OTTAWA, Ontario -- The American government isn't making enough of an effort to communicate with French-Canadians on its websites, says Canada's commissioner of official languages.
Dyane Adam, the commissioner, issued a report admonishing the Canadian government for not pushing foreign embassies and high commissions to incorporate French on their government websites.
Adam also says the lack of bilingualism is leading to a "digital divide" and contributing to the isolation of French-Canadians, a statement that has critics scoffing.
But in an interview, the commissioner stopped short of suggesting the Canadian government should force other countries to provide French on their official websites.
"It's not a question of forcing them," Adam says. "They can do whatever they want. They're not under the Official Languages Act. We are not Americans south of the border. We are a bilingual country, and I think that's an important message our government needs to (get across to) other governments."
One in four Canadians speak French, according to Adam, and while Internet penetration is rising in all the Canadian provinces, it remains lowest in Quebec. A commission study released this week showed French is absent from 62 percent of 42 foreign embassy websites surveyed, while English is missing from 5 percent.
In contrast, the study showed that out of 42 Canadian embassy sites abroad, about two-thirds contained the language of the host country.
"It's a question of respect of what we are as a country," Adam insists. "I'm asking my government to say, hey, it's part of our national identity."
Buck Shinkman, spokesman with the American Embassy in Ottawa, calls a fully bilingual website an "ambitious target." He points out that the embassy website currently has two sections in French: one of current headlines, the other on general information related to the United States.
However, Shinkman says expense limits how much French the embassy can place on the site. "Producing a website of our quality is extremely expensive and labor-intensive.
"Adding more and more bilingual material is certainly an important aspect. Whether being told to do it would make a difference is a question I can't really answer," Shinkman said.
Adam said she has difficulty believing Americans can't afford a fully bilingual website, pointing out they have one for France. She also notes the consulate site for Quebec City is bilingual, but not the one in Montreal.
Adam's push for bilingual sites is unlikely to happen. Michael Geist, a law professor who specializes in the Internet at the University of Ottawa, says it's doubtful the Canadian government would pressure other governments to provide bilingual websites.
"It's one thing to force someone who's selling consumer products to provide their products in both languages. It's quite another to tell the sovereign embassy of another country to do so," he says.
Geist believes Adam's proposal is unworkable and would create a problem if Canada took a hard line about bilingual sites. "There are just so many languages out there that the idea you have to tailor your site to every one seems like a tall order, and one that the federal government would have no jurisdiction in trying to enforce."
Geist is also critical of Adam's use of the phrase "digital divide," a term used more commonly to describe the difference between those who have technology and those who don't.
"The idea that there is a divide being created along language lines -- it just doesn't work," he says. "English is clearly the dominant language on the Internet. I don't know that there's a divide being created between English and French. English is the language of choice for so many."
