New ebooks From Canadian Indies
Description
Fifty years ago, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism published its final report. The result of innovative research and public consultations across the country, this report, replete with data and concepts, sets the stage for a comprehensive policy on official bilingualism, which would profoundly and indelibly change the face of Canada. The resolve to affirm the officially bilingual character of the country was met with the equally fervent determination to make French the common language of Quebecers.
This book provides a critical view of the content and the consequences of the report. It is the outcome of a series of conferences held across the country in 2013, which explored the impact of these two aspects. It combines analyses of the Commission's activities, its main players, and the specific content of certain volumes of the report.
The book is divided into three parts: the first outlines the progress accomplished since the publication of the report and contributors' views of the challenges which continue to create controversy; the second part provides analyses and studies of topics covered by the Commission, effectively demonstrating how far things have evolved; and the third features testimonials, including a fascinating conversation between the first Commissioner for Official Languages, Keith Spicer, and the Commissioner in office at the time of publication, Graham Fraser.
Contributor Notes
Richard Clément (Editor)
Richard Clément is currently a member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Clément is a founding member of the Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL). He was Director of the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute from 2007 to 2017 and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa. In 2003 he was University Research Chair on "Bilingualism and Society." His field of specialization is related to issues of language learning motivation, identity change, social adjustment and linguistic planning. Clément is especially interested in the role of inter-group language communication in psychological adjustment and social harmony. His research has been published in America and Europe in both French and English. He has received numerous national and international awards for his work and is currently a Fellow of both the Canadian and the American Psychological Associations. In 2008 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Pierre Foucher (Editor)
Pierre Foucher obtained his law degree from the Université de Montréal in 1977 and his Master of Administrative Law from Queens University at Kingston in 1981. A member of the Quebec Bar, he has been a full professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law since 2008 and teaches in the areas of constitutional law and language rights.
