIDENT
THAT WE WILL HAVE AN ENDURING RESULT.

IN ONTARIO, WE ARE COMMITTED TO A POLICY OF
PROVIDING FRENCH LANGUAGE SERVICES WHERE NUMBERS WARRANT
AND WHERE THERE IS DEMONSTRATED NEED.

THIS IS OUR POLICY. IT IS PRAGMATIC AND
PROGRESSIVE. IT IS THE WAY OUR PEOPLE WANT IT DONE. IT
IS THE WAY WE WILL DO IT.

OUR RECORD IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IS A GOOD
ILLUSTRATION OF HOW WE ARE CARRYING OUT THIS POLICY.

IN 1969 THE FIRST FRENCH-LANGUAGE PUBLIC
SECONDARY SCHOOLS WERE ESTAVLISHED, AND IN 1972 AND 1973
THE COUNCIL ON FRENCH-LANGUAGE SCHOOLS AND THE LANGUAGES
OF INSTRUCTION COMMISSION WERE CREATED. RECENTLY, THE
GOVERNMENT INCREASED ITS ASSISTANCE TO MINORITY LANGUAGE
EDUCATION AT THE ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND POST-SECONDARY
LEVELS. MORE THAN 100,000 ONTARIO STUDENTS ARE NOW TAKING
THEIR EDUCATION IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE, AND THE GOVERNMENT
HAS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED $3 MILLION PROGRAM TO PROVIDE
INCREASED FRENCH-LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS.

IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT IN RESPONSE TO A
DEMONSTRATED NEED, WE HAVE MADE SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS IN
PROVIDING EDUCATIONAL SERVICES TO OUR FRANCOPHONE
POPULATION.

MOREOVER, RECOGNIZING THAT EDUCATION IS THE
ONLY SECURE FOUNDATION ON WHICH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
DEVELOP, IT IS OUR BELIEF THAT, AT THIS POINT, THE RIGHT
TO MINORITY LANGUAGE EDUCATION SHOULD BE EXPLICITLY
GUARANTEED IN A NEW CONSTITUTION.

IN CLOSING, I OFFER THIS ASSURANCE – THAT THE
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE RIGHT AND
LEGITIMATE NEEDS OF ITS FRANCOPHONE RESIDENTS. WE WILL
CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FRENCH LANGUAGE SERVICES IN RESPONSE TO
DEMONSTRATED NEED AND WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR OUR MINORITY LANGUAGE POPULATION. WE ARE COMMITTED TO A
PROCESS THAT DOES NOT DIVIDE PEOPLE, BUT RATHER TEACHES THEM
TO APPRECIATE AND RESPECT EACH OTHER NATURALLY AND WITH A
MINIMUM OF RULES.

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