Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramako
What does deeming a city "bi-lingual" actually entail?
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Here is a short history of the City of Ottawa and official bilingualism (from Wiki)
"One controversial aspect of the City of Ottawa Act is the manner in which it addresses official bilingualism within Ottawa's municipal government. Prior to the enactment of the Act, Glen Shortliffe, a special advisor appointed by the provincial government to make recommendations on municipal governance in Ottawa-Carleton, recommended in 1999 that the new amalgamated city of Ottawa be designated as officially bilingual, with municipal services available in both English and French.
The provincial government of the time, led by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, refused to enshrine official bilingualism in the City of Ottawa Act, but made clear that the new city was free to establish its own language policy. In 2001, Ottawa City Council passed a bilingualism policy modelled on the policy of the former Ottawa-Carleton Region, whereby English and French were both recognized as having the same rights, status and privileges within the municipal government, while allowing for differences in services based on local needs throughout the amalgamated city.
In 2003, the Ontario Liberal Party returned to power at the provincial level, and the new Premier, Dalton McGuinty, publicly stated that the city should be designated bilingual in the Act. Rather than reignite the controversy through a designation, however, the province ultimately announced amendments to the Act in 2004 (which came into force in 2005) to require the city of Ottawa to have a policy respecting its use of French and English. City council revised its bilingualism policy in 2004."
And here is the City of Ottawa bilingualism policy:
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/your-c...gualism-policy
Bilingualism Policy
REFERENCE NO: ACS2001-CMS-OCM-0002
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT: Corporate Services
BRANCH: Secretariat Services
DELEGATED AUTHORITY: n/a
EFFECTIVE DATE: 9 May 2001
LAST REVISION DATE: 15 November 2004
REVIEW DATE: 11 April 2012
Declaration of Principle
The City of Ottawa recognizes both official languages as having the same rights, status and privileges.
To this end, the City of Ottawa must:
Language of Work
•Encourage employees to work in the official language of their choice;
•Provide appropriate language training;
•Provide assistance to employees who must or wish to write in French;
•Develop and organize training programs in both official languages.
Language of Service
•Take the necessary steps to provide at all times the appropriate number of bilingual employees within work units;
•By appointing employees meeting the language requirements of the unit where the vacancy occurs or by providing language training to new incumbents 1 .
Cultural Programs
•Ensure that cultural programs aimed at one official language group be developed by employees having full knowledge of the appropriate culture.
Complaints
•The Secretariat Services Branch (French Language Services Division) will follow up on citizens' complaints concerning services in both official languages.
Communication
•That all documents published by the City of Ottawa or its agencies and intended for the public (internal and external), be published in both official languages.