People are taking part in a demonstration against Bill 96 in Montreal on May 14. Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press
The Quebec government has achieved the greatest expansion of its language laws in more than 40 years, imposing new rules to strengthen the use of French in the civil service, education and business despite strong opposition from the minority. English-speaking province.
With the passage of the controversial 96 law on Tuesday, Prime Minister François Legault said he intends to strengthen the position of Quebec’s official language in the midst of what he calls its decline. Many English-speakers, immigrants and indigenous people in the province, meanwhile, say they feel attacked by a law that undermines their rights.
After a year of heated debate, the bill was passed by 78 to 29, with the support of the Avenir Québec governing coalition and the left-wing opposition party Québec Solidaire. The provincial liberals voted against, arguing that the bill went too far, and the separatist Parti Québécois, which said it did not go far enough.
In defending the law, Mr. Legault cited the linguistic precariousness of French on a predominantly English-speaking continent.
“I don’t know of any language minority that is better served in their own language than Quebec’s English-speaking community,” he said Tuesday. “We are proud of that, and we are also proud to be a French-speaking nation in North America, and it is our duty to protect our common language.”
The struggle for legislation has increased language tension to a point not seen in decades, some observers say, and has inspired fear and anger in the English-speaking community.
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Among the provisions of the new law is a limit on enrollment in English CEGEP system, as well as three compulsory French classes for students attending these universities; a requirement for companies with 25 or more employees to generalize French in the workplace, below 50; and a six-month period for new immigrants after which public services will be offered exclusively in French, with a few exceptions.
Quebec French Language Officeand, in charge of enforcing the language laws of the province, they will also be given more powers of search and confiscation when the complaints are investigated.
Despite legal concerns, the law will be protected from certain constitutional challenges, based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, due to the CAQ government’s invocation of the clause however.
The passage of the law will also have implications for the rest of Canada, as Bill 96 seeks to unilaterally amend the Canadian Constitution to state that Quebecers “form a nation” and that French is the “common language of the nation of Quebec “. The right of the province to amend the Constitution in this way, and the implications of its amendments, are being challenged by some jurists.
In Vancouver on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not say whether his government would take action against Bill 96 in the courts.
“The job of the federal government under my control is to always be there to protect the minorities in this country, especially the official languages. minorities, “Trudeau told a news conference. “I was a French teacher here in BC. I know how important it is to support French-speaking communities outside of Quebec, but it’s also extremely important to make sure we’re protecting English-speaking communities in Quebec.”
Opposition to the bill has erupted in recent weeks as its passage became imminent. Thousands marched in the streets of Montreal on May 14 in a protest attended by Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade.
“We must stop dividing Quebecers; we need to unite Quebecers, “he said.
This spring, two new political parties have also been set up, partly to oppose Act 96, after months of ambiguity on the part of the Liberals, Quebec’s traditional Anglophone party. English-speakers have been hit hardest in recent months by the provincial government’s cancellation of a planned expansion of Dawson College in Montreal and the refusal of Mr. Legault to participate in an English-language debate during the upcoming provincial election campaign.
“The mood now in the English-speaking community is pretty bleak,” said Joan Fraser, a former senator and editor of the Montreal Gazette who is now on the board of the Quebec Community Groups Network, an English advocacy group. “It’s as if we couldn’t consider ourselves Quebeckers, real Quebeckers. That may be an exaggeration, but some aspects of this bill encourage this kind of thinking. “
Other critics say the law could jeopardize access to essential services in languages other than French. Robert Leckey, dean of McGill Law School, said banning judges from being forced to speak another language unless the relevant minister deems it necessary could undermine the fundamental right to interact with the justice system. in English or French.
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It is also unclear whether the bill exempts health care from the general requirement for government agencies to use French when communicating with the public, Professor Leckey said. Despite government assurances against it, the result could be that doctors or therapists are penalized for speaking to patients in another language, he believes.
“He says the civil administration should use French,” Professor Leckey said. “If you want to emphasize that there is an exemption for health care, put it on the bill.”
The Legault government has insisted that claims about restricted access to health services in English are false – the Prime Minister recently called them “misinformation” – and pointed to a provision in provincial health legislation that entitles people English speaking to receive health services in English. according to the resources of the institution that provides them.
Christopher Skeete, member of the National Assembly and person of point of the CAQ for relations with English speakers, he said critics of the bill were exaggerating their dangers due to an emotional response to a sensitive debate.
“What they are contributing to their discussion is concern, fear and apprehension and that clouds their ability to see the law as it is,” he said.
Bill 96 also faced harsh criticism from Quebec nationalists with the intent to protect the French. The Parti Québécois, along with many sovereignist commentators, wanted Bill 101, the French Language Charter, to be extended to the CEGEPs, which would have banned francophones and allophones from attending English schools. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Act 96 would not stop the decline of French in Quebec.
With reports from Ian Bailey and The Canadian Press
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