In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Time to Stop/Arret bilingualism?

(Ottawa Citizen) A union at the University of Ottawa was supposed to vote yesterday to decide whether to drop the university's bilingual fluency requirement. The motion failed to pass, but only because the teaching assistant's union lost quorum before the vote. Currently, all those standing for executive union positions must be fluently bilingual, as the school is officially bilingual. But only one third of the school's population is francophone, and anglophone students say they're finding it difficult to find representation when they need it. Francophones on campus say the move towards unilingualism is one more step towards assimilation in what used to be a largely French-speaking school. Dropping bilingualism in Canada raises serious questions of what it means to be a bilingual country - in appearance or in actuality.

1.

How this all got started

Canadian Heritage
For those who don't remember a time when Canada wasn't officially bilingual (probably most university students), the Government of Canada has provided this handy-dandy chart tracing bilingualism in Canada from the British North America Act to 2003 Action Plan for Official Languages. It's a fairly comprehensive history of government action on the subject, with links to relevant acts on the government website. And because Canadian Heritage is a government department, you can read it en francais with the click of your mouse.

2.

Still don’t know what we’re talking about?

The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia is exactly what it sounds like: an encyclopedic source of all things Canadian. Since it was first published in 1985, the Canadian Encyclopedia has strived to be "the most comprehensive, objective and accurate source of information on Canada for students, readers and scholars across Canada and throughout the world." And what could be more Canadian than bilingualism (or isn't that the point)? This particular entry sheds light on history, conflicts, issues and modern day ideals of bilingualism in Canada.

3.

Speaking of students...

Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is a national organization run by the Government of Canada that collects statistical data about the country. While collecting statistics is a governmental responsibility, Statistics Canada strives to provide objective information for and about Canadians. That's why this survey of bilingualism in Canadian youth is interesting. It's not about university bilingualism, but the findings on language-education and immersion environments are fascinating in light of events at the University of Ottawa.

4.

Francophone life in Canada

Francophonie Canadienne
In Nova Scotia we don't always hear of francophone issues first in our daily papers. This site is dedicated to both studying and informing French Canadian life. It's a joint effort between the Quebec government and many French-speaking universities, and functions as a centre for research on francophone issues. It's an enormously dense and interesting site. But you may have guessed the one catch: it's only available in French.

5.

Let’s let the kids decide this one

SEVEC
The Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada is a national charity that organizes exchanges and forums for Canadian youth. For more than 70 years SEVEC has been focused on helping Canadian teenagers experience and understand diversity and cultural issues in Canada. In 2008 SEVEC held 13 forums across the country on what bilingualism means to young Canadians. And then they posted this super-happy after school special video on YouTube. Don't believe in bilingualism? Just listen to these kids.