Ottawa offers municipal services in English and French but is not officially bilingual, despite a December 2017 bill intent on requiring the designation. One

controversial Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

aspect of the City of Ottawa Act was the manner in which it addressed official bilingualism within Ottawa's municipal government. Before the enactment of the Act,

Glen Shortliffe Glen Scott Shortliffe (November 12, 1937 – May 4, 2010) was a Canadian diplomat, civil servant, businessman, and Clerk of the Privy Council. Biography Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of ...

, 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. The provincial government of the time, led by the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

, 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 The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

returned to power at the provincial level, and the new Premier,

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

, 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, offering all its municipal services in both French and English.

References

External links

City of Ottawa Bilingualism Policy

{{Ottawa Culture of Ottawa Municipal government of Ottawa Bilingualism in Canada Franco-Ontarian culture

See also

References

External links