July 9, 1969 - Officially Bilingual - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Royal Assent means Canada goes officially bilingual. For generations, the power struggle between Canada’s Anglophones and Francophones proved a divisive force. Canada was founded, of course, by people of two distinct cultures and languages – resulting in a predominance of French in Quebec and of English in the rest of Canada. Although the constitution offered protections for both languages, the country had only one official language: English. After rancorous debate in the House of Commons and the Senate, parliament received royal assent on July 9, 1969 for the Official Languages Act, which gave importance to both languages at the federal level. Together with constitutional changes in 1982 and further legislative changes in 1988, this finally ensured French-speaking Canadians easier access to services in French throughout the country.

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