Language Rights
Canada is an ever growing country that invites diversity. As we welcome more people into our
country, the need of having the right to express ourselves through language is a fundamental
human right. Even though French and English are the official languages of Canada and their
respective speakers are accorded equal rights, individuals who speak languages other than our
own should also be accorded the same respect and rights. Section 23 states that “Citizens of
Canada, whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English or French
linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside”. This expresses that the
section provides language education rights to citizens of Canada whose first language is the
minority language in the province or who have completed their primary school education in
Canada in that language are entitled to language education rights under this section. The aim is to
protect and promote the linguistic and cultural rights of English or French linguistic minorities in
different provinces across Canada. An official government institution violating this is subject to
the criminal code of Section 530 which mainly states that the accused has the right to a trial in
their official language of choice, either French or English. If neither option is wanted by the
accused, they have the right to have an interpreter present as said in Section 14 of the Charter:
“A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which
the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter”. We
could see an instance of language rights being violated when we look back at the case of
Doucet-Boudreau v. Nova Scotia where, to provide some context to this case, this issue revolved
around the right of the education of French as the school that the student had went to did not
provide sufficient resources for learning French. Luckily, the court held that the government had
a duty to support French-language education to ensure that the French speaking population in
Nova Scotia could receive an education in their language and culture.
Canada is an ever growing country that invites diversity. As we welcome more people into our
country, the need of having the right to express ourselves through language is a fundamental
human right. Even though French and English are the official languages of Canada and their
respective speakers are accorded equal rights, individuals who speak languages other than our
own should also be accorded the same respect and rights. Section 23 states that “Citizens of
Canada, whose first language learned and still understood is that of the English or French
linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside”. This expresses that the
section provides language education rights to citizens of Canada whose first language is the
minority language in the province or who have completed their primary school education in
Canada in that language are entitled to language education rights under this section. The aim is to
protect and promote the linguistic and cultural rights of English or French linguistic minorities in
different provinces across Canada. An official government institution violating this is subject to
the criminal code of Section 530 which mainly states that the accused has the right to a trial in
their official language of choice, either French or English. If neither option is wanted by the
accused, they have the right to have an interpreter present as said in Section 14 of the Charter:
“A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which
the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter”. We
could see an instance of language rights being violated when we look back at the case of
Doucet-Boudreau v. Nova Scotia where, to provide some context to this case, this issue revolved
around the right of the education of French as the school that the student had went to did not
provide sufficient resources for learning French. Luckily, the court held that the government had
a duty to support French-language education to ensure that the French speaking population in
Nova Scotia could receive an education in their language and culture.
