What Collective Rights do Official Language Groups have under the Charter?

1. What Collective Rights do Official Language Groups have under the Charter? What are the collective rights of Francophones as set out in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

2. FrancophoneAnglophone A person whose first A person whose first Language is French language is English Each language group forms an Official Language Community - a group of people in Canadian society whose members speak an official language of Canada – French or English – as their first language An Official Language Minority is a group that speaks one of Canada’s official languages (English or French) and that does not make up the majority population of a province or territory

3. Why would Francophones living in Saint-Isidore in Alberta, be considered to be living in a “minority setting”? • What conclusions can you draw about Official Language Communities in Canada?

4. There are 2 rights guaranteed to official language groups in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms What are the Charter Rights of Official Language Groups? • Minority Language Education Rights • The Charter establishes the French-speaking or English-speaking minority populations of sufficient size in any province have the right to publicly funded (paid for by taxes and provided by the government) schools that serve their language community • Official Bilingualism • The Charter establishes French and English as official languages of Canada, and the right of Canadian citizens to conduct their affairs with the federal government in either official language

6. How has the Charter affected Francophone Education? Where do the Charter Rights of Official Language Groups Come From? Turn to page 146 in your textbook to find out: John A. Macdonald and George-Etienne Cartier forged the francophone-Anglophone alliance at the foundation of Confederation. They made the alliance for many reasons, including a desire to stay independent and distinct from the United states. This alliance would not have happened without a commitment to rights affirming francophone and Anglophone identity

7. What effect do you think the laws described in the “Did You Know”, would have on a minority language group?

8. The Charter and Official Language Minority Education Rights When Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sought to patriate Canada’s constitution in 1982, he saw an opportunity to renew Canada’s commitment to official language rights, established in the BNA Act in 1867 and in the Official Languages Act in 1969. He considered the section which set out the education rights of official language minorities to be particularly important.

10. Read the quote on page 149 of your textbook and answer the following questions: • How does official bilingualism help to create a society in which all Canadians belong? • In what way does collective rights build a society in which people of different identities and perspectives can belong?

11. How does the Charter affect Francophone Identity in Quebec? In 1977, Quebec’s government passed the Charte de la langue Francaise (Charter of the French Language), or bill 101, pictured on the next slide. This had a huge impact on Francophone identity in Quebec.