Official language official languages. The Northwest Territories has eleven official languages. All provinces, however, offer some necessary services in both English and French. Canadian advocates of a single official language say it promotes national identity. In Canada, debate has focused on whether the local majority language should be made the exclusive language of public business. In the Canadian province of Quebec, for example, laws restrict the use of the minority English in education, on signs, and in the workplace. According to the Finnish constitution, Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of the republic. Citizens have the right to communicate in either
Section 17 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 17 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 17 of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" is one of the provisions of the "Charter" that addresses rights relating to Canada's two official languages, English and French. While the section 17 right to use either language within the Parliament of Canada repeats a right already anchored in section 133 of the "Constitution Act, 1867", section 17 also guarantees the right to use both languages in the legislature of New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province under section 16 of the "Charter". Section 17 reads, As noted in