Language Rights & Language Justice

  100 years, hundreds of voices -  Representing more languages than ever This Committee meeting on June 25-26 arrives in the centenary year of PEN International and the 25th anniversary of the Declaration of Linguistic Rights in 1996 – the latter of which led to the conception of the Girona Manifest in 2011 and would be key in the development of the Donostia Protocol in 2016. During the meeting, we will discuss and adopt our Strategic Plan for the next years, and look at the draft of the Linguistic Rights Reports, currently in progress. The importance of linguistic rights, translations, literary production, cultural empowerment and collaboration within your community will also be discussed.  This important event is taking place in the middle (or, hopefully, at the end) of a world pandemic that has impacted our lives, jobs, and relations. Healthcare and technology are two aspects that have become increasingly crucial since the beginning of the pandemic, and particula...

    The Quebec government has tabled a bill to tighten the province's language laws, seeking to change the Canadian Constitution   to add clauses defining Quebec as a nation with its official and common language being French.  That's one part of a sweeping new bill that, if passed, would become the most stringent law to bolster the status of the French language in Quebec since Bill 101 passed in 1977. Much of the 100-page bill is aimed at increasing the use of French in public and workplaces after a series of studies indicated French is on the decline, particularly in Montreal.  "French will always be vulnerable because of Quebec's situation in North America,'' Premier François Legault told reporters Thursday, alongside Simon Jolin-Barrette, the province's minister responsible for the French language. "In that sense, each generation that passes has a responsibility for the survival of our language, and now it's our turn." The bill, c...