Justifying the End of Official Bilingualism: Canada's North-West Assembly and the Dual-Language Question, 1889-1892
Year:
2001
Author :
Volume and number:
, 34
Collection:
, 3
Journal:
, Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique
Pages :
, 451-486
Abstract
Entre 1989 et 1991, la lutte menée par les nationalistes canadiens-anglais en vue de faire accepter leur vision d'un Canada exclusivement anglophone a plongé le pays dans une amère crise d'identité. La volonté de l'assemblée législative du Nord-Ouest d'abolir le bilinguisme officiel et d'assimiler la minorité francophone constitua l'élément central de cette crise. Cet article analyse les origines du débat sur le dualisme linguistique dans le Nord-Ouest et procède à une évaluation critique des arguments invoqués en vue de justifier l'élimination de la langue française. Il montre que, dans le cadre de leurs débats, les législateurs du Nord-Ouest ont été confrontés aux problèmes de l'unité nationale, de l'efficacité économique, de la démocratie majoritaire et de la légitimité politique.
During a three-year period beginning in 1889, Canada struggled through a bitter identity crisis as militant English-Canadian nationalists rallied support for their vision of a homogeneous English-speaking country. In the eye of this storm was a North-West Legislative Assembly determined to abolish official bilingualism and assimilate its French-speaking minority. This article examines the origins of the North-West's "dual language question" and critically evaluates justifications given for the suppression of the French language. In their debates, the North-West legislators grappled with enduring issues of national unity, economic efficiency, majoritarian democracy and political legitimacy.
During a three-year period beginning in 1889, Canada struggled through a bitter identity crisis as militant English-Canadian nationalists rallied support for their vision of a homogeneous English-speaking country. In the eye of this storm was a North-West Legislative Assembly determined to abolish official bilingualism and assimilate its French-speaking minority. This article examines the origins of the North-West's "dual language question" and critically evaluates justifications given for the suppression of the French language. In their debates, the North-West legislators grappled with enduring issues of national unity, economic efficiency, majoritarian democracy and political legitimacy.
Theme :
Acculturation of minoritiesBilingualismCanadaIdentityOfficial languagesLinguistic minoritiesNationalism
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