10 mo. ago • 95%

Bill 96: Group seeking injunction against Quebec's French-language law

montreal.ctvnews.ca Bill 96: Group seeking injunction against Quebec's French-language law

A group representing Quebec's English-speaking community is seeking an injunction with the court to challenge the province's controversial French-language law known as Bill 96, CTV News has learned.

28 comments

My first thought is "good."

Quebec's language laws have always been punitive, under the guise of protectionism. I can only imagine what people would say if the government here in Alberta decided to pull the same shit against French speakers. (And with Smith in power, it's entirely possible!)

If you really must, declare a provincial dominant language; then step aside and stop trying to actively harm people for speaking English.

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- In a hypothetical situation where the dominance of the English language in Alberta was in question, the Albertan government would definitely try to enact English language laws. Same goes for my home province of Ontario.
  
  Quebec’s language laws have always been ~~punitive, under the guise of~~ [about] protectionism. The value of language protectionism can be tough to understand if you speak English - the most powerful language in Canada and across the globe - as a first (and only) language
  
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  The problem seems to be that Quebec has intertwined language with culture. A language is simply a means for two people to communicate ideas, and that is paramount to a functioning society.
  
  Without a common method to exchange ideas, you can't have a society. English isn't the best language, but it works, and like it or not, it's been globally adopted. It's a standard, and anyone in the tech industry knows the problems that come with having multiple, competing, interoperable standards.
  
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- What do you find so punitive about bill 96?
  
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  I need to file an official request to be served in English with businesses that are serving me paperwork since the bill was passed. This isn't because they can't serve me in English. Previously, they had been without issue. These official requests are cover-your-ass statements so they don't get in trouble when using English versions.
  
  Additionally, the only language you can get certain things like birth certificates, wedding certificates, power of attorney, etc. is French. Need an English version? You'll need to pay for a translator.
  
  Additionally, even if I wanted to access any government services in English, I need to lie. I don't speak fluent French, but have been here for more than 6 months, so technically, none of those English-provided services are legally accessible to me. If I want to find out what forms I need, or get information on government services, according to bill 96 I better learn French right now or stay ignorant.
  
  And this is just the hassle it's caused me. Small businesses have to report headcounts of how many people don't speak fluent French. Signage needs to be put up by next year that's compliant with the need to be "visibly French dominant." Failure to comply means fines.
  
  I don't care what the official language of Quebec is. I don't care if the government wants to devote holidays and school time to teaching about French history. This doesn't affect me, and it's educational and helps keep Quebecois heritage alive.
  
  I care that, because French isn't my first language, I'm made to feel like a second-class citizen for asking for service not in French. I care that government services deny accessibility because they're speaking a different language. I care that businesses will have to jump through even more hoops to do business in Quebec, not because of product safety or consumer protection, and not even because of lack of accessibility, but instead because it's just not a language the government prefers. I got my citizenship last year, and I'm glad I'm a Canadian. But Quebec's government sure as shit doesn't want me living there.
  
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  First and foremost, the legal declaration that Quebec is a unilingual province. We're a bilingual country. Maybe we should forbid offering services in French in the rest of the country.
  
  The cap on English-language CEGEPs. "Sorry, but we've hit our limit for your kind of people."
  
  Judges no longer need to be fluent in anything other than French. How does that allow for trials in English? (And even if you can find a bilingual judge, getting them to hear the case will be onerous.)
  
  Businesses with 25 or more employees will be legally required to operate in French - complete with certificates, committees, and inspections. God help you if your employees start talking to each other in their native language!
  
  Refugees and immigrants will be denied access to services in any other languages after six months.
  
  While it's true that most of the country doesn't have a requirement to offer services in both official languages, there's only one province that is trying to actively and aggressively forbid it. That's not protectionism, that's punishment.
  
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  Did you see the examples in the article? They seem egregious.
  
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As far as I can tell, there are two real problems with Quebec's language policies in general:

Too many sticks and not enough carrots: the Quebec government can't seem to find a way to make anyone want to learn French for its own sake. They can only force people to learn it against their will.

They're solving the wrong problem: Whether adults arriving from outside of Quebec learn French doesn't actually matter much. You measure the health of a language by seeing how many children are learning it as a first language, or one of their first languages. French is not in danger in Quebec by that measure. French is not in danger in Ontario by that measure, even though the Ontario government's policies regarding the French language for at least the past fifty years have wobbled back and forth between "lukewarm tolerant" and "weakly supportive".

Thing is, I'd bet the politicians in Quebec know they're solving the wrong problem. Like ultraconservatives, they're playing to a fear that they've carefully instilled into their base.
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The true problem is that we have a broken constitution. The notwithstanding clause was a time bomb from the inception. It was destined to lead to an unresolvable constitutional crisis. I was guessing Alberta would cause it, but maybe Quebec can beat Danielle Smith to the punch.

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