Tag Archive for: Official Languages

QCGN President remarks to Part VII Forum, Office of the Commission of Official Languages

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QCGN President Linda Leith, who participated in a discussion on Part VII of the Official Languages Act, stated that Canada’s two official languages must enjoy equality of status and equal rights and privileges in public life. She noted this goal can only be achieved by ensuring the vitality and sustainability of the English and French linguistic minority communities, in which the two languages and their unique cultures are nurtured and protected.

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Feds must do more for Quebec’s Anglo rights; Senate report

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Sherbrooke Record, Corrinna Pole

The perception of Quebec’s English speaking population needs to change and the federal government must do more to promote and protect its rights determined a Senate report that was released Thursday.

The 129-page report of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, examined the various aspects of life for English speakers in the province, the challenges facing them and offered 16 recommendations to ensure their communities survival.

“We are trying to encourage people to make themselves and their problems known,” said Senator Maria Chaput who chaired the Committee. “(Anglophones) are a minority […] and we feel this report will give them the opportunity to say out loud what they need.” Read more…

QCGN grateful for the work done by the Senate Committee on Official Languages and for the English-speaking community’s participation

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For immediate release

Ottawa, March 10, 2011 – Quebec’s English-speaking community is one of two Official Language Minority Communities in Canada, and the federal government must promote and protect its rights.  Those are among the key messages in a report released by the Senate Committee on Official Languages Thursday. 

The 100-page report states that ways must be found to ensure this minority can fully develop in a context in which its future is intertwined with the future of a Quebec majority population that sees the survival of the French language as a priority.

 After 28 days of hearings in 2009 and 2010, including a weeklong field trip to Quebec last fall with stops in Quebec City, the Eastern Townships and Montreal, the Senate Committee has completed its first-ever report dedicated solely to Quebec’s English-speaking Community. “The report presents an in-depth analysis of our community and its priorities, and for that we are grateful,” said Linda Leith, president of the Quebec, Community Groups Network (QCGN). Read more (pdf version)

Protect language rights: Senate report Official Languages Committee; Aging anglophone population no longer privileged, lags behind francophones

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The Gazette, Marian Scott

English-speaking Quebecers are no longer the privileged elite they were long considered to be, says a Senate report that calls on the federal government to do a better job of protecting the rights of the anglophone minority.

The 129-page report by the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages paints a detailed picture of Quebec’s anglophones, an aging community that, despite higher-than-average levels of education, now lags behind the francophone majority for median income.

[…] Sylvia Martin-Laforge, executive director of the Quebec Community Groups Network, hailed the report for busting the myth that English-speaking Quebecers are an over-privileged minority. “The title tells the story and we have been wanting to tell the story about those myths,” she said. “We hope the 16 recommendations give leads to the government and the community for the way forward,” she added. Read more…

Senate Committee on Official Languages to release report on ESCQ

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The Senate Committee on Official Languages released today its report on the reality of English-speaking Communities of Quebec. The report ”The Vitality of Quebec’s English-Speaking Communities: From Myth to Reality – Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages” refers to the Senators visit to the Province in the Fall of 2010.

To read the press release and the report, follow this link: http://parl.gc.ca/40/3/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/offi-e/SubsiteMar11-e/Report_Home-e.htm

You can also access the report in both languages here:

www.qcgn.ca/library (English version)

/bibliotheque (French version)

Let’s Talk Media Survey

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Montreal – Your media want to hear from you! The Alliance of Official Languages Minority Media (AMM) is pleased to launch a survey on the media consumption habits of English-speaking communities.

The survey seeks to evaluate the satisfaction and expectations of these communities with their print, radio and television media, and its ultimate goal is to help these media offer content that best meets the expectations of their respective audiences.

The AMM has retained Léger Marketing to conduct telephone surveys as well as process survey responses gathered via the Web. People who wish to participate in the survey can do so online at www.letstalkmedia.ca. The survey promotion and participant recruitment campaign will continue until January 23, 2011.

Bill S-220 – an act to amend the official languages act

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Laval News, Greg Duncan

Greg Duncan is the Executive Director of the Quebec Community Newspapers Association

Those of you who count yourselves as an Anglophone living in Quebec may want to pay attention. Let’s be clear. Any amendment to official language act itself will affect you, as the act itself protects and ensures the rights of Canada’s two official languages communities.

The last time that I counted, there were two official languages in Canada, English and French. As the executive director of a provincial organization that supports the needs of community newspapers in Quebec who in turn serve the English minority here, I scan with interest the many press releases and documents regarding official language issues that come across my desk frequently. I do this to identify issues that might negatively or positively impact our communities, or more aptly, the readers and our newspapers. Read more…

Immigration report to include English Quebec priorities

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The West Quebec Post, Julie Murray

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) has announced that Quebec’s English-speaking community was consulted – and its concerns included – on a study of immigration by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages. The study looked at immigration as a development tool in official language minority communities. QCGN is particularly pleased with the study’s recommendation that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) increase intergovernmental efforts to assess the English-speaking community’s needs and to financially support that community so it can develop its immigration network. Read more…

Minister Moore before Senate Committee on Official Languages

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This morning, the Minister of Official Languages, James Moore, will testify before the Senate Committee on Official Languages around the study on the application of the Official Languages Act and of the regulations and directives made under it. The meeting will particularly look at the English-Speaking Communities in Quebec and other issues

Watch the webcast here:

http://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Guide.aspx?viewmode=4&categoryid=-1&currentdate=2010-12-7&eventid=7358&languagecode=12298#

Commissionner of Official Languages appears before Committee on Official Languages

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This morning, the Commissioner of Official Languages will be presenting the second volume of his 2009-2010 Annual Report to the House of Commons Committee on Official Languages.

To listen to the webcast, click on the following link:

http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/ParlVu/ContentEntityDetailView.aspx?ContentEntityId=7030