Canada is an officially bilingual country. But how do the voluntaryassociations that make up civil society manage linguistic diversity? Inthe 1960s, a study by Vincent Lemieux and John Meisel for the RoyalCommission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission revealed thatCanadian associations were often paralyzed by internal conflicts overlanguage. Language Matters examines whether this remains thecase. The contributors present case studies or life histories of diverseassociations, ranging from business organizations and municipalassociations to groups concerned with equality and social justice. Several replicate Lemieux and Meisel’s pioneering enquiry; otherslook at newer groups. Each contribution examines key turning points inthe given association’s history and explores how its mandate, leadership, relationship to the federal and provincial governments, andshifting options in the political arena – independence, sovereignty association, or symmetrical and asymmetrical federalism– shaped its response to linguistic diversity. Voluntary associations have found diverse ways to accommodatelinguistic differences in a manner acceptable to Canada’s twogreat linguistic communities. Language Matters provides adeeper understanding of the language dynamic in Canada and offerssolutions to groups and governments trying to manage difference. | Language Matters by David R. Cameron, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters