By Sheldon Spackman

Ensuring linguistic duality at the 2019 Canada Winter Games

Mar 26, 2018 | 9:58 AM

Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages stopped in Red Deer last week to help ensure the 2019 Canada Winter Games are still on track for being a fully bilingual event.

Raymond Theberge says it’s important the event reflects the country’s linguistic duality.

“What we’re hearing is things are going well,” said Theberge. “Things are progressing and we’re just here to see what the next steps are and we’re very and quite convinced that things will go as planned.”

He says the organization’s leadership needs to ensure everyone involved understands the importance of having bilingual components to the games.

“What that means, basically, is having bilingual volunteers, having bilingual signage and making sure that Canada’s two language groups are reflected at websites, promotional materials, those kinds of things,” added Theberge. “They have in place a group within the organization who is mandated to do that but it always starts with leadership at the top.”

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“When we have all these athletes who will be coming to Red Deer, they come from all over Canada,” Theberge explained. “So it’s important for them to be able to meet and interact with folks from various language groups and to feel welcome in Red Deer, which I’m sure Red Deer will do a wonderful job.”

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On Tuesday, officials will announce plans and a new sponsor for the 2019 Canada Winter Games National Torch Relay. The announcement will take place at 1 p.m. at the Enmax Centrium.