The Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities and the International Observatory on Language Rights organized, last June 14^th in Moncton, a conference to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism.  This initiative carried out jointly by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada was a great success, both in terms of presentation quality and attendance levels.

In addition to the one held in Moncton, conferences took place in  Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton,  Winnipeg and Montréal.  The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was created in 1963 and delivered its report in 1969. The conclusions reached by the Commission’s Co-Chairmen, André Laurendeau, Editor-In-Chief of the newspaper Le Devoir, and Davidson Dunton, President of Carleton University, have had tangible consequences on the linguistic landscape of the Canada we know today, and that we sometimes take for granted.  This conference gave participants an opportunity to appreciate its heritage.

The conference held in Moncton brought together around 60 people.  The opening remarks of the University de Moncton President, Raymond Théberge, were read by Odette Snow, Dean of the Université de Moncton’s Faculty of Law, followed by a word from Hilaire Lemoine of the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.  Lectures were then delivered by Michael Behiels of the University of Ottawa, Michelle Landry and Matthieu Leblanc, both of the University de Moncton, and Éric Forgues of the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities.  Then, the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada, Mr. Graham Fraser, gave a presentation on the legacy of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, fifty years later.  The Director of the International Observatory on Language Rights, Michel Doucet, closed the conference.


From left to right: Éric Forgues, Odette Snow, Graham Fraser, Hilaire Lemoine, Michelle Landry, Michel Doucet and Matthieu LeBlanc.

Absent from photo: Michael Behiels