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The Act of Union/ The British North America Act
The Act of Union was sanctioned on July 23, 1840, by Queen Victoria and came into effect on February 10, 1841. Section 41 of the Act bans the French language from Parliament and Courts of the new united Province of Canada. The Province of Canada was when the two colonies merged and abolished the parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada and replacing them with a single one. -
The Act of Union Comes into Effect
Its main provisions were the establishment of a single parliament with equal representation from each constituent section; consolidation of debt; a permanent Civil List; banishment of the French language from official government use; and suspension of specific French Canadian institutions relating to education and civil law. -
Article 41 of the Act of Union is amended
For this the situation that had existed from 1792 to 1837 in Lower Canada, it is legal to use French language in the Parliament and in the Courts. -
Parliament of United Canada decided to codify all the civil statutes of Lower Canada
In Canada, only Quebec has its own Civil Code. Parliament of United Canada decided to organize all the civil statutes of Lower Canada and to bring them together in one bilingual collection. Section 15 of the Act respecting the Codification of the Laws of Lower Canada relative to Civil Matters and Procedure requires that the Civil Code of Lower Canada be printed only in bilingual form, with English and French displayed on the same page. -
The Civil Code of Lower Canada comes into Force
The proposed Code is adopted by the two chambers of the province's parliament. The Commission of Codification then tabled a new Civil Code which came into force in 1866: the Civil Code of Lower Canada. Continued to be in effect in Quebec until its repeal on 1 January 1994. The Code was based on the Napoleonic code and replaced a mixture of French law and English law which had arisen in Lower Canada since the creation of the Province of Quebec in 1763. -
Section 133 of the BNA Act
In section 133 of the British North America Act, 1867 (later renamed the Constitution Act, 1867) proclaims that "The Acts of the Parliament of Canada and of the Legislature of Quebec shall be printed and published in both those Languages [ie. in both English and French]", and also mandates the use of both French and English for parliamentary debates, parliamentary publications, and federal court cases. -
Regulation 17
Regulation 17 was a regulation of the Ontario Ministry of Education, issued in July 1912 by the Conservative government of premier Sir James P. Whitney. It restricted the use of French as a language of instruction to the first two years of schooling.Children receive instruction in English from the moment they begin school; the teaching of French must never replace or interfere with the teaching of English. *July 1st is not the correct date, the day is unknown. -
Conscription Crisis
An anti-conscription parade in Montreal on 17 May, 1917. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. Almost all French Canadians opposed conscription: they felt that they had no particular loyalty to either Britain or France. Led by Henri Bourassa, they felt their only loyalty was to Quebec. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 caused a considerable rift along ethnic lines between Anglophones and Francophones. -
Union Nationale
Duplessis wanted more provincial power over Quebec’s economic policies ownership. 30 of Montreals workforce was unemployed, French Canadians blamed the English speaking minority in Quebec and the Federal government. (* It is approximately 27 September) -
Regulation 17 Repealed
Regulation 17 was repealed by the government of Howard Ferguson following the suggestion of the Merchant-Scott-Côté report. Ferguson was an opponent of bilingualism, but repealed the law because he needed to form a political alliance with Quebec premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau. The Conservative government reluctantly accepted bilingual schools, but the order worsened relations between Ontario and Quebec for many years and is still keenly remembered by the French-speaking minority of Ontario. -
Conscription Crisis
Prime Minister King, made a huge efforts to avoid tension between french and english canada. King said “ Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary”. When conscription was enforced the French Canadians were not as violent/ mad because they recognized that PM King had paid attention to French Canadian’s opinions. (*Exact date is unknown) -
John Diefenbaker introduces simultaneous interpretation
The Conservative government of John Diefenbaker introduces simultaneous interpretation in the House of Commons. Prior to this, the right to use English or French in Parliament had been guaranteed, but unilingual MPs had been unable to understand each other's speeches. -
Official Languages Act
The Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau enacts the Official Languages Act, which came into force on Sept. 9, 1969. This gives English and French equal status in the government of Canada. -
The Secretary of State establishes the Official Languages in Education Program
The federal government has cooperated with the provinces to allow members of the official language minority communities to study in their own language and to enable young Canadians to learn French or English as a second language.
(*no exact date in 1970) -
The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act
The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act requires the use of both French and English on all consumer packaging across the Canada. "All information required by the Act and these Regulations to be shown on the label of a prepackaged product shall be shown in both official languages except that the identity and principal place of business of the person by or for whom the prepackaged product was manufactured, processed, produced or packaged for resale may be shown in one of the official languages." -
The Constitution Act
The Constitution Act, 1982 requires provinces and territories, under section 23, to make education available in both official languages where numbers warrant. -
An Act to Amend the Charter of the French Language
The Liberal government of Robert Bourassa enacts An Act to Amend the Charter of the French Language also known as “Bill 86” To allow the use of English on outdoor public signs in Quebec, as long as French is predominant. It was passed on June 17, 1993. -
An Act to amend the Charter of the French Language/ Bill 104
It stopped children of francophone and newcomers from using the English educational system, was contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some parents had been enrolling their children in private English-language schools for short periods of time, therefore needed to allow the child to be enrolled permanently in an English-language school. -
Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality
The Conservative government of Stephen Harper tables its Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, a five-year plan to spend $1.1 billion to promote the two official languages. The Government of Canada's commitment to promote official languages and enhance the vitality of official-language minority communities in priority sectors such as health, immigration, justice and economic development, which ended on March 31, 2013.
