Editing Manitoba (section)

=== Official languages ===
{{further|Bilingualism in Canada|Manitoba Act}}
Both English and French are [[official language]]s of the [[legislature of Manitoba|legislature]] and [[Provincial Court of Manitoba|courts]] of Manitoba, according to section 23 of the ''[[Manitoba Act, 1870]]'' (part of the [[Constitution of Canada]]).<ref name=bilingual>{{vcite web|date=August 2012|title=Bilingualism in Manitoba|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/fls-slf/pdf/bilingualism_mb_august_2012.pdf|publisher=Government of Manitoba Francophone Affairs Secretariat|archivedate=24 January 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124233615/https://www.gov.mb.ca/fls-slf/pdf/bilingualism_mb_august_2012.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{vcite web|date=15 February 1870|title=Statutes of Canada (Manitoba Act 1870, Section 24)|url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08050_3/38?r=0&s=1|website=Canadiana Online|page=24}}</ref> In April 1890, the Manitoba legislature attempted to abolish the official status of French and ceased to publish bilingual legislation. However, in 1985, the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] ruled in the [[Reference re Manitoba Language Rights]] that section 23 still applied, and that legislation published only in English was invalid (unilingual legislation was declared valid for a temporary period to allow time for translation).<ref>{{vcite book|author=Hebert, Raymond M|title=Manitoba's French-Language Crisis: A Cautionary Tale|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=2005|pages=xiv–xvi, 11–12, 30, 67–69|isbn=978-0-7735-2790-4}}</ref>

Although French is an official language for the purposes of the legislature, legislation, and the courts, the ''Manitoba Act'' does not require it to be an official language for the purpose of the executive branch (except when performing legislative or judicial functions).<ref>In [1992] 1 S.C.R. 221–222 [http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/834/index.do scc-csc.lexum.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520003655/http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/834/index.do |date=20 May 2014 }}, the Supreme Court rejected the contentions of the Société Franco-manitobaine that §23 extends to executive functions of the executive branch.</ref> Hence, Manitoba's government is not completely bilingual. The Manitoba French Language Services Policy of 1999 is intended to provide a comparable level of provincial government services in both official languages.<ref>{{vcite web|url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/fls-slf/pdf/fls_policy.pdf|title=Manitoba Francophone Affairs Secretariat|publisher=Government of Manitoba|accessdate=29 October 2009|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524231502/http://www.gov.mb.ca/fls-slf/pdf/fls_policy.pdf|archivedate=24 May 2010}}</ref> According to the 2006 Census, 82.8 percent of Manitoba's population spoke only English, 3.2 percent spoke only French, 15.1 percent spoke both, and 0.9 percent spoke neither.<ref>{{vcite web|url=http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo15-eng.htm |title=Population by knowledge of official language, by province and territory (2006 Census) |date=11 December 2007 |publisher=Statistics Canada |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115061228/http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo15-eng.htm |archivedate=15 January 2011 }}</ref>

In 2010, the provincial government of Manitoba passed the ''Aboriginal Languages Recognition Act'', which gives official recognition to seven indigenous languages: [[Cree language|Cree]], [[Dakota language|Dakota]], [[Dene language|Dene]], [[Inuktitut]], [[Michif]], [[Ojibway language|Ojibway]] and [[Oji-Cree language|Oji-Cree]].<ref>{{vcite web |url=http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/a001-5e.php |title=The Aboriginal Languages Recognition Act |publisher=Web2.gov.mb.ca |date=17 June 2010 |url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411062204/http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/a001-5e.php |archivedate=11 April 2013  }}</ref>