The new Official Languages Act (OLA) will force most, if not all federally regulated businesses in Quebec to comply with the “spirit” of Bill 96. At least that is the bet of François Legault’s government.
“We are bringing the spirit of the Charter of the French language into Canada’s Official Languages Act,” said Quebec Minister of French Language Jean-François Roberge, confirming an agreement with Ottawa on that question.
After negotiating for several months, Quebec and Ottawa finally reached an “agreement”, after which the minority government of Justin Trudeau tabled — and unanimously passed — a series of amendments to harmonize the federal language regime. with that of Quebec, modified last year by the adoption of Bill 96.
“We understand that the objective is that there is no dispute” between Quebec and Ottawa, analyzes Guillaume Rousseau, program director at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke and expert in linguistic law.
Never mind, argues lawyer Julius Grey, already involved in a lawsuit against Bill 96, “there will be disputes”. The constitutional law expert agrees with the Quebec government’s reading of C-13, but he sees a host of problems there. “It’s quite simply taking away the rights of Anglo-Quebecers,” he argues, before offering his services to those who want to take the federal government to court for having amended the OLA.
In practice, the latest version of Bill C-13, as amended a week ago at the stage of its study before a parliamentary committee, allows private companies under federal regulation to evade Quebec language laws. However, the interest becomes limited since the Canadian law would henceforth include obligations similar to those of the Quebec charter of the French language.
The duty conducted a comparative analysis of the second part of Bill C-13, which creates a law “on the use of French within private enterprises under federal jurisdiction” and the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec , French (Law 96). Many similarities — and some differences — emerged from the portions dealing with federally chartered private companies: air and rail carriers, banks, and other radio and television companies.
For consumers and for employees
Federal Bill C-13, like the Charter of the French language, confers the right to work in French in Quebec, as well as to be supervised and to receive all documentation in that language. On the other hand, the two laws protect consumers wishing to be served in French.
However, the federal law does not mention that these are “fundamental linguistic rights”, as its Quebec counterpart specifies. Rather, we speak of “linguistic rights [qui] should be construed broadly and liberally depending on their purpose”. This is a distinction “perhaps more symbolic than anything else”, according to Guillaume Rousseau, but which can find importance on the political level.
Before C-13, at the federal level, only government organizations and certain former Crown corporations, such as Air Canada or Canadian National (CN), had linguistic obligations under the Official Languages Act.
Committee for “promotion” rather than “francization”
The federal law will also require private companies to set up a “committee whose mandate is to support the company’s senior management […] in the promotion and use of French”. The purpose of this committee is to develop “programs” that will make it possible to generalize the use of French in the company’s offices.
In the Charter of the French language, these companies are required to form a “francization committee made up of at least six people”. He sees to the drafting of a “francization program” aimed at increasing the use of French among employees and senior managers, and “generalizing” the use of the language of Molière in communications. internal.
A commissioner instead of an office
At the federal level, there is a mechanism for respecting French that is very different from the support for businesses offered by the Office québécois de la langue française. This role is instead entrusted to the Commissioner of Official Languages, whose mandate will henceforth also extend to the private sector.
Unlike the OQLF, the commissioner cannot conduct investigations on his own initiative, but rather act after a complaint from an employee or the public. It will not directly have the power to fine private companies. The agent of Parliament’s task is to try to find a solution with the company, and ultimately to formulate an order. However, it will have to enforce it through the Canada Industrial Relations Board, for employee complaints, or the Federal Court, for consumer complaints.
Large and medium enterprises
By modifying the Charter of the French language in 2022, the former Minister of the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, made sure to extend the provisions of Bill 101 to businesses under federal jurisdiction with 25 to 49 employees. , instead of the “50 and more” that prevailed until then.
The federal bill does not specify the limits of application of the Official Languages Act; this detail will be decided by regulation. However, it should be harmonized with the rules in force in Quebec, but would be different for other provinces.
Also outside Quebec
Bill C-13 should also apply beyond Quebec territory, and therefore beyond the authority of the Charter of the French language. After Quebec, C-13 must then generalize the use of French in any company under federal regulation located in a “region with a strong French-speaking presence”.
The regions concerned are not specified in the legislative text. The government gives itself two years after the law comes into force in Quebec to choose them, by regulation. Language law expert Guillaume Rousseau expects these to be areas close to Quebec, such as Ottawa, Eastern Ontario or Acadia. “It’s a major gain,” he comments. It will cut through the argument that the protection of French in Quebec harms francophones outside Quebec. »
The federal language law, however, excludes the telecommunications sector, and Ottawa reserves the right to exempt companies “for any reason”. Quebec also makes exceptions, for example, for the shooting of American films.
Public display
Since 1977, Bill 101 imposes a package of obligations on companies that advertise in Quebec territory. The Charter of the French language requires that “public signage and commercial advertising” be done in French. If another language appears, French must still be listed there in a “clearly predominant” way.
On the contrary, Bill C-13 does not contain specific instructions on public postings, apart from the general principle that communication with employees and customers must include a French version. This does not prevent the use of English or other languages as well.