What Are Language Rights?

• Date: 22 August 2023
• Author: Michel Bastarache

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What Are Language Rights?

Language rights have always been a subject of controversy in Canada.

Even though most Canadians have come to realize that bilingualism

must be respected if Canada is to survive as a nation, very few of them

know what language rights have been recognized or what political

confrontations they have engendered before and after Confederation.

Jurisdiction over languages was not given to any order of govern-

ment in the Constitution Act, . is allows the federal government

and the provinces and territories to each enact measures dealing with

language in their various areas of jurisdiction. While the history of

these measures will be discussed in chapters  to , this chapter will

present an outline of language rights as they exist today.

Legal measures dealing with language are complex, and they

have given rise to many judicial proceedings. While the courts once

hewed to a restrictive interpretation of the scope of language rights,

recent rulings have discredited this approach. It is now recognized

that language rights have both a collective and individual aspect,

that they are restorative in nature, and that they must be interpreted

in a way that is consistent with the preservation and development

of ocial language communities in Canada.

Most importantly, language rights are fundamental rights. ey

are not mere accommodations, and they cannot be denied due to