The potential problems with the implementation of the new Quebec government’s law on the protection of the French language – known as Bill 96 – become apparent when one imagines the simplest scenario.
Suppose your recycling bin is cracked and you want to get a new one.
If you live in Montreal, you will call information number 311.
But if you want to speak English with the operator, things get more complicated.
Bill 96 will address many aspects of people’s daily interactions with public services and government institutions, from getting a new recycling bin to applying for parental leave. (Martin Thibault / Radio Canada)
Under the new law, almost all public services (except healthcare) must be provided in French.
There are two categories of people who will still be entitled to receive services in English or other languages: the so-called “historical” Anglophones (people who have been educated in English) and immigrants who have been to Quebec for less than six months.
The city of Montreal wondered what its 311 operators should do when asked about a new recycling bin – or something else – in English.
“How should one know who is entitled to receive services in English when calling 311? How will the person answering the phone call check how we can enforce the law? ”Dominique Olivier, head of the Montreal Executive Committee, told CBC.
Olivier said the city fully supports the spirit of the new law, but is waiting for answers on its implementation.
The bill will be approved today in the National Assembly.
So far, Olivier has said the province has not offered any guidelines on how to implement it.
Many organizations have concerns
Not only the city of Montreal is wondering.
“Will they issue government IDs to people who certify that you have the right to serve in English?” “I have no idea how they will do this,” Eric Maldoff, chairman of the Coalition for Quality Health and Social Services and a longtime advocate for Anglophone rights, told CBC.
Lawyer and longtime English-speaking human rights activist Eric Maldof says “everyone is scratching their heads” about how Bill 96 will be implemented. (CBC)
“Maybe they are considering cross-examining them on arrival, and then the bureaucrat will decide if they want to serve in another language,” Maldoff said.
Several other organizations raised questions and concerns about how the law would be implemented during parliamentary hearings in January.
“Everyone is scratching their heads about it. And this poses a serious risk to the people who run these institutions or work in them,” Maldoff said.
In a written statement to the commission, the Union of Municipalities in Quebec said the implementation of the new law would create “several problems” for its members, “especially when the health and safety of the population are at stake.”
“Municipalities must therefore have some flexibility to determine the situations in which they can communicate in a language other than French and which take into account the demographic profile of their population,” the union said.
Bill 96 sparked protests like the one in downtown Montreal in May. (Graham Hughes / Canadian Press)
The Quebec Human Rights Commission also said in its opinion that determining who is a historical Anglophone or how long a new immigrant has been in Quebec would create “obvious practical difficulties” in enforcing the law.
The Round Table of Refugee and Immigrant Organizations, which represents more than 150 groups in Quebec, noted in its written opinion that the lack of precision in legislation could create particular problems for immigrants.
“Nowhere does the law mention the definition of ‘immigrant,'” the group said.
The round table said that it was not clear whether the six-month restriction on receiving public services in a language other than French applied only to permanent residents or also to temporary foreign workers and people with uncertain or no immigration status, who may already have very limited access to public services.
Bill 96 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that covers almost all government departments, municipalities and corporations of the Crown.
So this will come up a lot: when people get a new driver’s license, ask questions about their hydromassage facility bill, apply for parental leave benefits, talk to their child’s teacher – what should civil servants do in all these situations if you are asked to speak English?
The details are still being worked out
The short answer is that the province still does not know how the law will be applied.
Elizabeth Gosselin-Bienvenu, a spokeswoman for the French language minister, Simon Jolin-Barrett, told the CBC in an email that Bill 96 would not be implemented for another year.
Over the next six months, the province will set up a new ministry in French, and this ministry will draw up a provincial language policy for the entire public service and all municipalities and government organizations.
These organizations will then have three months to present their own plans for implementing the policy at the ministry.
The ministry will then have three months to review, review and approve the plans.
Finally, on or about June 1 next year, the law will come into force.
Confusion or misinformation?
But the lack of accurate information is now creating problems for the government.
Following some high-profile national and international coverage of the new law last week, Jolin-Barrett suggested that “misinformation” was spreading about the law.
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrett answered reporters’ questions about Bill 96 when he arrived for the Coalition Avenir Québec congress last Sunday. (Jacques Boasino / Canadian Press)
This prompted the government to run full-page ads in English newspapers yesterday and in French newspapers today in an attempt to clear up misconceptions about the law.
But Eric Maldoff believes the government is deliberately unclear about exactly how the law will work.
“I think the way the government hopes this law will be implemented is to create enough confusion and discretion in the hands of the language police so that people are not sure what they can do,” Maldof said.
“Therefore, they will refrain from serving in another language to avoid trouble,” he said.
Maldof noted that under the new law, anyone can file a complaint with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) if they believe the service was provided incorrectly in a language other than French.
“You will have people working in the system who are in good faith and they will look over their shoulder to see if anyone has heard them speak English, Greek or Italian or whatever,” Maldoff said. .
“All of this will lead to a lot of uncertainty in the minds of people who want to provide the services they need to provide – a lot of nervousness, second guess, hesitation,” Maldoff said.
Jolin-Barrett’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Gosselin-Bienvenu, said that was not true.
“Clear guidelines will be established based on the realities and services offered by the various departments,” she said.
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