Language policies and community interpreting in Canada: from linguistic rights to access to public services rights

Abstract

This contribution explores the importance of the interpreter as a vector of distinction between linguistic rights and rights of access to public services in the Canadian context. For the former, the specific case of the language used during legal proceedings and the recognition of the national official languages are analyzed. For the latter, the fact that access to any kind of essential public services must be accomplished by means of an interpreter is underlined. In order to illustrate this distinction, both the Canadian jurisprudence on language used during the trials and the mode of functioning of interpreter lists in Quebec are examined.