A11

Marie-France Kenny
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As the Olympic Flame crosses the country, French-speaking Canadian citizens are still pondering to what extent they will be able to enjoy this event in their language - one of the official languages of Canada.

There is reason for concern: in September, Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, reported that our airports - particularly in Vancouver and Toronto - are not prepared to welcome visitors in both official languages.

Security screenings, Air Canada, shops and services, and the airport authorities themselves all get alarming results in terms of their ability to serve the public in both languages.

It is ironic that right on the heels of the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act - a bill which was enacted to promote the equality of French and English in Canada - Commissioner Fraser should highlight such a blatant case of language inequality. It is also baffling that four decades later, federal institutions such as these airports should scramble at the last minute - because they are suddenly under the spotlight - to devise quick fixes to comply with their long-standing legal obligation to serve our citizens in the official language of their choice.

How did it come to that?

Part of the problem is that after 40 years of weak political and administrative will to act on official languages policy, several federal institutions have fallen into the habit of doing only the strict minimum required by law - and often even less - in terms of complying with their language obligations toward Canadian citizens. Little by little, we have forgotten about the spirit and the intent of the Official Languages Act: true equality between French and English, the promotion of both official languages of Canada and the development of official language minority communities. Those are the very principles that are negated whenever citizens can't get services from the federal government in the official language of their choice.

Any approach that loses sight of what the Official Languages Act really intended is and always will be doomed to failure. This is why the organization I represent, an organization which speaks on behalf of more than a million French speakers in nine provinces and three territories, will be releasing a proposal this week for a sweeping reform of how official language policy is implemented in Canada.

In the Olympic spirit, we can do better. Instead of more quick fixes or sticking to doing the strict minimum, let's go back to the spirit and intent of what we were trying to do for this country when we adopted the Official Languages Act four decades ago and resolve the issues once and for all.

Marie-France Kenny of Ottawa is President of Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.