Do you need to be bilingual to be prime minister?

No, the Official Languages Act puts the onus of providing services in both official languages on the federal government so that individuals don’t have to be bilingual.

What benefits are there to speaking both languages in Canada?

Being able to communicate well in either language is vital in order to succeed in Canada. Being able to communicate well in both languages is better, and gives you a competitive edge over someone who speaks only one language.

Do you have to speak French to work in Canadian government?

Canada’s government require its workers to speak both English and French, meaning only people from the bilingual areas can actually work in politics on a national level.

What percentage of Canadians speak 2 languages?

About a fifth of Canadians, or nearly 6.8 million people, reported having a mother tongue other than English or French, Canada’s two official languages. About 17.5 percent or 5.8 million people reported that they spoke at least two languages at home.

Is it important to be bilingual in Canada?

Bilingualism in Canada is important because it shows how Canadians are passionate and motivated to work to keep and fix things that they find important, it is why all over Canada French is spoken, it is why Canada is still bilingual. French communities are very tightly knit and proud, just like religious communities.

Why is French an official language in Canada?

Canada has two official languages: French and English. The French colonized Canada first. However, the British took over all French colonies in the Maritimes and Québec through different wars, including the Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) and the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763).

Should Canada’s Prime Minister be bilingual?

A 2016 poll commissioned by the Official Languages Commission found that a vast majority of Canadians support official bilingualism — and a full 86 per cent of Canadians think the prime minister should be bilingual.

Can the Candidates speak French well enough to represent Canada’s francophones?

It isn’t even about the candidates themselves — who may indeed speak French competently enough to communicate directly with Canadian francophones across the country. It’s not about the politicians. It’s about the people they want to represent. Franco-Ontarians protest cuts to French services by the Ontario government in Ottawa on Dec. 1, 2018.

Can the Conservative Party of Canada’s new leader speak French?

We’re talking about this now, of course, because the Conservative Party of Canada is choosing a new leader in June. The three declared candidates running to be chosen leader (and eventually, they hope, prime minister) — Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole and Marilyn Gladu — are all able to speak French with varying degrees of success.

Do Canadians really expect their leaders to be fluent in French?

So that’s the statistical argument: French is a fact of life in Canada, not just in Quebec, and Canadians expect their leaders to be fluent. But there are crass political factors at play as well. Quebec holds 78 federal seats. That’s more than Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta combined.