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To date, Mayor Jim Watson has favoured the status quo, saying that for all intents and purposes Ottawa is already bilingual.

Several francophone groups banded together earlier this year to form the Movement for an Officially Bilingual Capital of Canada.

While many residents and visitors to the capital think Ottawa is already officially bilingual, it is not.

City council adopted a bylaw in 2001 saying that Ottawa residents can communicate and receive services in both English and French.

But the movement wants Ontario to amend the City of Ottawa Act “to explicitly recognize the equal status of the French and English languages.” It also wants the mayor to enshrine the bylaw into the act to guarantee that future city councils are not able to strike down the bylaw.

“This legislative approach is pragmatic and fits within the existing linguistic legal framework in Ontario. It would ensure the continuity of the French language services presently offered by the City of Ottawa and the equal status of English and French,” the group said in a statement posted on their web site earlier this year.

Support for the movement has steadily grown in the past months.

The main party candidates running in the Nov. 17 provincial byelection in the Ottawa-Vanier riding support an officially bilingual capital, with Green Party candidate Raphaël Morin being the latest candidate to add his voice to the chorus.