Candid Comment - Bill 96 Not The Way To Encourage French Usage

Most politicians are bright people. And generally, they are well intended. This said, there are a lot of really foolish men and women in office who do and say very dumb things while in office.

Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec, thinks it is a good idea to halt the decline of French in Quebec by using the levers of power to dictate what language people can communicate in with government agencies at all levels. Bill 96 is supposed to support and strengthen Bill 101. The laws are intended to ensure the French language remains strong and is used over all other languages in Quebec.  

The body that is tasked with this is the OQLF, sometimes referred to as the language police. They are generally not welcomed by businesses. In fact, the inspectors are widely seen as rude and unprofessional.  Though to be fair, it is probably not the case with all of them.  The agency gets thousands of complaints yearly from people, mostly about how they are served or not served in French.  The critical question is this.  Is French on the decline in Canada and Quebec? The answer is actually YES.  Recent reports in the media, like Global News, point to a recent report by Census Canada that showed a drop in the use of French to 19.2%, down from 20% in 2018.  Many factors are contributing to the decline, including immigration.  To see the full report, visit Census Canada. Ok, sow French is on the decline, and so is English in Canada.  It can be said that English should and most likely will not die in Canada, whereas French could.  That is why Quebec has adopted the charter of the French Language, which came into force in 1977 and is now being bolstered with Bill 96, An Act Respecting French as the Official and Common Language of Quebec.  The problem is what it allows public servants and municipal employees to do: flat-out deny service in English.  Except in health care and public safety, but even in these areas, it is possible to be refused service.  And it is already happening.  The Montreal Gazette reports even those allowed service have been denied service. 

There are Four Groups allowed to receive service in English in Quebec.

• People who only corresponded with the municipal administration in English prior to May 13, 2021.
• People who have been declared eligible for English language schooling.
• Indigenous communities and Inuit.
• Immigrants for the first six months after they arrive and people who live outside Quebec.

What a ridiculous thing to do.  Essentially allowing people paid by taxpayer dollars to deny service based on language.  It's offensive, racist, and unsafe.  In 2007 Robert Dziekański was tasered to death by members of the RCMP, part of the issue was that he did not know English, and no one thought or did such a lousy job trying to find someone who spoke Polish to avoid the incident.  There were other factors, but the core reason was communication or the lack of it.  This kind of thing could happen in Quebec.  Other errors could become pronounced in hospitals and nursing homes because of language barriers.  A person from another part of the world or Canada could get lost or taken advantage of due to not knowing the language.  English is a universal language. Even in countries like France, it is spoken.  This said, learning French or at least having an app like Google Translate or Reverso may help. The best way to learn is to learn the language through a course. The Government of Quebec has a site that you can use to find a good course.  It would also be a good idea for the servants of the people in Quebec to speak English.  

There is a right and wrong way to encourage the use of a language; Quebec's approach needs to be revised. Even the Parti Quebecois, an ardent proponent of Quebec sovereignty and advocate for protecting the French language, think it a bad bill. Pascal Bérubé, with the Parti Québécois, whose MNAs voted against Bill 96, was quoted saying, "The measures are not essential because they don't make any difference. It doesn't create the desire to live in or even learn French." "It doesn't promote French." "It gives the impression of doing something, but we are not in favor of this."

Promoting and protecting the French language is one thing. Denying citizens who pay taxes service in another language when you can is another.  And it needs to be said Quebec is a province, and Canada is a bilingual country.  That said, provinces like Ontario and Manitoba may want to consider doing what New Brunswick has done by making it official. They are the only true bilingual province in Canada.

Mr. Bérubé has it right; no one favors this except the CAQ.  And in a culture that is supposed to be guided by respect and solidarity, this nonsense only damages the reputation of Quebec's francophones.  I learned that the French pride themselves on being respectful. Allowing officials to be rude and deny service based on language is repugnant, no matter what language they speak or are supposed to officially speak.