The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, an office of the Canadian government, is responsible for achieving the objectives of, and promoting, Canada's Official Languages Act.
This office actually evolved from Trudeau's effort to appease Quebec separatists rather than having them expelled from the country or jailed as traitors. Through the Constitution Act of 1982, Trudeau pushed through the The Charter of Rights and Freedoms which included what the majority of Canadians would see as several perversions of accepted equalities for Canadian Citizens. Most laws and acts represent the population based on the majority of overall accepted views of rights and the government's responsibility to protect those rights. However, Trudeau included 9 of 34 sections of the charter that dealt specifically with giving the French population identical protection of rights and representation in government and services. This meant that English speaking Canadians (over 90% of the population) would have to pay for the government to operate in a bilingual capacity to serve French speaking Canadians (less than 8% of the population). It also meant giving french-speaking Canadians first opportunity for all government jobs which has led to a snowball effect with French-speaking public servants pushing for French dominance across Canada through their positions in the government.
The 1988 Official Languages Act mandates this office and its commissioner, who holds office for seven years. Its mission has three main objectives: ensuring the equality of English and French within the Government of Canada and institutions subject to the Act; preserving and developing official language communities; and ensuring the equality of English and French in Canadian society at large.
The downfall of this office is that it accomplishes the opposite of its intended purpose through language policing. Archaic and undemocratic laws that force language-use on citizens only serve to bring attention to just how obsolete the dying language really is. It is obvious that there are several other languages spoken by a larger percentages of Canada's population than French.
From 1999 to 2006, the commissioner was Dr. Dyane Adam, who was born in Casselman, Ontario, and holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa. After the federal election of January 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper requested that Dr. Adam prolong her term by a few months to give him time to find a suitable replacement. On September 13, he nominated Graham Fraser for the post.
Read more about Office Of The Commissioner Of Official Languages: Commissioners of Official Languages
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