The Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec was established under the Union Nationale government of

Jean-Jacques Bertrand Jean-Jacques Bertrand (; June 20, 1916 – February 22, 1973) was the 21st premier of Quebec, from October 2, 1968, to May 12, 1970. He led the Union Nationale party. Member of the legislature Bertrand served as Member of the Legislative Assem ...

on December 9, 1968. It was commissioned in response to conflicts in the Catholic school board in Saint-Léonard. The Mouvement pour l'intégration scolaire (MIS), created by

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

parents in the middle of the Saint-Leonard Crisis, wished for mandatory French-language education for

allophones In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...

, but immigrants, mostly of Italian origin were supported by

anglophones Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

in creating the Saint Leonard English Catholic Association of Parents to defend being able to choose either English or French schools.

Composition

Premier

appointed the following people as commissioners: * Jean-Denis Gendron, president *

Guy Frégault Guy Frégault (June 16, 1918 – December 13, 1977) was a Canadian historian and writer from Quebec. He worked at the history department of Montreal University. Biography Frégault was born in Montreal on June 16, 1918. He lived his childhoo ...

* Madeleine Doyon-Ferland *

Edward McWhinney Edward Watson "Ted" McWhinney, QC (May 19, 1924 – May 19, 2015) was a Canadian lawyer and academic specializing in constitutional and international law. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2000 for the electoral district o ...

* Nicolas Matesco-Matte * Aimé Gagnon

Mandate

The commission was mandated to propose measures "to ensure 1) the respect of the linguistic rights of the majority as well as the protection of the rights of minorities and 2) the free blooming and diffusion of the French language in all activity sectors at the educational, cultural, social and economic levels." Because the linguist Jean-Denis Gendron presided the commission, it is often referred to in French as the Commission Gendron.

Report

The final report of the commission was published on February 13, 1973. It consisted of three volumes: * ''Livre I, La langue de travail'' (Language of work), 379 pages * ''Livre II, Les droits linguistiques'' (Linguistic rights), 474 pages * ''Livre III, Les groupes ethniques'' (Ethnic groups), 570 pages On the subject of the language of work, the commissioners concluded:

It comes out that if French is not about to disappear among francophones, neither is it the predominant language in the Quebec labour market. French seems useful only to francophones. In Quebec even, it is in the end a marginal language, since non-francophones need it very little. A great number of francophones in important tasks use English as often, and sometimes more, than their mother tongue. And that, even though francophones in Quebec are a strong majority, in the work force as well as in the total population.

On the subject of the language of instructions, it noted:

The immigrants arrived in Quebec to improve their material condition and to insure a better future for their children. They were obliged to work in English to live and they saw French Canadians give them the example. They observed that in Montreal at least, a part of the French-Canadian parents were sending their children to English schools and private schools, each time they had the financial means to do it. They therefore followed the same path. Their bilingualism seemed absolutely necessary to them, and they never stopped demanding neutral bilingual schools, so that their children could get the best possible training.13 février 1973 - Présentation des conclusions du rapport de la Commission Gendron
in ''Bilan du siècle'', Université de Sherbrooke

The report recommend the government to give Quebec a policy in which the general objective would be: "to make French the common language of Quebecers, that is to say, a language which, being known to everyone, could be used as a communication tool in contact situations between francophones and non-francophones." Thus far, English, the language of the majority in Canada and North America, the language of socioeconomic promotion for most workers, had been playing a much greater role than French as an interethnic language inside Quebec. The commission recommended the Quebec government make French the sole

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

of Quebec and declare French and English the

national language A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...

s of Quebec. The report also included some 31 measures devised to reinforce the position of the French language in the workplace. Following the presentation of this report, the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, dépu ...

, then under a Liberal government, passed the Official Language Act. The Act was ultimately supplanted by the 1977

Charter of the French Language The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...

Notes

References

* Commission d'enquête sur la situation de la langue française et sur les droits linguistiques au Québec. ''Rapport'', Livre I : ''La langue de travail'', Québec, Éditeur officiel, 1972, 379 pages * Commission d'enquête sur la situation de la langue française et sur les droits linguistiques au Québec. ''Rapport'', Livre II : ''Les droits linguistiques'', Québec, Éditeur officiel, 1972, 474 pages * Commission d'enquête sur la situation de la langue française et sur les droits linguistiques au Québec. ''Rapport'', Livre III : ''Les groupes ethniques'', Québec, Éditeur officiel, 1972, 570 pages {{DEFAULTSORT:Commission Of Inquiry On The Situation of The French Language And Linguistic Rights in Quebec Political history of Quebec Quebec language policy Quebec, Commission of Inquiry on the SituatiOn Of The French Language And LInguistic Rights In Quebec

Composition

Mandate

Report

See also

Notes

References