Group pushing to make Ottawa officially bilingual
Posted Aug 13, 2014 06:12:54 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – A local group is pushing to make Ottawa an officially bilingual city.
The National Movement for an Officially Bilingual Capital of Canada wants to give both French and English full equality in municipal services.
The group says there have been many advances in French services but believes it is still unfair for francophone residents, and in the capital, both official languages should be respected.
The idea is finding little support from Mayor Jim Watson, even though other politicians at the municipal, provincial and federal level have backed the move.
In an interview with the Citizen, Watson said he supports bilingualism, but disagrees with making every position with the city bilingual, saying we don’t need to have every plow operator and planner speaking fluently in both languages.
Almost two-thirds of people in Ottawa identify as anglophone and since amalgamation there have been fewer than 50 language complaints each year.
A year ago, Moncton, N.B., became the first officially bilingual city in Canada, with a one-third francophone population.
