Denver Journal of International Law & Policy Volume 27 Number 3 Summer Article 4 May 2020 Schools, Signs, and Separation: Quebec Anglophones, Canadian Constitutional Politics, and International Language Rights William Green Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp Recommended Citation William Green, Schools, Signs, and Separation: Quebec Anglophones, Canadian Constitutional Politics, and International Language Rights, 27 Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y 449 (1999). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Journal of International Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. SCHOOLS, SIGNS, AND SEPARATION: QUEBEC ANGLOPHONES, CANADIAN CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS, AND INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE RIGHTS WILLIAM GREEN* I. INTRODUCTION Contemporary Canadian politics has been defined by Quebec's vi- sion of the province as a linguistically distinct society and by its 1980 and 1995 sovereignty referendums.' Quebec's rejection of Canada as a bilingual nation, embodied in the 1982 Charter of Rights and Free- doms, 2 and Canada's obsession with keeping Quebec in Canada have, however, left unexamined the impact of the province's language policies on its anglophone minority. In Quebec, the enactment of the Charter of the French Language 3 and the government's promotion of a French cul- ture have intruded upon the Canadian Charter freedom of its anglo- phones to conduct their business in English and their Canadian Char- ter right to have their children educated in English.4 In response, the * William Green, Professor of Government, Morehead State University; J.D., University of Kentucky, 1984; Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1977; and M.A.