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ABSTRACT
After many years of debates and consultations, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, also known as the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission (named after its co-presidents), published a final six volume report comprised of countless recommendations. However, its most resounding recommendation remains that French and English should be granted official language status at the federal level in Canada, but also at the provincial levels in Ontario and New-Brunswick.
Fifty years later almost to the day, legitimate questions remain: Has Ontario found its balance between strengthening the rights of its French-speaking minority without becoming an officially bilingual province? How was Ontario able to reconcile multiculturalism and the francophonie?
THE FRENCH LANGUAGE SERVICES ACT: AN ALMOST-OFFICIAL ACT
As soon as 1969, the federal government followed-up on the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission's key recommendations by adopting the Official Languages Act. The impact of this act on the rights of Francophones, and especially on the ones living in Ontario, was not instantaneous but is undeniable. Following an approach of slow but incremental steps, reforms have been undertaken in Ontario under the leaderships of Rob arts and Davis.
Thus, in 1972, the Ontario government adopted a French-language services delivery policy. This policy not only created the first designated areas, but also forced the government to make all of its communications available in both languages.
In 1978, Ottawa MP Albert Roy submitted a private bill (Bill 89) to the Legislative Assembly, the forerunner to the French Language Services Act, whose aim was to enable Franco-Ontarians to have access to services in their language based on a framework law. Although this bill was supported by French community leaders, it was ultimately dropped given the inauspicious political climate at the time.
It was only in 1986 that the French Language Services Act (FLSA) was unanimously adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, following difficult negotiations and behind-the-scenes dealings.
Nonetheless, the FLSA is much more than an act on the delivery of services in French. It has an almost constitutional status, as it was proven by the Montfort case before the Ontario Court of Appeal. Furthermore, the FLSA makes sure that the laws being passed at the Legislative Assembly are passed in both languages and that every citizen has the right to be tried in...