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Johnson said he was “hopeful” after a “great” discussion Friday with Minister of Culture and Tourism David Eggen. He said a meeting with Premier Rachel Notley was in the works.

“We can’t let the disappointment (of the court decision) blur our focus,” he said.

The top court issued a 6-3 decision against appellants Gilles Caron and Pierre Boutet, who had both received traffic tickets in English in Alberta. The court found their arguments were inconsistent with the historical documents they relied on.

The men argued legislative bilingualism extended to modern Alberta based on an assurance given by Parliament in 1867 and in the 1870 order which led to the creation of the province.

The majority of theSupremeCourtfound Caron and Boutet’s position would require thecourtto believe the status of legislative bilingualism in Alberta was fundamentally misunderstood by “virtually everyone” involved in the Commons debate when the province was created.

“The legislative history post-1870 cannot support an inference regarding the 1870 order that is helpful to the appellants,” the court said.

“There is simply no evidence that this joint administration was part of the implementation of a constitutional guarantee. The evidence is, in fact, entirely to the contrary.”

A provincial court judge had initially ruled in Caron’s favour, but the top court found that decision “in error.”

In a news release, Caron stated it was “unfortunate that the Crown and the Canadian government made promises to the French Métis to secure annexation, but that it was allowed to ignore them years later. It is deeply concerning when a government does not respect its solemn promises.”