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Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights
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<p><i>Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights,</i> [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721, was a <a href="/facts/Reference_question/tFklxhHk">reference question</a> posed to the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Court_of_Canada/RQJKhKzC">Supreme Court of Canada</a> regarding provisions in the <i><a href="/facts/Manitoba_Act,_1870/6WDlQdKS">Manitoba Act, 1870</a></i> stipulating the provision of French language services in the province of Manitoba. The Court heard the appeal in June 1984 and gave its ruling a year later, on June 13, 1985. </p><p>Four questions were asked: </p> <ol><li>Are sections 133 of the <i><a href="/facts/Constitution_Act,_1867/YAdAcQEQ">Constitution Act, 1867</a></i>, and 23 of the <i>Manitoba Act, 1870</i>, requiring laws be in both French and English, mandatory in Manitoba, Quebec, and Parliament?</li> <li>If so, are those Manitoban laws not printed in both languages invalid under section 23 of the <i>Manitoba Act, 1870</i>?</li> <li>If so, do the laws have any force and effect, and if so to what extent?</li> <li>Are any of the provisions of <i>An Act Respecting the Operation of Section 23 of the Manitoba Act in Regard to Statutes</i> inconsistent with section 23 of the <i><a href="/facts/Manitoba_Act,_1870/6WDlQdKS">Manitoba Act, 1870</a></i>, and if so are the provisions invalid and of no legal force and effect?</li></ol> <p>The Court found that the <i><a href="/facts/Constitution_Act,_1867/YAdAcQEQ">Constitution Act, 1867</a></i>, and the <i>Manitoba Act, 1870</i>, did require both languages and that those laws that were not in both languages were of no force and effect. However, they were deemed temporarily valid for a time until translations could be re-enacted in order to avoid a legal vacuum in Manitoba and to ensure the continuity of the rule of law. </p><p>This reference was the first time that the courts in Canada had used the remedy of a delayed declaration of invalidity. Despite its exceptional origins, this remedy has grown to become a preferred one in Canadian <a href="/facts/Public_law/XRlMD0so">public law</a>. Manitoba was given a generous period of time to translate the laws and, in 1992, the court was still extending this grace period to be decided by the parties. </p>