Politics

Language commissioner: cabinet ministers must tweet in English and French

The commissioner of official languages says federal ministers must tweet in both English and French, citing two English-heavy cabinet minister accounts.

Former foreign affairs minister John Baird tweeted almost 90 per cent in English over 2 months

Minister of State (Seniors) Alice Wong looks on as Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird takes a photo of photographers during a group photo following a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Monday, July 15, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

The commissioner of official languages says federal ministers must tweet in both English and French.

A preliminary report from Graham Fraser concludes that former foreign affairs minister John Baird and Public Security Minister Steven Blaney violated the language laws with unilingual tweets.

Fraser's office says ministers don't have to be bilingual, but when they communicate with the public in their official capacities, they must use both official languages.

The commissioner's investigation followed several complaints.

While the report names both Baird and Blaney, Baird was by far the worst when it comes to bilingual tweets.

The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of the documents, which say that during a two-month span, 181 of Baird's 202 tweets were English-only.