Canadian Bilingual Districts: From Cornerstone to Tombstone

ISBN-13: 9780773530454 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 344 str.

Daniel Bourgeois

Opis

Bilingual districts were recommended by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to help resolve Canada's sociolinguistic tensions. The "cornerstone" of the Commission's 150 recommendations and federal language policy, these administrative enclaves were intended to provide symbolic recognition of minority homelands and delineate where federal, provincial, and municipal public services should be made available in both official languages. In the first systematic study of the subject, Daniel Bourgeois traces the complex path that led to the demise of the plan in 1976, following pressure from the Treasury Board Secretariat. Canadian Bilingual Districts also considers the Royal Commissionbs approach in the context of contemporary developments. Bourgeois argues for the reconsideration of this previously discarded "cornerstone" of federal language policy, providing a nuanced analysis of social identity, sociolinguistic policies, nationalism, and minority rights and services.