The Laws of Linguistic landscape and multilingualism in Canada
An increasingly diverse and multilingual language characterizes the linguistic landscape of Canada. The presence of numerous languages made it necessary for the establishment of a legal framework that governs the use of such languages. The laws date back to 1969, where the first language Act was established. On September 9, 1969, the Official Languages Act was established as a Canadian Law that espoused English and French as the Official Languages. The Act recognized the two languages as of equal status, meaning that any person conducting government business or any other nationalistic activity could choose either of the two (Gorter & Cenoz, J. (2017). The passing of the Official Language Act recognized that though Canada had several other ethnic communities that spoke different languages, French or English would have preferential treatment and would serve as a uniting factor in the country.
Other laws, such as Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom enshrined in the Canadian Constitution ratified in 1982, have also played a significant role in the development of the linguistic landscape. The passing of Section 23 was instrumental in guaranteeing the rights of the French-speaking minorities in Canada who had previously been discriminated from speaking the English language. Commonly known as the Canadian clause, Section 23 ensures that parents who have children born outside Quebec from minority communities can have their children learn the English language as part of their education rights.
The establishment of the linguistic laws in Canada is deemed necessary, given the fact that the multilingual nature of the country could bore seeds of disintegration and misunderstanding. Hence, the laws on language and national identity remedy such loopholes.
Reference
Gorter, D., & Cenoz, J. (2017). Linguistic landscape and multilingualism. Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Cham: Springer.