AFN asks Ottawa to declare all aboriginal languages official

[Evening Star]

But one of the reasons for official bilingualism in the sixties, and probably for the AFN's proposal now, is that few can learn English well and want to understand the packaging and labelling.

I have literally never heard anyone give this reason for official bilingualism. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Pierre Trudeau's reason.

[Bryan]

Yeah, people from all over the world manage to learn English quite well when they immigrate to English-speaking countries.

Many countries who either have no official language, or have one that is not english still have a large cross-section of the population who go out of their way to learn english because it's in their best interest to do so.

[Evening Star]

Definitely. Either way, my point was that it does not seem to be the case that "few can learn English well".

[cybercoma]

It goes on and on and on, not one single serious post, only posts mocking virtually everyone elses opinion, yea, i suppose that was difficult to notice. There is no doubt that if I any number of other people did that they would have been suspended already.

I'm completely serious. Well, at least as serious as anyone who advocates for abolishing French as an official language.

[Smallc]

I'm completely serious. Well, at least as serious as anyone who advocates for abolishing French as an official language.

Of course you are. It's nonsensical, but serious for sure.

[PIK]

Be prepared ti be ran by the union and the 1st nations. Say goodbye to the country, because these 2 groups don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. The rest of us poor people and regular natives are going to pay big time.

[cybercoma]

Of course you are. It's nonsensical, but serious for sure.

It's as nonsense as calling on the government to abolish its obligation to French-language rights. You know there's MPs from some parts of the country who are not bilingual and are francophones, right? I mean, give your head a shake. You would force those MPs to learn English, when they're french, their ancestors were french, the constituents they represent are french and they have absolutely no need for english in their day to day lives. You're saying, screw you. Learn english. Well, how is that any different than them saying, screw you, learn french?

[Smallc]

I agree with you. If we were to get rid of a language though, you and I both know based on numbers and reality, it wouldn't be English.

[cybercoma]

And if we got rid of French, you would see secession in our lifetime. It's a stupid idea that's not even worth considering.

[Smallc]

And if we got rid of French, you would see secession in our lifetime. It's a stupid idea that's not even worth considering.

I agree. It's still far more likely that we'd get rid of French than English any day no matter the circumstance.

[cybercoma]

I agree. It's still far more likely that we'd get rid of French than English any day no matter the circumstance.

Especially if there was a referendum, since anglophones outnumber francophones 2:1. The point I'm trying to get people to see is what it would be like if the government no longer supported your first language after 2 centuries of governments and colonial administrations that did so.

[Smallc]

That was never part of the deal or the intent. To make it sound otherwise is to rewrite history.

[Accountability Now]

The issue of granting official language status is more about inclusion rather than what's right. Both the natives and the French gave up their rights to the lands and have no real right to say their languages should be part of the national language. However, cyber hits the nail on the head saying that Quebec would certainly leave if French wasn't included and therefore the move to make it included is accommodated even though Francophones only make up 7 million of the 35 million population. I say 'only' since its not even close to half however it is still a significant number to contend with. The 630 First nations add up to roughly 1.4 million but getting all 1.4 million to decide to secede from Canada is a far less threat than Quebec leaving. As such the threats from the AFN aren't seen nearly as important.

Whether you like it or not, English is the dominant language in the world, especially in business. People in Japan, China, Russia, Germany, etc are all trying to learn English not French. So the debate about which language should be around IF there was to be one is pretty silly. Not to mention, this article in the CBC seems to shed some light on this topic:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/more-english-needed-in-quebec-s-eastern-townships-mna-says-1.3151931

More English needed in Quebec's Eastern Townships, MNA says

An MNA in Quebec's Eastern Townships says the province needs to attract more native English speakers in order to strengthen Quebec's economy.

On Tuesday, Orford MNA Pierre Reid asked Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages to help him persuade the provincial government to make a push in attracting more anglophone immigrants.

According to Reid, Quebec's more rural areas are in need of a young, talented work force from other Canadian provinces and English-speaking countries.

"We need employees with a lot of competence that we don't always find," Reid said at a symposium, while addressing Graham Fraser, Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages.

[OddSox]

Just as a matter of interest, Nunavut has four official languages - English, French, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun. Everything published by the territorial government has to be translated into all four languages.

Note the census figures for Inuinnaqtun:

http://www.stats.gov.nu.ca/Publications/census/2011/StatsUpdate_Mother%20Tongue%20and%20Language%20Spoken%20Most%20Often%20at%20Home.pdf

The 'other language' is probably predominantly Danish - which was considered as a possible official language when the territory was created but dropped at the last minute.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_Rasmussen