Survey | New poll says majority of New Brunswickers support official bilingualism

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By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com

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More than 40 years after New Brunswick's Official Languages Act was adopted, about eight in 10 New Brunswickers support the concept, says a new poll.

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Stephen MacGillivray

Premier Shawn Graham spoke at an official languages meeting at the Crowne Plaza on Wednesday.

The survey conducted by Continuum Research on behalf of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick found that 75 per cent of anglophones and 97 per cent of francophones supported the legislation.

"Instead of a province divided by language, what we have today is a province united," said pollster Chris Baker.

"That's not to say we don't have problems or that there isn't more work to be done, but a concrete success should be celebrated," he said.

Baker said while opponents of bilingualism are often allotted their say, the numbers show how little divide there is.

The survey, conducted from June 9-21, involved interviews of 800 adult New Brunswickers - half of them conducted in French and half conducted in English.

The survey is considered to have a margin of error of 4.1 per cent 19 times out of 20 for provincial numbers, and a margin of error of 5 per cent 19 times out of 20 for the linguistic subsets.

The survey was released Wednesday during the Shaping Our Future with Two Languages conference held in Fredericton to mark the 40th anniversary of the province's Official Languages Act.

Baker said a total of 84 per cent of residents said they were proud to live in Canada's only officially bilingual province, with 63 per cent strongly agreeing with the statement.

The strongest level of opposition came when respondents were asked if they agreed that having two official languages creates no advantage to the province. A total of 47 per cent of respondents strongly disagreed with the statement, another 20 per cent disagreed.

Baker said support for bilingualism was also high in central New Brunswick - York, Sunbury and Queens counties.

"One thing that really stuck out is that this is the area where the provincial government most needs to improve bilingual services," he said.

Baker said residents of central New Brunswick were most likely to have the perception that they wouldn't receive the same quality of service in French or were not provided with an active offer to be served in their mother tongue at a government office.

"That's a bit of a puzzler because it is the provincial capital," he said.

Joseph Yvon Theriault, Canada Research Chair on Globalization, Citizenship and Democracy at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, said there needs to be political will for bilingualism to be accepted.

In the last decade, he said, the major inroads made by francophones in the province have come through the courts.

He said that risks eroding support for bilingualism policies.

"These laws are likely to win acceptance if they are a compromise, a pact between peoples, instead of a court decision," he said, speaking in French. "We're losing this spirit of compromise."

Former lieutenant governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell said it's up to New Brunswickers to promote understanding between the linguistic communities.

Rev. Stan Paulin, who is co-chairperson for Dialogue New Brunswick and used to be the priest at the Ste-Anne-des-Pays-Bas church in Fredericton, said it's really about creating a situation where people can appreciate each other's culture.

"We're celebrating each other," said Paulin.

Baker said the major divide of most interest came from those younger than 45 years and those older. He believes that's because those aged 45 and younger entered the school system after the act was put in place.