Kanadyjska polityka tożsamościowa

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present how the French in Canada preserved their cultural and linguistic identity and distinguished themselves from the English in North America which none of the European colonies at the time, not even socially and economically wellorganized New Netherland were able to maintain their independence. Francophones also managed to prove that nowadays the French play the indispensable and dominant role in building Canada’s identity. Today the provinces can have their own language program providing it complies with the federal policy of bilingualism. In 1976 during Révolution tranquille Quebec passed Loi 101 where French is declared its sole official language. Therefore the province introduced the language policy which was contrary to the Canadian constitution. These are the most important differences that set Canada apart from the United States. This also explains complex nature of Canadian language policies based on equal status of the two official languages in the institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada and also both successful and unsuccessful attempts to establish language policy in the Canadian provinces.