Avenir du Quebec coalition leader Francois Lego, right, speaks with Chamber of Commerce President Michel LeBlanc in Montreal, September 28, 2018. Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press
As Quebec’s controversial language law nears adoption, the province’s business community is becoming increasingly concerned about what it could mean for their end result, with some companies considering leaving altogether.
Known as Bill 96, the legislation will impose stricter language requirements on small businesses and companies in federally regulated industries, such as banking and telecommunications, as well as governments and schools. The bill is expected to be passed before the summer parliamentary break.
In addition to strengthening the Charter of the French Language of 1977 – the law on the language of the provincial signatures, commonly known as Bill 101 – the legislation will apply to tens of thousands of previously exempt companies.
If it passes, companies with 25 or more employees will be subject to “franchising” – a government certificate that the use of French is widespread in the workplace – from 50 at the moment. The bill also gives new powers to the French-speaking supervisory authority and sets stricter language rules for professional contracts.
The cost of a company with approximately 50 employees will range from $ 9.5 million to $ 23.5 million, according to estimates by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Costs range from translation fees and legal services to administrative burdens, such as creating a job evaluation to ensure that French penetrates all corners of the company.
An internal or public complaint may give rise to an inquiry by the provincial office of the québécois de la langue française. The supervisory authority may also request on its own initiative a business between 25 and 100 employees to form a franchising committee, another expense for smaller companies.
Other provisions strengthen the existing protections of the charter.
One clause prohibits employers from requiring a knowledge of a language other than French unless they can demonstrate that the job requires it and that all reasonable ways have been explored to get away from the requirement. At present, the requirement of another language as a condition for work is allowed only if “the nature of the obligations requires such knowledge”, says Bill 101.
High thresholds risk taking Quebec headquarters away from hampering the province’s export economy, trade associations say.
“Quebec companies need to be able to have bilingual employees and be able to serve foreign buyers in English,” said Michel LeBlanc, chief executive of the Metropolitan Montreal Chamber of Commerce, in a telephone interview.
“We want companies to be able to decide when to hire bilingual people.
In addition to increasing the prominence of the French language on signs and posters, the legislation also requires companies to draw up employment contracts and other documents in French.
“This is not feasible. We have companies in Quebec that do business with companies from all over the world, “said Mr LeBlanc, adding that the French really need some special protection.
Amid labor shortages in industries such as fashion and food services, many stores are increasingly looking for students – including those outside the countryside or the state – to staff counters and cash shelves, with the option for some to stay and integrate after graduation. Now that door will largely close, as many of these students do not speak French fluently, he said.
Affected clothing ranges from retail stores to small international technology companies as well as large federal companies.
The language office estimates that Quebec is home to about 20,000 companies with between 25 and 49 employees.
Thousands more work for companies that come under federal jurisdiction. Former Crown corporations such as Air Canada and Canadian National Railway Co. are already subject to federal official language law, which requires them to provide services in English or French upon request. But most federally regulated companies are not included in this 53-year law.
According to a 2013 study by the Federal Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, nearly 135,000 employees in Quebec worked for 1,760 federally regulated companies that are not subject to provincial or national language laws. Now everything would be.
Even if these companies claim they are not bound by provincial law, the proposed federal law aims to ensure compliance.
Re-introduced in March after first introduced last June, the Liberals Bill 13 requires companies under federal jurisdiction that are not currently subject to the French Charter or the Federal Law on Official Languages to comply with the rules. of Quebec for French at work or to a parallel mode on the Ottawa circuit.
Litigation is another potential drain on corporate time and accounts.
At present, incidents of non-compliance are worked out between the company and the observer, and the deadlines for compliance are negotiable. Bill 96 will change this process.
“Now, any Quebec resident who believes that his rights under the French Charter have not been met when interacting with his business can file a claim for compensation,” said Alexander Fallon, a partner at Osler Law Firm in Montreal.
“Even if an agreement is reached with the regulator, a private lawsuit may still arise.
Customer service meetings, receipts, brochures, product packaging, menus and advertisements can form the basis of a case.
“Small and large businesses are very worried,” Mr Fallon said.
“This disrupts the trust environment,” added Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network.
Business groups ranging from the Quebec Retail Council to Quebec manufacturers and exporters and the Canadian Innovators Council are asking the government to relax its rules – especially on franchising – to offer support to businesses that are subject to it, and to extend compliance deadlines.
But Giovanni Bishilia, leader of Quebec’s nascent Centrist Party, which has applied to the province’s chief election official for permission, doubts whether Prime Minister Francois Lego’s government hears the concerns of troubled business owners.
“The Anglophones blame the Francophones, the Francophones blame the Anglophones. “They make monsters out of each other and they both claim to be victims of each other,” he said.
“Nobody communicates.”
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