Media Resources
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is pleased to provide newspaper editors with texts on various themes related to official languages that can be reproduced freely.
This project was created in co-operation with News Canada, and anyone is authorized to reproduce and disseminate these texts on the condition that the identification characters (NC) are maintained at the beginning of each text.
Texts should be available for approximately four months before they are replaced by a new series of documents.
Canada’s official languages – a matter of respect
- What it really means to have two official languages
(NC) – Although recent polls suggest Canadians generally accept Canada’s official bilingualism, there is still some confusion about what it really means. » - English and French belong to all Canadians
(NC) – If medical staff in Quebec can’t speak English, Anglophones in Quebec can’t hope to receive good health care; if airline or rail employees can’t give safety briefings in French, Francophone passengers may be at risk; and if public servants in bilingual regions aren’t allowed to use English or French, then the right to work in their official language of choice is not being respected. » - Official languages 25 years after the Charter – what youth are saying
(NC) – The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms turned 25 this year. It provides for the equality of our official languages – English and French – in federal institutions, and sets out the right to learn, which ensures that official language minority communities have access to education in their mother tongue and can manage their own schools. » - Second language learning a benefit for our kids
(NC) – As a society, we must ensure we give our children every possible opportunity to succeed in life. One of the ways we can do this is to teach them a second language. » - Fast fact about official languages
- Fast fact about official languages and minorities
- Two official languages worth celebrating
(NC)—It’s one of those anniversaries that may slip by most Canadians. After all, having the right to speak French or English in Canada is no big deal, right? » - Citizenship judge emigrated from India to Canada with little English or French – now he swears in new Canadians in both official languages
(NC)—Shinder Singh Purewal came to Canada knowing very little English and certainly had no idea he would one day become a citizenship judge swearing in new Canadians in both official languages. » - An Anglophone preserves his Acadian heritage un mot at a time
(NC)—Donald DesRoches had no idea his ancestors were deported from Canada during the Acadian expulsion until finding his family name at the Grand-Pré National Historic Site
in Nova Scotia, which commemorates the Acadian deportation. » - Ottawa reporter builds bridges between French and English
(NC)—Being bilingual on Parliament Hill is not that unusual–but taking it as seriously as Globe and Mail correspondent Daniel Leblanc does is another matter altogether. »
