What was the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism?

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (the B and B Commission, also called the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a federal Royal Commission established by Lester B. Pearson on July 19, 1963. It was co-chaired by André Laurendeau (the editor of Le Devoir, Quebec's leading nationalist newspaper) and Davidson Dunton (Carleton University president and former CBC chairman). The Commission examined the state of English-French relations in Canada and produced a six-volume report between 1965 and 1970. Its recommendations led directly to the Official Languages Act of 1969 and the federal multiculturalism policy of October 8, 1971.

The Commission was created in response to the Quiet Revolution in Quebec and rising tension between English-speaking and French-speaking Canada. Pearson's mandate to the Commission asked it to 'inquire into and report upon the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada and to recommend what steps should be taken to develop the Canadian Confederation on the basis of an equal partnership between the two founding races, taking into account the contribution made by the other ethnic groups to the cultural enrichment of Canada and the measures that should be taken to safeguard that contribution'. Other commissioners included Royce Frith, Frank Scott, Jaroslav Rudnyckyj, Paul Lacoste, Clément Cormier, Jean-Louis Gagnon, and Gertrude Laing.

The Commission's preliminary report (February 1965) famously declared that 'Canada is passing through the greatest crisis in its history without being aware of it'. The Commission held more than 100 public meetings and consulted thousands of Canadians. Its final report was published in six parts: Volume I on the official languages (1967); Volume II on education (1968); Volume III on the work world (1969); Volume IV on the contributions of other ethnic groups (1970); Volume V on the federal capital (1970); and Volume VI on voluntary associations (1970). The Commission's analysis was influential particularly on the question of French-Canadian and English-Canadian inequality in income, education, and access to senior positions in the federal civil service and private sector.

The Commission's recommendations had three principal lasting outcomes. First, the federal Official Languages Act of July 7, 1969 implemented the Commission's recommendations on official languages, declaring English and French equal in the Government of Canada and establishing the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Second, the federal multiculturalism policy of October 8, 1971 (implemented by Pierre Trudeau's government) responded to Volume IV's findings on the non-French, non-English ethnic groups by moving Canada from biculturalism to multiculturalism. Third, the federal bilingual public service programme expanded French-language services and recruited French-speaking civil servants. André Laurendeau died of a stroke on June 1, 1968 before the report was completed; Davidson Dunton continued to chair the Commission alone. The B and B Commission is widely regarded as having shaped modern bilingual and multicultural Canada.