Official languages in Alberta.

• Author: Munro, Kenneth
• Position: Letter to the editor

Sir:

I have read the article by Professor Aunger on "The Constitution of Canada and the Official Status of French in Alberta" in the Summer issue of the Review as well as the Rejoinder by A. Neitsch in the Autumn issue. I would like to add my thoughts to this exchange and like Professor Aunger, I was also an expert witness in the Caron case.

Professor Aunger and Alfred Neitsch are two political scientists who disagree over whether both English and French should be official languages in the province of Alberta. To substantiate his argument that the French and English languages are entrenched in the Alberta constitution, Professor Aunger re-writes history. To support his argument that English should be the only official language in multi-cultural Alberta, Neitsch advocates majority rule without any consideration for minority rights. While both social scientists put forward essential truths about the province's past, both arguments are flawed because they fail to present and see the whole story of Alberta.

Although Aunger attempts to use the constitution to justify his thesis, he misconstrues the nature of the 1870 Order-in-Council signed by Queen Victoria. To support his argument, he cites a ruling of the Alberta Provincial Court in 2008. In that judgment, the Provincial Court stated that the Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order (an integral part of the Constitution of Canada, as defined by the Constitution Act, 1982) guaranteed the official status of the French language in Alberta. However, the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife (Public Denominational District Education Authority) v. Eucher, [2008] challenges Aunger's views with respect to linguistic rights. Although the case before the Appeal Court of the Northwest Territories focused on schooling, it is also applicable to the question of French rights. The Court's analysis and conclusion about the 1867 Address by Canada's parliament and the Queen's 1870 Order sets out the undertakings the Parliament of Canada was willing to assume as a condition of the transfer of the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land to Canada.

In its decision, the Court stated that "Parliament's obligations, if any, relate only to its agreeing to govern and legislate for the territories, protect legal rights through courts of competent jurisdiction and settle aboriginal land claims." (It should be noted that French linguistic rights were not specifically mentioned...