Speaking Up

Speaking Uppresents a wide overview of the history of the relationship between language and politics in Canada and Quebec from 1539 to the present. Language issues have always been subject to debate in Canada. From the Conquest to the Quiet Revolution to the crisis of Regulation 17 to the various judgments of the Supreme Court, these often virulent debates have mobilized citizens--deeply concerned about recognition of their language and their rights--in the street, in the media, or in the courts. The state has responded with commissions of inquiry, legislation and legal action, and even police surveillance of citizens. A fascinating history of sound and fury, debates and struggles, tensions, but also of appeasement, Speaking Uptraces the long history of the language issue. Nuanced and unbiased yet empathetic, it shows that language has been at the heart of this country's political life for centuries. Translated from the multiple-award-winning Langue et politique au Canada et au Québec(Boréal, 2010).