Dionne case: A "resounding victory" for French with the support of the International Observatory of Language Rights
August 11 2021, 4:05 pm
On Wednesday, August 4, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal rendered its decision in the Dionne case and recognized the right of federal employees in bilingual regions to work in the official language of their choice. The decision was described as a "resounding victory" for French by the daily newspaper Le Devoir. Mr. Dionne was represented by Érik Labelle Eastaugh, Director of the International Observatory on Linguistic Rights and Associate Professor at the Université de Moncton's Faculty of Law, and Gabriel Poliquin.
The case stems from a 2010 complaint by Mr. Dionne, a francophone from the Montreal area, against his former employer, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), to the Commissioner of Official Languages. Although Montreal is a bilingual region where employees can choose to work in English or French
(Subject to certain exceptions, such as when communicating with the public), Mr. Dionne had to do much of his work in English because he had to work with a unit in Toronto that was composed entirely of unilingual Anglophones. While the unit in question comprises approximately 20% of OSFI's workforce and its functions are central to the institution's mandate, OSFI had made no effort to allow Francophone employees located in bilingual regions, such as Mr. Dionne, to access its support in French.
In 2014, the Commissioner ruled in favour of Mr. Dionne. Mr. Dionne then filed an action in Federal Court seeking a declaration that OSFI had breached its obligations under the Official Languages Act. In 2019, the Federal Court dismissed Mr. Dionne's action based on a very narrow interpretation of Part V. The Federal Court of Appeal overturned this decision and adopted a broad and liberal interpretation of Part V, while noting that the Federal Court's decision was based on "pejorative stereotypes that call into question the value of Francophone employees in the public service".
For more information, see
The case stems from a 2010 complaint by Mr. Dionne, a francophone from the Montreal area, against his former employer, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), to the Commissioner of Official Languages. Although Montreal is a bilingual region where employees can choose to work in English or French
(Subject to certain exceptions, such as when communicating with the public), Mr. Dionne had to do much of his work in English because he had to work with a unit in Toronto that was composed entirely of unilingual Anglophones. While the unit in question comprises approximately 20% of OSFI's workforce and its functions are central to the institution's mandate, OSFI had made no effort to allow Francophone employees located in bilingual regions, such as Mr. Dionne, to access its support in French.
In 2014, the Commissioner ruled in favour of Mr. Dionne. Mr. Dionne then filed an action in Federal Court seeking a declaration that OSFI had breached its obligations under the Official Languages Act. In 2019, the Federal Court dismissed Mr. Dionne's action based on a very narrow interpretation of Part V. The Federal Court of Appeal overturned this decision and adopted a broad and liberal interpretation of Part V, while noting that the Federal Court's decision was based on "pejorative stereotypes that call into question the value of Francophone employees in the public service".
For more information, see
- Canada (Commissioner of Official Languages) v. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, 2021 FCA 159
- Dionne v. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, 2019 FC 879
- Victoire éclatante pour le français (Le Devoir, August 6, 2021)
- Le droit de travailler en français à Montréal reconnu en Cour d’appel fédérale (Le Devoir, august 5 2021)
- Droit de travailler en français au fédéral : victoire pour un ancien fonctionnaire (Radio-Canada, august 4 2021)
- Un fonctionnaire fédéral défend son droit de travailler en français (Le Devoir, march 21 2018)