Tag Archive for: Eva Ludvig

Quebec English speakers brace as major provisions of language law come into effect

As of today, employees of government agencies will be required to serve clients in French only, unless the client has English-language rights or is a new immigrant. This measure, included in Bill 96, will require the “good faith” of clients to be truthful about whether they qualify for English services. QCGN President Eva Ludvig expresses concern about possible conflict between government workers and clients over this new measure.

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5 changes in Quebec’s Bill 96 that come into effect June 1

CTV Montreal lists the five measures of Bill 96 which go into effect today, among which includes the requirements for companies with between five and 49 employees to disclose the number of workers that have an adequate knowledge of French. This measure provokes numerous questions, including “What does adequate mean?” and “Who evaluates it?” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig.

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The Commissioner of Official Languages does not share the Anglo-Quebec fear of C-13

“We expect the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to understand and support official language minority communities, including the English-speaking minority in Quebec,” says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). She was responding after the federal Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, sidesteps the question of whether, in his role as federal two-languages watchdog, he shares what he refers to in his annual report as “concerns in English-speaking communities” over the impact including constitutional effects of Bill C-13. 

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WHAT DOES BILL 96 MEAN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES IN QUEBEC?

Eva Ludvig, QCGN’s president, explains some of the potential effects on small businesses anticipated under provisions of Bill 96 that take effect tomorrow. Businesses with as few as five employees are among those targeted. The likely impact of the many new regulations and rules is “draconian,” she says. This approach is likely to hobble Quebec as a whole, she suggests.

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Liberal MP Housefather defies party, votes against federal language bill

Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather stood against the tide by voting “No” to Bill C-13 yesterday – the only MP in the House of Commons to do so. “It’s difficult to go against your own party, but he stuck with his principles and that’s admirable,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig.

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MPs Bibeau and Brière to vote ‘yes’ on C-13

Sherbrooke MP Élisabeth Brière and Compton-Stanstead MP Marie-Claude Bibeau both intend to vote in favour of Bill C-13, the drastically overhauled Official Languages Act. The reference to Quebec’s Bill 96 embedded in the pending federal legislation “has been our major issue with C-13,” says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN).

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Federal official languages action plan gets mixed reviews

Measures specific to English-speaking Quebecers include $6.5 million over five years to support the training and integration of bilingual health personnel. However, says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), “our major concern (remains) Bill C-13, which will incorporate the [Quebec] Charter of the French Language into the [federal] Official Languages Act.” 

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Liberals attempt ‘balancing act’ with new Official Languages Action Plan: observers

With their newly announced official languages policy, the federal Liberals are “speaking to different constituencies” both inside and outside of Quebec, and trying to balance political pressures on a file where they are “damned if they do, and damned if they don’t,” say observers. Meanwhile Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, which has been critical of C-13, said her organization “welcomed” the funding announcements in the new action plan, but had concerns about whether the money allocated for Quebec’s anglophone communities would actually reach them.

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Teach anglophones and allophones French with $137.5M from Ottawa: Roberge

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) expresses disappointment that Jean-François Roberge, Quebec’s minister for the French language, does not see any need to use funding for the province’s Anglophones – newly earmarked under Ottawa’s fresh Action Plan for Official Languages – to support English-language community organizations in Quebec. 

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New federal funding for Quebec’s anglophone community creates controversy

A thriving and vibrant English-speaking community benefits the provincial government and all Quebecers, emphasizes Eva Ludvig, QCGN president, after an array of National Assembly figures blast new federal funding for anglophone groups and initiatives.

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