Quebec’s majority government has passed its controversial bill on the revision of the French-language charter, in a vote that lasted just a few minutes in the National Assembly this afternoon.
Dissent over Bill 96 had intensified in recent weeks with thousands of people protesting, denouncing the bill to impede the rights of Anglophones, Allophones and Indigenous communities.
The bill is far-reaching, limits the use of English in courts and public services, and imposes stricter language requirements on small businesses and municipalities.
It also limits the number of students who can attend English-language universities, known as CEGEP, and increases the number of French courses that university students must take.
Seventy-eight members of the National Assembly voted in favor and 29 voted against, including members of two opposition parties. The law was passed at approximately 3:05 pm ET.
The Parti Québécois said the legislation did not go far enough to protect the French language in Quebec, while Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade denounced the use of the clause bill. saying it goes too far.
The clause, however, allows a province to revoke the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Instead of applying only the clause to specific parts of Bill 96, the government applied the clause to the entire bill, making all aspects of the powerful law immune to legal challenges based on the bill. letter.
Quebec Prime Minister François Legault and French-speaking Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette defended the bill in the wake of the protests, calling the protesters’ fears unfounded and saying that Quebecers should ls study in English will have access to services in their language. .
Following the passage of the law, Legault said opposing views from other parties showed that the law was “balanced, responsible, moderate.”
Legault said critics say the bill would affect health services are wrong because the law does not change Quebec’s health services law, which promises service in English to those who request it.
“We will ensure that the status quo is maintained, whatever its origin, people in need of English health services will be able to continue to get them,” he said.
Jolin-Barrette said the law was the beginning of a revitalized effort to promote the French language in the province.
Members of Québec Solidaire voted in favor, although the party expressed dissatisfaction with the clause in the bill requiring refugees to learn French within six months of arrival, after which they will no longer be able to access services in another language.
Pascal Bérubé, a linguistic critic of the PQ, said that his party would have preferred the law to extend the Charter of the French language to the CEGEPS, that is, francophones and children of people who do not go to English school should to attend CEGEP in French.
CAQ members celebrate Bill 96 voted on and passed in Quebec National Assembly
In a brief vote Tuesday, the Quebec government passed its controversial bill on the revision of the French Language Charter.
But Legault said Bérubé’s demand was unrealistic because it would lead to the closure of half of Quebec’s English CEGEPs.
Instead, the prime minister said the province should focus on ensuring that more immigrants accepted into the province already speak French, noting that the issue would be part of the Coalition Avenir election campaign. Quebec.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday he was concerned about the law and did not say whether the federal government would try to challenge its legality.
“We will make our decisions based on what we see is the need to keep minorities protected across the country,” Trudeau said.
Reacting to the passage of the law, Anglade said Quebeckers could expect several legal challenges. He said he would prefer that these challenges not come from the feds.
Dividing law
Anglade said the law is divisive and has not been reassured by Legault’s claim that nothing would change in health care, noting that even the Quebec College of Physicians had denounced the last week serious “gray areas” on health care in the bill.
He also called the obligation for new immigrants to learn French within six months “unrealistic, unacceptable and counterproductive.”
The Quebec Network of Community Groups, an organization that promotes the rights of English speakers in the province, said it was deeply disappointed by the passage of the law.
Quebec Liberal leader Dominique Anglade says Bill 96 is divisive, rather than promoting the French language in an inclusive way. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press)
Marlene Jennings, president of the QCGN, has been a vocal critic of the law and delivered a speech at the large demonstration against Bill 96 in downtown Montreal more than a week ago.
Jennings said in a statement that “Act 96 is the most important repeal of human rights in the history of Quebec and Canada.”
Jennings said the provincial government’s creation of a group of English-speakers who called it the “historic English-speaking community” left out thousands of people from diverse backgrounds, who would be harmed if they did not access English front line.
“This legislation revokes the right to access English-language services for some 300,000 to 500,000 English-speaking Quebeckers,” the statement said.
The group also said it was opposed to the extended powers granted by law to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), the government agency responsible for ensuring compliance with the French Language Charter. The renewed Charter allows the OQLF to search without any order.
The Quebec Association of English School Boards spoke out against the passage of the law on Tuesday evening, tweeting that “it’s not only bad [for] English-speaking Quebeckers but for Quebec as a whole. “