Prime Minister nominates next Commissioner of Official Languages

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is pleased to announce the nomination of Mr. Graham Fraser as the new Commissioner of Official Languages.

A journalist, author and lecturer, Graham Fraser has had a long and distinguished career spanning close to 40 years which has straddled the language divide.  An active and ardent voice for Canada's language policy, he has been invited to speak across the country on official languages issues and has lectured on language policy as an adjunct professor at the Carleton University School of Journalism.

"Graham Fraser is an excellent candidate for the position of Commissioner of Official Languages", said the Prime Minister.  "He will bring to the position a deep understanding of and sensitivity to Canada's linguistic duality, a profound knowledge of Canada's language policy and its impact on minority language communities, as well as the independence of mind of a journalist.  I am pleased that he has agreed to be nominated for this important role", added the Prime Minister. 

The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages was created in 1970 under the Official Languages Act to protect and promote one of this country's fundamental values - linguistic duality.  The Commissioner of Official Languages, who reports directly to Parliament, is responsible for promoting the objectives of the Official Languages Act and overseeing its full implementation, protecting the language rights of all Canadians and promoting the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society.  The Commissioner conducts investigations on complaints he or she receives.  When necessary, the Commissioner recommends corrective measures or changes.

The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, will table, pursuant to Standing Order 111.1, this proposed appointment in the House of Commons shortly after the opening of the next session of Parliament for referral to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.  The Standing Committee will have 30 days to examine the proposed candidacy and report back to the House of Commons, at which time the House will be called upon to vote on the appointment. The government will also table a motion in the Senate seeking its approval of this appointment.

Biographical notes on Mr. Fraser are attached.


* * * *

GRAHAM FRASER

A well-known and respected journalist and author with close to 40 years of journalistic experience, Mr. Fraser was educated at the University of Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in History.  Since 2000, Mr. Fraser has been a National Affairs Writer with the Toronto Star.  Over the years, he has held positions of increasing responsibility with various newspapers as well as with Maclean's magazine, including Montreal Bureau Chief with Maclean's; Québec Bureau Chief with the Montréal Gazette and then the Globe and Mail; and Parliamentary Correspondent, Ottawa Bureau Chief and later Washington Bureau Chief with the Globe and Mail. He was a weekly columnist for Le Devoir from 1995 to 2000 and for the Toronto Star from 2000 to 2005 and has been a regular commentator on the TFO public affairs program Panorama. 

During a long and distinguished career which has straddled the language divide, he has reported in both official languages on issues affecting Canada and Canadians, including cultural and foreign policy, constitutional debates and negotiations and national, provincial and international politics.  He has been invited to speak on official languages issues to minority organizations in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as national minority language organizations, and has lectured on language policy as an adjunct professor at the Carleton University School of Journalism. 

Mr. Fraser is the author of Sorry I Don't Speak French, which was published in March 2006, and which has helped stimulate renewed public discussion of language policy in Canada, as well as PQ: René Lévesque and the Parti Québecois in Power, which dealt with Quebec language policy and which was nominated for a Governor General's Award for Non Fiction in 1984.  In 1979, he helped found the Centre for Investigative Journalism, the bilingual precursor of the Canadian Association of Journalists, and served on the Centre's board for two terms.  He is the first recipient of Public Policy Forum's Hyman Solomon Award for Public Policy Journalism.