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Keep the provincial government away from policing language in the City of Ottawa, Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday.

The city’s level of bilingualism is already “exceptional,” he said.

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“I don’t believe it’s necessary to have another level of government come and dictate and tell us what to do,” Watson said.

Bilingual Ottawa, a group of francophone organizations and individual supporters, wants the capital to embrace official bilingualism as a symbolic gesture in Canada’s 150th year in 2017. The group is calling for an Ottawa-specific official bilingualism where no extra tax money would be required and there would be no impact to jobs.

The group’s proposal is to change the provincial City of Ottawa Act to make the municipality officially bilingual and then reflect the change in the city’s bilingualism bylaw.

A survey commissioned by the group indicated most Ottawa residents would be fine with official bilingualism.