CANADA, QUEBEC, AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT ENGLISH-SPEAKING QUEBECERS

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How do different levels of government come together to provide support and assistance to Canada’s official language minorities?

Section 16(3) and 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and Part VII of Canada’s Official Languages Act are the principal legal foundations through which the federal partner provides support to the country’s English and French linguistic minorities. The Act makes clear Canada must respect the jurisdictions and powers of the provinces and territories when so doing.

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A LANGUAGE RIGHTS REGIME FOR FEDERALLY REGULATED BUSINESSES?

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Federal Bill C-13 has two main purposes. The first is to modernize Canada’s Official Languages Act. The second is to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act.

Many legal experts, including former Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache, have expressed discomfort with the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act. The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) and many other voices from English-speaking Quebec are dead set against this.

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What is the Difference Between a Common and Official Language?

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At the House Committee on Official Languages’ meeting on Jan, 31, 2023, a Bloc Québécois motion to insert “French as the common language of Quebec” into Canada’s Official Languages Act (OLA) was defeated. A majority of MPs on the committee studying Bill C-13, which would amend the OLA were uncomfortable with the concept of a ‘common language’ being contained in Canadian legislation.

The QCGN does not support the use of the term “common language”, which was used in Bill 96 to unilaterally amend the Constitution Act, 1867.

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APPELLATE COURT HEARS CHALLENGES TO BILL 21

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Over the past two weeks the Quebec Court of Appeal heard a series of arguments in defence and in contestation of Quebec’s secularism legislation: An Act respecting the laicity of the state (Bill 21). The bill, which passed into law in June 2019, was challenged before the Superior Court of Quebec in April 2021.

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MODERNIZING THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT: HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GOT IT WRONG WITH C-13

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Bill C-13 is new legislation proposed by the Government of Canada to modernize the Official Languages Act (OLA). It also proposes to enact a new law – the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act.

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) opposes C-13 and is concerned about the new direction being proposed by the Government of Canada, in particular the long-term effects resulting from this change on the application of the OLA and on the language rights of English-speaking Quebecers.

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STAY GRANTED IN FIRST COURT CHALLENGE TO BILL 96

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August 12, 2022 – Earlier today, Justice Chantal Corriveau of the Superior Court of Quebec handed down her judgment regarding a stay on the legal translation obligations of Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec.

In her decision, Justice Corriveau granted the stay – i.e. a legal ‘pause’ – on the application of sections 9 and 208.6 of the Charter of the French Language (modified by Bill 96), which were to come into effect on September 1. These two provisions require legal persons (such as corporations, non-profit organizations, and small businesses) to file certified French-language translations of all English-language documents submitted during court proceedings, at their own expense. This decision means that until the case is reviewed on its merits (likely later this autumn), sections 9 and 208.6 will not take effect.

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LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND USE OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN CANADA: 2021 CENSUS OF POPULATION

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On Aug. 17, Statistics Canada is scheduled to release linguistic diversity and use of English and French in Canada data produced through the 2021 Census. This category of data release tends to generate intense media interest – especially in Quebec – and these Census results are being released at a particularly sensitive juncture, given that the Government of Canada’s C-13 An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts is making its way through Parliament.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS BILL 96

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Members of the National Assembly yesterday delivered their final speeches and remarks on Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the Official and Common Language of Québec and commentary from the Committee on Culture and Education, which had reviewed the bill on a clause-by-clause basis.

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Bill C-13: QCGN Brief to House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages

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Bill C-13 is not the bill that the official language minorities asked for. In Bill C-13, the federal government is poised to abandon half a century of official language policy and turn the OLA into legislation aimed at the protection and promotion of one official language.

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COMMITTEE CONCLUDES EXAMINATION OF BILL 96: CAQ ENSHRINES PRIMACY OF FRENCH LANGUAGE AND “QUEBEC NATION” OVER CANADIAN AND QUEBEC HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTERS

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The National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Education yesterday resumed its clause-by-clause analysis of Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the Official and Common Language of Québec. After a particularly intensive day, the committee last night concluded its examination.

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