The Quebec Community Groups Network today congratulated Ginette Petitpas Taylor on her appointment as Canada’s new Minister of Official Languages and offered our keen assistance in her new portfolio. We also congratulated her predecessor, Mélanie Joly, on her promotion to Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to the federal government tabling Bill C-32, an Act for the Substantive Equality of French and English and the Strengthening of the Official Languages Act, the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages studied the original proposed reform document.
Although they were unable to meet in the senate, the committee managed to hold two meetings to study the divisive document, working with federal minister responsible for official languages, Mélanie Joly, and the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN).
And while the QCGN acknowledged the importance of protecting French language minority communities in Canada, they also voiced concerns about the effects the reform document would have on the English language minority population in Quebec.
An English-rights advocacy group is looking into what Quebec’s Bill 96 and Ottawa’s Bill C-32 will mean for the province’s English-speaking community.
The Quebec Community Groups Network hosted a conference Tuesday morning with participants from both Ottawa and Quebec taking part.
Federal Official Languages Minister Melanie Joly defended Bill C-32, which includes the strengthening of the Official Languages Act.
It is with the rhetoric and strategy of a beleaguered minority that Quebec’s English-speaking community intends to fight the CAQ government’s Bill 96, which it considers to be an infringement of its rights in several respects.
Under the umbrella of the Quebec Community Groups Network, some 150 people attended a conference on the subject on Monday evening and Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, federal Minister responsible for Official Languages Mélanie Joly and Parliamentary Assistant to Premier François Legault for relations with English-speaking Quebecers Christopher Skeete gave speeches, and participants heard preliminary survey results and panel discussions on the subject.
English-speaking Quebecers, and indeed all Canadians, should be wary of the consequences of the measures that are being considered.
In September’s speech from the throne, the federal government declared that “the defence of the rights of francophones outside Quebec, and the defence of the rights of the English minority within Quebec, is a priority for the government.”
The government’s recent policy paper, English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada, contradicts that commitment and represents a substantial shift in the treatment of official languages. Despite reassurances from Official Languages Minister Mélanie Joly, the government has put forward specific proposals that would provide rights to work and receive services in French — but not provide the equivalent in English.
Alors que tout le monde s’entend sur l’importance de renforcer le français, vouloir imposer systématiquement le bilinguisme aux juges francophones de districts majoritairement francophones, sous prétexte que certains de leurs résidants sont anglophones, laisse pantois.
Rappelons que cela aurait pour effet d’interdire aux avocats unilingues francophones d’accéder à la magistrature dans la plus grande partie du Québec.
Trois grandes idées sous-tendent la proposition de réforme : l’égalité réelle des langues, la promotion du français et la complétude institutionnelle.
La ministre du Développement économique et des Langues officielles, Mélanie Joly, a récemment dévoilé son plan de réforme de la Loi sur les langues officielles, intitulé Français et anglais : vers une égalité réelle des langues officielles au Canada. Le document compte une trentaine de pages et propose une cinquantaine de modifications à la fois législatives et administratives.
Ce plan n’est pas un projet de loi. Ce dernier, selon la lettre de mandat adressée à la ministre Joly en janvier 2021, doit normalement être déposé avant la fin de l’année. En ce qui concerne la mise en œuvre des nombreuses mesures administratives comprises dans le document, aucun échéancier n’a été annoncé pour l’instant.
On Friday, February 19, 2021, the Government of Canada released its policy paper on reforming the
federal approach to Canada’s Official Languages. The government’s guiding paper builds on six themes:
1. The recognition of linguistic dynamics in the provinces and territories and existing rights
regarding Indigenous languages;
2. The willingness to provide opportunities for learning both official languages;
3. Support for the institutions of official language minority communities;
4. The protection and promotion of French throughout Canada, including in Quebec;
5. The Government of Canada as an example through strengthening of the compliance of federal
institutions; and,
6. An Act for the Canada of today and tomorrow: Mandatory review of the OLA and its
implementation.
Official Languages in the 21st Century: New Challenges, New Opportunities
In 1963, the Government of Canada created the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) to examine the state of bilingualism in the country and to respond to the preoccupations being increasingly voiced by French Canadians, particularly in Quebec, that the French language and Francophones were victims of unacceptable inequalities within the federal government…
Le gouvernement Trudeau cherche la paix linguistique avec Québec à l’aube du dépôt d’une réforme de la loi fédérale sur les langues officielles.
En entrevue avec Radio-Canada, la ministre Mélanie Joly affirme trouver de nombreux points communs avec les propositions du gouvernement Legault en matière de protection du français.
Read more (In French only)
The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
