C'est l'temps (, ) was a

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

movement in the mid-to-late-1970s protesting the lack of Ontario government services in French. Over two dozen people were arrested, as activists monopolised police time on trivial traffic infractions, refused to pay fines, and sabotaged computer systems. The movement led to a significant increase in French-language service accessibility and the Ontario justice system becoming officially bilingual in 1984, followed by the ''

French Language Services Act French Language Services Act may refer to: * French Language Services Act (Ontario) The ''French Language Services Act'' () (the ''Act'') is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians, or ...

'' in 1986.

Background

In 1967, Ontario Premier

John Robarts John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Early life Roba ...

pledged to offer services in French following the

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (, also known as the Bi and Bi Commission and the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a Canadian royal commission established on 19 July 1963, by the government of Prime Minister Lester B. P ...

, however, by the early 70s, and despite Robarts' successor

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

, almost no progress had been made on the issue. At the same time, the separatist movement was gaining momentum in

Québec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

, and regional French-Canadian identities began to assert their individuality.

Goals

The movement made six key demands: # An end to unilingual arrests and fines # An end to unilingual licence plates # Bilingual judicial forms # Bilingual driver's licences # Bilingual trials # Bilingual municipal regulations

Background

Goals

References

Archives