Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

(1) Paragraph 23(1)(a) shall come into force in respect of Quebec on a day to be fixed by proclamation issued by the Queen or the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada.

(3) This section may be repealed on the day paragraph 23(1)(a) comes into force in respect of Quebec and this Act amended and renumbered, consequentially upon the repeal of this section, by proclamation issued by the Queen or the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada.As a strong federalist, Trudeau had fought to ensure linguistic rights in the constitution to promote national unity.

Section 23 (1)(b) had its origins in a unanimous agreement between the provincial leaders and Trudeau reached in 1978 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, in which children of citizens could receive schooling in their language.

Concerns for the erosion of the educational rights of English-speaking Quebeckers thus led to section 23(1)(b) being written so that that part of the Quebec law would become unconstitutional.

In certain circumstances, the children whose parents could exercise the right might be so few that literally no minority language education may be provided by the government.

The Court, however, ruled that if a new school were actually built, it could draw in more people than those whose families had previously expressed interest, and thus the number could be somewhat fewer than 100.

The decision to allow for minority education rights along a sliding scale had already been nascent in Manitoba through the adoption of the Laurier-Greenway compromise of 1896.

Norris, the prior compromise was rescinded and the Franco-Manitoban minority lost their right to receive instruction in French in Manitoba's public schools.

Manitoba's minority French language instruction rights have developed since the introduction of the Charter and section 23 to a point where they have allowed for the inclusion of a separate school board (La Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine) that is fully funded by the provincial treasury and operates throughout the Province.

Significant with regards to the province's interpretation of section 23 is how the "number of students" and not "mother tongue" is the basis upon which French language (minority) instruction rights are respected.