ABSTRACT
Judicial rulings on minority language education issues have expanded the rights of minority language groups throughout Canada. Charter case law involving minority language educational rights encompasses a number of concerns. Specifically, Canadians moving to the Province of Quebec after 1977 who had not been educated in the minority language in the Province of Quebec were not eligible to have their children receive English language instruction in that province. Jacques Marchand claimed that Simcoe County Board of Education fell short of its constitutional duties, thus violating minority language educational provisions under the Charter. The Supreme Court ruled that subsection 19 of the Charter entitles a party pleading in a court in New Brunswick to be heard in either official language. The member or members of the court should be capable of understanding the proceedings, the evidence and the arguments, written and oral, regardless of the official language used by the parties.
