The Experience of Canada in Dealing with the Adoption of Legislation and the Administration of Justice in Two Official Languages at the Federal Level

BASTARACHE, Michel

Publication year:

2008

Publication place:

Donostia-San Sebastián

ISBN:

978-84-8419-159-9

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Summary

Language rights created immense political controversy before and after Confederation. Limited guarantees for English and French appear in the Constitution of 1867 however, the regime proved unsatisfactory. All major constitutional controversies since then have centered around language rights. The federal official languages act in 1968 was followed by provincial legislation on languages. The Supreme Court of Canada became the main actor in the debate and resistance from the provinces led to a further interventionist role for the Court.