French-English relations in business-interest associations, 1965-2002
By: COLEMAN, William D.; MAU, Tim A
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ArticlePublisher: Toronto : IPAC, Winter 2002Canadian Public Administration : the journal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada 45, 4, p. 490-511Abstract: Although we have fairly good knowledge of the impact of official bilingualism at the federal level and of official unilingualism in Quebec on language practice in government, we know less about whether these changes in language policies have led to shifts in language practice in civil-society organizations. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism carried out an extensive investigation of language practices in the private sector and in voluntary associations. Using the royal commissions work on associations representing the general interests of business, this article examines language practices of these associations three decades after the royal commissions studies were published. The authors argue that the cordiality found between French and English in general business associations in the late 1960s continues to be the rule in these types of associations today. This cordiality, however, is rooted in a change in linguistic relations. Federal-level associations tend to have accommodated institutional bilingualism but retain English as their language of work. Quebec-based associations have moved to conform to official unilingualism. Moreover, the number of non-francophones in positions of authority in the Quebec groups has diminished, with executive structures now being dominated by francophones
Although we have fairly good knowledge of the impact of official bilingualism at the federal level and of official unilingualism in Quebec on language practice in government, we know less about whether these changes in language policies have led to shifts in language practice in civil-society organizations. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism carried out an extensive investigation of language practices in the private sector and in voluntary associations. Using the royal commissions work on associations representing the general interests of business, this article examines language practices of these associations three decades after the royal commissions studies were published. The authors argue that the cordiality found between French and English in general business associations in the late 1960s continues to be the rule in these types of associations today. This cordiality, however, is rooted in a change in linguistic relations. Federal-level associations tend to have accommodated institutional bilingualism but retain English as their language of work. Quebec-based associations have moved to conform to official unilingualism. Moreover, the number of non-francophones in positions of authority in the Quebec groups has diminished, with executive structures now being dominated by francophones
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