Graham Fraser

The Commissioner of Official Languages

A well-known and respected journalist and author with close to 40 years of journalistic experience, Mr. Fraser was educated at the University of Toronto, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in History. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner of Official Languages, Mr. Fraser worked as a national affairs writer with The Toronto Star. Over the years, he has held positions of increasing responsibility with various newspapers and periodicals, including Montréal Bureau Chief with Maclean’s; Québec City Bureau Chief with the Montreal Gazette and then The Globe and Mail; and Parliamentary Correspondent, Ottawa Bureau Chief and later Washington Bureau Chief with The Globe and Mail. He was a weekly columnist for Le Devoir from 1995 to 2000 and for The Toronto Star from 2000 to 2005 and was a regular commentator on the TFO public affairs program Panorama.

During a long and distinguished career that has straddled the language divide, Mr. Fraser has reported in both official languages on issues affecting Canada and Canadians, including cultural and foreign policy; constitutional debates and negotiations; and provincial, national and  international politics. He has been invited to speak on official languages issues to the minority-language organizations of Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as minority-language organizations working at the national level, and has given lectures on language policy at various Canadian universities, namely as an adjunct professor at Carleton University.

Mr. Fraser has written five books, including Fighting Back: Urban Renewal in Trefann Court (1972), Playing for Keeps: The Making of a Prime Minister (1988) and Vous m’intéressez : chroniques (2001). His latest book, Sorry, I Don’t Speak French, was published in March 2006 and helped stimulate renewed public discussion of language policy in Canada. Mr. Fraser is also the author of PQ: René Lévesque and the Parti Québecois in Power, which deals with Quebec language policy and which was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction in 1984. In 1979, he helped found the Centre for Investigative Journalism, the bilingual precursor of the Canadian Association of Journalists, and served on the Centre’s board for two terms. He was the first recipient of the Public Policy Forum’s Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded honourary doctorates by the Université Sainte-Anne (Political Science) and the University of Ottawa (Doctorate of the University) in 2008.