Daniel Jutras and Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens are the respective Rector and Vice-Rector of Strategic Planning and Communications at the Université de Montréal

With the unveiling of Minister Mélanie Joly's vision for official languages reform, the government has recognized that the relationship between English and French must be conceived on terms of true equality.

In other words, instead of assuming that de jure equality (existing in law) of the two official languages will result in de facto equality (existing in reality), the government has finally acknowledged that this is not the case.

In reality, French is showing signs of decline in Quebec and in Canada.

As one of Canada’s official languages and a major world language, French deserves to be promoted more vigorously across the country. We welcome this courageous philosophical shift in federal policy.

Many Francophones have experienced the asymmetrical balance of power between Canada's official languages in their daily lives. They have lived it, so to speak.

Hopefully, the main proposals in the vision document will be translated into legislative and regulatory amendments in the near future. However, the government’s formal recognition of the asymmetrical relationship between English and French in Canada, in and of itself, sends a strong message to all Francophones across the land, their institutions, and their English-speaking compatriots.

It also sends an important signal about possibilities for fruitful cooperation between the federal government, the Quebec government, and major French-language institutions in Quebec, such as Université de Montréal, to promote French as a major language in Canada and the world, working on an equal footing with French-language institutional partners outside the province.

The federal government’s recognition of French as the primary language in Quebec, while respecting the rights of the English-speaking minority, should facilitate such cooperation.

It should be acknowledged that relations between Francophones in Quebec and Acadian and Francophone communities outside Quebec have not always been smooth over the past 50 years. However, under its plan to elevate the status of French, Ottawa has opened the door to a new alignment of interests that could strengthen the bonds among French speakers across the country.

Université de Montréal can play an important role in this area. It is the largest French-language university in the Americas and a world-renowned research university. We are therefore calling on the federal and Quebec governments to provide tangible support to help Quebec universities promote access to French education across Canada and around the world.

Governments could fund the sharing of research and teaching expertise with Francophone partners outside Quebec and support access to scientific publications in French.

They could also help expand the influence of French by supporting English translation of seminal texts in the social sciences and humanities written in French, which are often little known in the English-speaking world because of their language of publication.

Language is a vehicle of culture. The richness of Francophone cultures in Canada and around the world should be accessible to all.

The Université de Montréal has long promoted francophone culture around the world, for the benefit of both Quebec and the rest of Canada. It does so in French and in many other languages as well. French is at once our bedrock and our springboard. Help us, with targeted measures, to participate in the effort to strengthen French and enhance its status in Quebec, in Canada and internationally.