Spicer, Keith

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Spicer
  • Wiki Biography:
    • Keith Spicer (March 6, 1934 – August 24, 2023) was a Canadian academic, public servant, journalist, and writer. Between 1970 and 1977, Spicer was Canada’s first Commissioner of Official Languages.
    • Appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he reported directly to Parliament as a nonpartisan officer of Parliament. As national “language ombudsman”, his mandate was to uphold French and English language rights in all federal institutions under the 1969 Official Languages Act. (Previously, Canada’s federal government operated predominantly in English.) He promoted the use of English and French as languages of both service and work, and he promoted the teaching of “French immersion” in English-language schools across Canada as a longterm support for an officially bilingual Canada.
    • During his tenure as commissioner, Spicer dealt with many tensions between English- and French-speaking Canada, notably a potentially nation-breaking 1976 crisis, when many English-Canadian pilots threatened to block the Montreal Olympics over the use of French in air traffic control. His approach was essentially diplomatic, but he used a mixture of threatened public denunciation and trademark humor to promote solutions.
    • In November 1990, in the midst of the national unity crisis caused by the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord several months earlier, he took an eight-month leave from his duties at the CRTC at the request of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to chair the Citizen’s Forum on National Unity, known colloquially as the “Spicer Commission”. This controversial mass consultation was “a dialogue and discussion with and among Canadians… to discuss the values and characteristics fundamental to the well-being of Canada.” The report, popularly referred to as the “Spicer Report”, was published as a “Report to the People and Government of Canada” in June 1991.
    • Third Great Grandson of Proven Loyalist in Loyalist Directory : https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7831
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/284638050/keith-spicer?