Air carrier Air Canada announced on Monday that it is voluntarily registering with the Quebec Office of the French Language (OQLF), several months after it was required to do so under Quebec’s “Law 96”.
“The additional action that the Company is taking today reflects its desire to contribute to the protection, promotion and influence of the French language, in compliance with the Official Languages Act which applies to the carrier”, can -we read in the press release issued by the company.
Its announcement comes less than a week after the identical decision of the National Railway Company (CN), another major company under federal jurisdiction whose head office is also located in Montreal.
The two former federal Crown corporations were slow to comply with the Quebec Charter of the French language. In February, only twelve companies under federal jurisdiction still had to report to the OQLF, according to the organization’s calculations. 358 employers had already voluntarily complied with Quebec law.
Under the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (better known by its nickname “Law 96”), passed last year, federally chartered businesses employing 50 or more people had until 1er last December to register with the Office.
A little late
Both Air Canada and CN had been in negotiations for several months with the OQLF before reaching an agreement, the companies admitted. “Discussions with the OQLF over the past few months were therefore aimed at finding a way to reconcile the obligations arising from this federal law with CN’s desire to voluntarily register with the[Office] “, thus justified the rail carrier.
In November 2021, the big boss of Air Canada had aroused controversy by claiming to have “always been able to live in Montreal without speaking French”, remarks which he himself considered “insensitive”. He then appeared before a federal parliamentary committee to present his company as a champion of the French fact.
The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, was delighted Monday to see the air carrier, which had already said it was reluctant to comply with the provisions of Quebec law, meet its legal obligations. “I salute this gesture made by an important company with its head office in Montreal,” he wrote. on Twitter.
Soon possible to give it up?
However, a federal bill provides for allowing companies under federal jurisdiction to waive their obligations under the Quebec Charter of the French language. As drafted, Liberal Bill C-13, which is to modernize Canada’s Official Languages Act, offers these companies the choice between Quebec bonds and Ottawa bonds.
The three opposition parties in Ottawa — the Bloc Québécois, the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party (NDP) — have for their part promised to modify Bill C-13 to force the application of the Quebec law. businesses under federal jurisdiction in the province. This should be attempted this spring, at the parliamentary committee stage where the Liberal Party of Canada is in the minority.
However, this provision only concerns companies under federal jurisdiction, such as banks, airlines, rail carriers or telecommunications companies, among others. The obligation to register with the OQLF was already incumbent on all other large companies under Bill 101.