As Canada prepares for its 26th anniversary as a dual-language country, the U.S. considers finally making English its official language.
The past controversy in Canada may prepare the U.S. for what it faces.
The front-page story in the May 22, 1969, Western Producer quoted then-state secretary Gerard Pelletier as appealing to Canadians to “keep their cool” and to “reject fanaticism, prejudice, fear and bitterness.” He explained: “This is not imposing anything on anyone, it is placing services at the disposal of people who want to use it.”
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But a WP editorial in 1969 blamed the federal government for the bad feelings because the government didn’t explain properly the bill and its limited scope.
It’s amazing that only one or two official languages can even be selected in 1995.
According to the 1994 Statistics Canada Year Book, as of 1991 less than two percent of the Canadian population knew neither English or French.
Sixteen percent (4.4 million) knew both languages. Meanwhile, 30 percent could speak in two or more languages. One in five Canadians speak a language other than English and French.
In the Prairies, the “non-official languages most often claimed as mother tongue” were Chinese in British Columbia, and German in the other three provinces.
Meanwhile, according to a story on the International News E-Wire Service, the last census showed about 97 percent of U.S. residents speak English well or fairly well. However, there are at least 327 languages spoken in the U.S.
School children are taught in 86 languages other than English.
In California, a person has a choice of taking a driver’s exam in one of 35 different languages, while voters in Los Angeles have a choice of nine on their ballots.
C’est la vie. Canada’s bilingualism seems much simpler to live with.
