A coalition of French-language advocates who hope to make Ottawa officially bilingual in 2017 — the year of Canada’s 150th anniversary – say they now have the numbers to back up their campaign.
Bilingual Ottawa, a group of seven francophone organizations, released survey results showing that 68 per cent of Ottawa residents — including 78 per cent of young adults — believe that the city becoming officially bilingual would have a positive impact on learning French and English.
“To have more people speaking French can only be a good thing for this country,” said Remi Sabourin, president of the Ottawa-based Association des Enseignantes et des Enseignants Franco-Ontariens (AEFO), a teachers’ union and Bilingual Ottawa’s main sponsor.
Sabourin said he was “surprisingly excited” about the results, especially since the 87 per cent of the focus group surveyed are anglophone.
The survey, which was conducted this summer and surveyed 750 respondents by Nanos Research Group, reflects results similar to those gathered by the 2016 Commissioner of Official Languages national survey, which found that 87 per cent of Canadians agree that Ottawa should be recognized as officially bilingual.
Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 were also much more supportive — 85 per cent — of a bilingual initiative that would not generate additional costs or create any job loses.Many were surprised that Ottawa wasn’t already officially bilingual, said executive member Bernadette Sarazin.
Bilingual Ottawa plans to achieve this, said executive member Francois Baril, by urging the adoption of Ottawa’s current bilingualism policy as a bylaw, to entrench the protection of bilingual services.
He explains that this would not create any new obligations on the city and would not interfere with the way the city manages its human resources — traditionally the key areas of concern in discussions about adopting official bilingualism.
“This is nothing more than taking what is currently working in the city and making sure it is there for future generations,” said Baril.
Ottawa’s current policy states that a citizen of Ottawa has the right to receive available services in either English or French.
But this policy isn’t permanent, Baril explained. The provincial law requires the City of Ottawa to have a policy on bilingualism, but does not state the purpose or content of that policy.
By making Ottawa officially bilingual in a bylaw, it would ensure that the next city council or the next mayor is unable to modify or hollow the bylaw without a major public debate.
Mayor Jim Watson has already dismissed the idea, stating that it is not necessary for the provincial level of government to be involved in city bylaws.However, Watson has only one vote if the idea is brought to City Hall.
Over the summer, Bilingual Ottawa held talks with most city councillors to discuss the process and de-mystify what the group is going after. Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury has been publicly supportive of the initiative and has worked with Bilingual Ottawa closely over the past year.
“I think that what they’re bringing forward is realistic and can get support from other officials,” said Fleury, a Franco-Ontarian born and raised in Ottawa.
He added, “I wouldn’t be comfortable bringing such a motion or report forward to council and the committee until we’re able to identify 16 supporters,” ensuring strong approval and avoiding a deeply divisive vote.
Some others, Baril acknowledged, have asked why advocates are re-opening the debate on official bilingualism.
“We’re not re-opening this debate. What were doing is proposing a way to actually close this debate.” he said.
“Let’s enshrine it. Move forward. And celebrate Ottawa 2017 with a very positive message: that we figured out how to make this work.”