Hispanics and Latinos in New Mexico groups in New Mexico were:, According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 28.76% of the population aged 5 and older speak Spanish at home. Speakers of New Mexican Spanish dialect are mainly descendants of Spanish colonists who arrived in New Mexico in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. New Mexican Spanish is an archaic form of 17th century Castilian Spanish. The original state constitution of 1912 provided for a bilingual government with laws being published in both English and Spanish; this requirement was renewed twice, in 1931 and 1943. Nonetheless, the constitution does not declare any language as "official." While Spanish
Official bilingualism in Canada seeks to alter federal language policy, as it applies within Quebec, so as to eliminate the statutory equality of English that is guaranteed under the "Official Languages Act" and other federal legislation. In recent years, this has included introducing a private member's bill titled "An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language)" (better known as Bill C-482), intended to supersede the "Official Languages Act" with the "Charter of the French Language" for all federally regulated corporations within Quebec. Official bilingualism in Canada The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of