Name ________________________________ Date ___________________________
Activity 4.2 Key
What Collective Rights Do Official Language Groups Have Under the Charter?
1. I can explain what collective rights official language groups have under the
Charter.
A. What are official language minorities?
 Official language minorities are those people who do not speak the
language of the majority in a province.
 Ex. Francophone outside of Quebec, Anglophone inside Quebec
B. Une Eleve Parle
 The CCRF section 23 rights enables official language minorities a
right to an education in their language provided the numbers warrant
it. (enough students)
 Francophone schools affirm the identity of French Canadians.
(recognized, respected, protected)
C. What is a Francophone School?
 Francophones schools provide education for a student whose first
language is French and differs from immersion schools who teach
Anglophone students in French.
 Living en Anglais
 In Quebec City, only 5% of the population is Anglophone and
Quebec High offers instruction in English and functions in a similar
fashion as Francophone schools in Alberta.
D. What are the Charter rights of official language groups?
i.
Official bilingualism – Sections 16 to 20
ii.
Minority language education rights – Section 23 ensures publicly
funded schools for officially bilingual language groups where numbers
are sufficient.
E. The rights of Francophones in Canada today reflect the deep roots of
Francophones in Canada’s past.
 1774 – Quebec Act
 1867 – British North America Act
 1969 – The Official Languages Act
 1982 – The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Name ________________________________ Date ___________________________
Activity 4.2 Key
F. How has the Charter affected Francophone education?
i.
Where do the Charter rights of official language groups come
from?
Charter rights for the official language groups come from the BNA Act
of 1867 whereby, Canada was established as a bicultural and bilingual
nation (Parliament). Moreover, it guaranteed the English speaking
Protestant minority in Quebec and the French speaking Catholic
minority in the rest of Canada the right to public schools.
G. Did YOU KNOW?
Two legislations called into question the right of official language minorities:
Manitoba School Act, 1892
Haultain Resolution and North-West Territories
Ordinance Number 22
Got rid of publicly funded Catholic
Schools and made Manitoba an
officially Anglophone province.
The resolution made the Territories’
assembly officially English and the
ordinance demanded that school
instruction would be in English.
H. The Charter and Official Language Minority Education Rights
When the Constitution was brought home by Trudeau in 1982, the federal
government renewed its commitment to official language rights by the
enactment of section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I. The Charter and Francophone Education rights in Alberta
In Alberta, the section 23 has affected Francophone Schools and its
boards. First, by 1983, parents begin to lobby for official minority language
schools. Today there are 26 Francophone schools in the province. Next, in
1990, the Supreme Court affirms a Francophone parent challenge to
establish Francophone school boards. Today, there are 25 Francophone
school boards outside of Quebec.
Name ________________________________ Date ___________________________
Activity 4.2 Key
J. Putting Francophone Rights into Action
To put your rights into action you first need to understand them and then
educate people as to what they mean. In the case of section 23 of the
Charter this put some people’s noses out of joint but it was essential to
maintaining a Francophone identity. The majority of people don’t require
official supports to maintain their identity because they are already there.
However, minorities require these supports to avoid being assimilated
which allows them the chance to legitimize their cultural identity.
K. How does the Charter affect Francophone identity in Quebec?
Quebec through it introduction of Bill 101 sought to stop businesses from
using English on their signs and to prevent immigrant and Francophones
from attending any schools other than Francophone. The Supreme Court,
under Freedom of expression allowed English to appear on signs in a less
prominent way than French on business signs. Next, it ruled against
immigrants seeking Anglophone schools sighting section 23 which intent is
to protect Francophone identity however, if the immigrant already had
English educational instruction they could continue it.