COMMISSIONER OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES Spring 2000 Volume 6, no. 1 ✑ A Word from the Commissioner -1- ✑ In Motion… Last December and as the resources available From Coast to Coast I asked for ideas, allow, we will try to meet -2- suggestions and your expectations. comments from ✑ On behalf of the Office of readers of the Commissioner I wish to Once Upon a Time… INFOACTION by means of a in Summerside thank you sincerely for questionnaire. As I stated, the responding so thoughtfully. It is a -3- Office of the Commissioner is ✑ sign that you really want currently considering ways INFOACTION to be a part You Answered to improve all of its of your reading. It will Our Questions communications continue to appear -4- with Canadians. regularly, along with ✑ INFOACTION is the four seasons. Files of the Day an integral part We hope you find -5- of this process. this Spring 2000 ✑ Many of you issue useful and The Complaint: responded to the invite you to A Tool for Change invitation. We contact us again. -7- have analyzed your The Office of the ✑ responses and found in Commissioner’s team needs you. them a gold mine of excellent On the Ground ideas. You will no doubt notice and in the Air that the current issue, while not -8- altering its appearance, has ✑ undergone some changes for the When You Were Three better. We have taken some of Years Old your comments and suggestions Dyane Adam -9- into account. Insofar as possible, ✑ Some Final Words -10- COMMISSIONER OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES Spring 2000 Vol. 6 – no. 1 IN MOTION… FROM COAST TO COAST The Commissioner of Official Languages, Dyane Commissioner is adopting with regard to the Adam, attaches the utmost importance to teamwork in organization’s mission and basic values. She also wants her effort to fulfil her mandate as effectively as possible. to inform them of her concerns regarding the approach and the working methods the Office should adopt. In her view, Canadians are all part of the extended team that supports her in carrying out her mandate. As well, the Commissioner would like Canadians to Accordingly, to start the first phase of her seven-year share with her their analysis of the principal official term, she undertook a round of cross-Canada languages issues. Finally, she will discuss the consultations. Commissioner’s annual report, based on a discussion paper prepared for this purpose. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, this round affords her the opportunity to meet with associations, individuals This cross-Canada tour, organized in close cooperation from all sectors of Canadian society, young and old, with the Commissioner’s five regional representatives, representatives of the media, etc. has already proven to be a highly rewarding exercise. First of all Dr. Adam wants to consult the persons she INFOACTION will keep you posted … from coast to is meeting on the directions the Office of the coast. Atlantic Region Manitoba and Heritage Court, Suite 410 Saskatchewan Region 95 Foundry Street Centre-Ville Building, Moncton, New Brunswick Suite 200 E1C 5H7 131 Provencher Boulevard Tel.: (506) 851-7047 Winnipeg, Manitoba 1 800 561-7109 Regional R2H 0G2 Quebec Region Tel.: (204) 983-2111 2021 Union Avenue, Suite 805 1 800 665-8731 Montreal, Quebec Offices Alberta, B.C., N.W.T. and H4Z 2S9 Yukon Region Tel.: (514) 283-4996 10055, 106th Street, 1 800 363-0628 Office of the Suite 620 Ontario Region Commissioner of Official Languages Edmonton, Alberta 438 University Avenue, Suite 1410 T5J 2Y2 P.O. Box 109 Tel.: (780) 495-3111 Toronto, Ontario 1 800 661-3642 M5G 2K8 Tel.: (416) 973-1903 1 800 387-0635 Note: The Nunavut territory is served by Headquarters. 2 COMMISSIONER OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES Spring 2000 Vol. 6 – no. 1 ONCE UPON A TIME … IN SUMMERSIDE their mother tongue.” And so the A true story! odyssey began. It involved hundreds If you heard them tell of the odyssey that took them from of meetings, their kitchen in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, to the interminable hours Supreme Court of Canada, you would call it a tall tale. Not at of reading, long all; it is a true story and one worth hearing! periods of waiting, victories and It was covered by all the media, on January 13, 2000, and in defeats, but the the days that followed. On that memorable day, the Supreme plan to fight for a From left to right: Pierre Foucher, Christian Michaud, Court handed down its ruling: Summerside would have its fundamental right Noëlla Arsenault-Cameron, Paul Rouleau, Madeleine Costa- Petitpas, Daniel Mathieu, Robert McConnell, Richard Tardif. French-language school. Acadian pupils in this lovely Prince never faltered. Edward Island town will no longer have to travel two hours by “We could not bus every day to get to school. give up. It was impossible”, said Madeleine. “One word gave More than anyone else in Canada, two parents were so me strength and motivation. I repeated it continually: thrilled they could not believe their eyes or their ears. Noëlla INEVITABLE. That word was magical to me. Victory was Arsenault-Cameron and Madeleine Costa-Petitpas, along with inevitable because it would be the fruit of a right guaranteed by the Fédération des parents de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, hailed the Charter.” the victory. A unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of What they take away as a fundamental lesson is the strength Canada, signed by Mr. Justice Major and Mr. Justice that parents have when they know their rights. The more they Bastarache, ruled in favour of the French-speaking parents of became involved in this battle at various levels of the legal the Summerside region who have been calling for a French- system, the more they realized that their efforts were aimed not language school since 1982. at creating a new right but rather at ensuring respect for a right INFOACTION wanted to know why these two parents that already existed, a tool that belonged to them. Noëlla and embarked on an adventure that has lasted eight years and is still Madeleine say that they developed confidence in and great not over. What has kept them going? The following are some respect for the justice system. excerpts from a conversation we had with them. To be sure, there were difficult times. They have not Noëlla is an Acadian from Prince Edward Island and forgotten them but much prefer to share what they consider the Madeleine a Franco-Ontarian from Kapuskasing. Both very essential lesson. Strangers often come up to them on the street much wanted to pass on to their children the rich heritage of and say, “Thank you, your victory is for us and for the whole their French language and culture. Was this possible when there country.” That is the image they had in mind when they crossed was no French-language school nearby? They were reminded the threshold of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. There every day of the fragility of their heritage, and time was they felt that their adventure had implications well beyond their passing. children’s education. They realized that their struggle, and especially their victory, was everyone’s. So for the sake of their children and grandchildren, they both accepted the invitation of the Fédération des parents de “And here we are again!” Madeleine exclaims. The l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard to embark on a mission that turned out champagne and celebrations quickly gave way to serious to be longer and more complex than they imagined. Bear in meetings. Strongly supported by the Fédération des parents, mind that both of these parents had full-time jobs. Noëlla and Madeleine have started to pursue their dream: the establishment of a school and several community learning Noëlla and Madeleine fought so their children could have centres. Everything remains to be done! The reality is a long the choice to be educated in their mother tongue. At first they way from the dream. did not know that this choice existed. “But it is there, the choice”, Noëlla told us. “I knew hardly anything about the When Noëlla and Madeleine become grandmothers, their Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Once I knew about grandchildren will speak to them in French, and little children this fundamental right, nothing was going to stop me. I did not all across Canada will be able to do the same because of what have the right not to give my children the right to education in they started … once upon a time in Summerside. 3 COMMISSIONER OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES Spring 2000 Vol. 6 – no. 1 Many readers completed the questionnaire that accompanied INFOACTION in December 1999. The following are some excerpts from the responses received. Unfortunately, we cannot publish all of them. INFOACTION would probably be published more often if it The layout and content of last December’s INFOACTION became a newsletter from the Commissioner. make it much easier to read. Articles are shorter. Very A reader from British Columbia interesting. Keep it up! A reader from New Brunswick INFOACTION publishes too few articles dealing with English Quebecers. Why not a “Readers’ opinion” page in INFOACTION? A reader from Quebec A reader from Nova Scotia Can a complaint to the Commissioner really change anything? Give us some examples. Too many problems when talking about the official languages. A reader from Ontario Are there any successes? INFOACTION rarely publishes “success stories,” especially when they have taken place in federal departments. Do you not think that the Office of the Commissioner should A reader from Ontario have more of a presence on television and radio? You use community radio stations very little.