Religion vs culture(?)

In most if not all of Western society the belief is that the government has no right to force religious instruction on the members of society. When I went to elementary school we read the Bible at the beginning of each school assembly and recited the Lord's Prayer each morning along with the singing of the national anthem. Today that is no more.

So my question is, should the government have any business forcing cultural belief or values on the members of society, specifically in relation to language?

In Ontario, each student is forced to receive French language instruction from grade 4 through grade 9. At that point students have the right to choose for themselves if they wish to pursue further language instruction. Where I grew up, students could choose to take French, German or Spanish beginning in grade 10. The fact of primary importance in this is personal choice, or the lack there of.

One might think, what's the big deal? Does language instruction, chosen or enforced, really matter?

Well, when it is not a choice, of course it matters. But one might counter that we are not given a choice when it comes to math. True, one can make the case though that math serves a fundamental purpose in the maintenance of life, does the study of additional languages? I think that in many cases the study of multiple languages serves to enrich one's life but I find it hard to equate additional language instruction with mathematics for the maintenance of life.

Of course, there are those that believe that language is of vital importance; Quebec for instance. Quebec promotes three fundamental values of Quebec society, one of which is the French language. Quebec, unlike Canada which has two official languages (English and French), only has one official language; French. This was brought about in 1977 with the support of the Minister of Cultural Development. Like in Ontario, students in Quebec learn English in school beginning in elementary school.

So what's the big deal right?

Well, while students are forced to take additional language instruction to meet the requirements of Canada's language policy, people are given the choice to enhance that aspect of education if they choose by enrolling their children in French or English Immersion schools. However this has become increasingly hard for people in Quebec who wish to have their children attend English immersion schools. So much so that a class action law suit has been brought before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Quebec had passed a law the forced immigrant children into French language instruction despite the express wishes of their parents. The law has been so effective that in approximately twenty years the English language school enrolement has been cut by more than half.

Why?

To protect Fracophone culture.

The Quebec government maintains there's no violation of rights if the Supreme Court takes into account the broader social goal of Bill 104 — to facilitate the assimilation of immigrants into the province's French-speaking society, and protect Quebec's francophone culture.

So should the government be in the business of enforcing cultural homogeneity through proscribe language instruction?

When has enforced societal homogeneity ever been a good thing?