The Questionable Relevance of the Constitution in Advancing Minority Cultural Rights in Manitoba

Abstract

AbstractThis article argues that constitutional guarantees for francophones and the laws abridging and expanding those rights have been to date largely irrelevant to the linguistic and political welfare of Franco-Manitobans. Rather than stressing the significance of jurisprudence, the article focusses on demography and behaviour. Franco-Manitobans, as defined by mother tongue, increased in relative numbers after their rights were infringed. Although the pattern might reverse itself in the future, francophones are decreasing now that their rights have been reinstated. Manitoba's behaviour has been influenced by and continues to be consistent with Ontario law and practice, a province not bound by similar constitutional obligations.