The Wendish Research Exchange - Normand, Martin: Active Offer as a Norm for Public Services Delivery

Lětopis Abstract 2017 2: Normand, Martin: Active Offer as a Norm for Public Services Delivery

In the 2000s, active offer gained attention from governments and scholars in Canada as a way to better answer official language minority communities’ needs regarding public service delivery. This principle has been included in laws, policy statements and regulations at the federal level and in several provinces. Active offer has also been subject to particular scrutiny from language ombudsmen and from civil society organizations. Active offer can thus be comprehended as a state driven principle developed as a way to respect linguistic obligations set forth in the language regime. But, can it also be comprehended as a community driven principle to foster inclusion and security for French language minority communities in Canada? We believe that the norms which support active offer can make way for a wider participation by civil society and citizens in service delivery and in determining which services should be actively offered in an official minority language by the State.