Honorary doctorate for commissioner of Official Languages
Université Sainte-Anne at Church Point will award an honorary doctorate May 10 to Graham Fraser, federal commissioner of Official Languages during spring convocation.
Fraser, who has held his post since 2006, is a former journalist and author who has been interested in linguistic duality issues during his entire career.
Born in Ottawa, Fraser worked as a journalist covering national affairs for the Toronto Star. He also worked for Maclean's, the Montreal Gazette and the Globe and Mail. He was a weekly columnist for Le Devoir from 1995 to 2000 and a regular commentator on Panorama, a public affairs program.
During his career, Fraser wrote on issues such as foreign and cultural policy, constitutional debates, and national, provincial and international politics in both official languages. He has spoken about various official languages issues to minority organizations in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as national minority language organizations.
Fraser is the author of Sorry I Don't Speak French, published in March 2006, which helped renew debate on language policy in Canada. He is also the author of PQ: René Lévesque and the Parti Québecois in Power, which deals with Quebec language policy and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction in 1984.
