COURT CHALLENGES
PROGRAM

In June of 1992, the F.F.C.B. met with officials of the
Court Challenges Program in order to discuss research-
ing a case - in British Columbia -in connection with the
application of Section 530 of the Criminal Code. This
article upholds the right of all Canadians to be tried in
the official language of their choice, all across Canada.
The findings of this investigation, which should allow
us to confirm whether British Columbia is fulfilling its
language obligations as set out in the Criminal Code,
will be released in the Fall of 1993.

3 ‘\ 4
On May 5, 1992, the Federation’s members attended the presentation of the first annual report
prepared by Mr. Victor Goldbloom, recently appointed as Commissioner of Official Languages.
An official meeting with the Federation’s representants took place on November 6, 1992, as the
Commissioner visited British Columbia to promote linguistic duality.

NEW TREASURY
BOARD
REGULATIONS
REGARDING
SERVICES
OFFERED IN
OFFICIAL
LANGUAGES

The new regulations issued by the
Treasury Board regarding the provision
of services in both official languages
went into effect in December of 1992.
These directives stipulate the conditions
which require federal institutions to
designate offices where bilingual ser-
vices must be offered. Prior to designat-
ing the bilingual service offices, depart-
ments were required to consult minority
official language communities. Several
federal institutions consulted the
Fédération des francophones de la
Colombie-Britannique. Among these
were the Departments of Employment
and Immigration, of Communication,
of Revenue, of Multiculturalism and
Citizenship, as well as the Royal Cana-
dian Mounted Police, the Federal Busi-
ness Development Bank and Canada
Post Corporation. The Fédération des
francophones de la Colombie-
Britannique continues its efforts in this
areaso that the departments will actively
promote their services.