Official Languages

Appeal Watch: Can’t Talk to Your Head of State? SCC to rule on Unilingual Lieutenant Governors in New Brunswick in Acadian Society

In the Acadian Society of New Brunswick v The Right Honorable Prime Minister of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will decide whether the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick must be bilingual [41398].  Overturning the decision by the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick (“NBQB”), the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick (“NBCA”) ruled in the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada et al v. La Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick 2024 NBCA 70 (“SANB” ) that the appointment did not contravene the Charter's language provisions.

PM Trudeau Appoints the Honourable Mary Moreau to the SCC

Roughly four months after Brown J.’s resignation from the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”), Prime Minister Trudeau has announced his appointment of the Honourable Mary Moreau to Canada’s highest court.

Appeal Watch: BCCA Denied Accused’s Assertion of Linguistic Rights in R v Tayo Tompouba

On January 12, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted a leave to appeal on a linguistic rights case appealed from the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”), R v Tayo Tompouba, 2022 BCCA 117 [Tayo]. In this case, Mr. Franck Yvan Tayo Tompouba, the accused, appealed a conviction for sexual assault on the […]

Appeal Watch: SCC to Decide if s. 23 Minority Language Education Rights Extend to Non-Right Holders

In 2021, the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal (“NWTCA”) assessed two applications for judicial review for access to s. 23 minority language schools by families that were not prima facie entitled to s. 23 rights. On April 14, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted the application for leave to appeal for A.B. v […]

Live at the SCC: The SCC Goes to Winnipeg!

Lost in Translation: Language Rights in Federal Courts

As the two official languages of Canada, French and English form the bedrock of our legal system, and their usage is a constitutionally protected right found in both the Constitution Act, 1867 (“Constitution”) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). With such a high level of recognition and protection, one might assume the […]

Approaching Minority Language Educational Rights Differently: Association des parents de l’école Rose-des-vents v British Columbia (Education)

The case Association des parents de l’école Rose-des-vents v British Columbia (Education), 2015 SCC 21 [Rose-des-Vents] represents an interesting example of a new generation of issues related to minority language educational rights that Canadian courts are brought to resolve on the basis of s.23 of the Charter. This provision is “designed to correct and prevent […]

Minority Language Education Entitlements & The Meaning of Substantive Equality under Section 23 of the Charter

Ass'n des parents de l'école Rose-des-vents v. British Columbia, 2015 SCC 21 [Rose-des vents] opens up a new series of questions surrounding minority language education rights guaranteed under Section 23 of the Charter. Section 23 guarantees minority language rights holders the right to have their children receive primary and secondary school instruction in English or French, giving effect to the […]

7UP for Your Rights: Thibodeau v Air Canada

In what has been dubbed “the 7UP case,” a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") has ruled in Thibodeau v Air Canada, 2014 SCC 67, that Michel and Lynda Thibodeau are not entitled to a damage award that would have required Air Canada to take steps to ensure compliance with the Official Languages […]

Alberta Has No Constitutional Obligation to Publish Its Legislation in French: R v Caron

In 2003, Mr. Caron was issued a traffic ticket for making an illegal left hand turn. Rather than simply paying the fine, Mr. Caron sought to challenge the ticket on the ground that the ticket was issued in English only, and thus violated the province of Alberta’s constitutional obligation to publish its legislation in both […]