The Olympics must reflect Canada’s cultural identity
OTTAWA – Even though viewers across the world were treated to an exceptional performance during the Olympic opening ceremonies in Vancouver, the lack of French content did not reflect the true image of Canadians to the world.
At a time when our Canadian athletes are living in a constant state of bilingualism, with many of them training in provinces where their second language is spoken, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) should have been more sensitive in reflecting this reality.
We learned yesterday that James Moore, the Minister responsible for Official Languages, will not officially request that there be more French content in the closing ceremonies, raising the point that a creative team is in charge of content and that it is not the government’s place to intervene.
“This is not an acceptable response from the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, who is responsible for defending Canadian linguistic duality,” said Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal Official Languages Critic.
Furthermore, in its report on the Olympics, the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages had raised concerns about the absence of clear definitions of responsibility for parties involved in terms of representing the two official languages at the Olympics.
“Our last report recommended to Prime Minister Harper that the federal government show more leadership in promoting our linguistic duality at the 2010 Winter Games. Since the beginning, we have believed that all parties involved in organizing the Games must understand the importance of respecting the two official languages during this international event,” stated Senator Maria Chaput, who chaired the Committee on Official Languages before prorogation.
After seeing the comments of Canadians over the last few days, we are confident that VANOC will fill this linguistic void in the coming weeks so that Francophone communities from coast to coast are better represented at the Games. We must remember that these are Canada’s Olympic Games, and that they must truly reflect the cultural identity of all Canadians.
