Why is new brunswick bilingual

Filing a complaint. Email: commissioner officiallanguages. Do I have to request service in my language or must it be offered to me? Does the Official Languages Act apply to schools? Do private companies have to offer service in both official languages?

Do English and French services have to be of equal quality? Do all civil servants need to be bilingual? What does the Commissioner of Official Languages do?

Every time he was around all the UdeM law students would speak English, and the second he was gone we would speak French. My nephew Jeremy and my niece Cassandra are bilingual, but they are francophones first.

They went to francophone daycares and francophone schools. This is another example that if you have just a few Anglophones in a huge group of francophones, English will be the language that is predominately used.

Studies show the best way for a francophone to be bilingual in a place like Moncton, Saint John or Fredericton and the best way for an Anglophone to be bilingual in Moncton, Saint John or Fredericton, is to speak nothing but French at home and school. English comes easy because you will be immersed and surrounded by it for the rest of the day.

On television, social media, at the movies, on the radio, at your sports practice or music class: it is almost always English that is spoken. Also I think francophones discourage other francophones from using French. Just like anglophones get criticized for not speaking French well enough. Francophones do this to each other. There was an interesting study done a while back that looked at what students wrote on the back of the grad photos they gave to their friends.

In the francophone high schools in the southeast, most kids wrote the messages in English. I pulled out my photos and sure enough it was true. Most of the messages were in English. In really poor English though. With all kinds of spelling and grammar mistakes. I thought about that a lot, and I think I know why it happens. If a francophone wrote bad English, that would be accepted. I mean, it is their second language after all. If a francophone wrote bad French, they would aggressively criticized by their francophone teachers.

So we have a perverse effect happening because we are so strict about how people write and speak French they actually become afraid to use French. And if they never practice their French they never improve.

Do you know what subject of the first story on Radio-Canada about me when I won the leadership of the Liberal Party was? It was not about my education or my experience. It was to criticize my French accent. And what does it say that this was the most newsworthy story about the new Liberal leader?

I understand the importance of ensuring that we do this in a pragmatic way. And that we make sure the quality of life for all will be advanced.

There are some things that we need to do. As individuals we need to be tolerant. I have seen many times people unfortunately not being as tolerant as we would all like. And it has had a direct impact on my family and people that I love.

And I think that this lack of tolerance and pragmatism explains some, if not a lot of the tension. Anglophones complain that we spend more per capita on the French education system than on the English. We do spend a bit more but that is normal. And probably the most important factor is that francophones and French schools are more predominantly in rural New Brunswick.

The fact is the two school districts where we spend the most per capita are the two most rural districts, one English and one French. Anglophones are concerned about finding jobs. But there are 3, jobs on nbjobs. And most of them only require you to speak English. Though they could also be filled by bilingual people with English skills. Think of our contact centre industry. Yes many of them are bilingual; but many of them are English-only. And they create spinoffs in other industries where unilingual anglophones can work.

Those 18, people are buying homes and spending in the economy which creates more jobs for engineers and architects and welders and carpenters and cashiers and waiters and cooks that speak whatever language.

Each team of employees has to have a certain level of bilingual capacity based on the roles they play. With a few exceptions, there is room for unilingual anglophones on every team. In fact, as I mentioned, the majority of the positions require English only. The very same job might be posted later as English-only if other bilingual members have joined the team.

But there are also provincial services in Saint John. We hear a lot of complaints that many jobs at the New Brunswick Heart Centre require bilingualism.

But what you have there is an incredible centre of excellence. It serves the entire province. And that means that 1 out of every 3 customers is francophone. If you take your loved one for heart surgery, that is a tough experience. And when you are trying to find your way to the right wing of the hospital, I would imagine you would need someone who can give you directions in your own language?

I would imagine when the surgeon comes out you would want to hear the prognosis in your own language? Many anglophones get sent to the Dumont hospital in Moncton for cancer treatment.

And we ensure that they can be served in English because that is their right. We owe francophones the same right when they come to Saint John for heart surgery. To say that everybody in the senior leadership of the civil service needs to be bilingual IS NOT FAIR given that we have not yet offered a generation of Anglophones a fair chance to become bilingual through accessible second language training opportunities that work.

We need to offer second language training, proper French immersion, and access to it in rural New Brunswick so that for the next generation this will not be an issue. You are leaders in your communities. We need you to help to spread some of the positivity.

And there is lots that is positive. There are economic benefits that are very tangible. And there are economic benefits that are intangible because of doors our bilingualism opens to the francophone world. As an example, we will host about 3, athletes from around the world in for les jeux de la Francophonie. It is the equivalent of hosting the Pan-Am Games. This will create spinoffs of countless jobs and investments. And it is a remarkable way for our people to be able to participate in a world class sporting and cultural event.

And team New Brunswick will include francophones and anglophones; it is open to all. The review has yet to begin as the province continues to search for two commissioners to lead it and must be completed by the end of the year. MacLean voiced some concern over the inclusion of education in the review, and over the timeline, saying that she understands how long reviews of legislation can take due to her training as a lawyer. She also backed a recommendation from former commissioner Michel Carrier that a standing committee on official languages be created to deal with issues and reviews of the act.

Both the Liberals and the Greens have voiced support for such a committee. World Canada Local. Questions on bilingualism dominate N. Full Menu Search Menu.

Official bilingualism is a rich part of our culture, history and future as a province. Review of the Official Languages Act The Official Languages Act ensures the equality of our official languages and linguistic communities, and that New Brunswickers are served by government officials in the language of their choice. Improving second language learning In addition to the review, the commissioners have been asked to identify ways to improve the access to and quality of second language training.

How you can participate. The participation period closed on August 31, We thank all those who took the time to participate online or by mail in this important exercise.

Phase 1 April — Aug. Start of formal consultations with experts and key stakeholders. Phase 2 Sept.