On May 6, 2021, the Quebec government announced that section 1 of Bill 104, An Act to amend the Charter of the French language (CLF) and adopted 19 years earlier, would officially come into force on May 5, 2022. This article specifies that the Administration — government, departments, government, municipal and school bodies, as well as health and social services establishments — must use only French in its written communications with legal persons established in Québec and with other governments.
According to the minister responsible at the time, the shelving of this section for nearly 20 years by successive governments contributed to the growing bilingualism of the Quebec state. Its entry into force allowed the Quebec government to “reconnect with its historical responsibility” and demonstrate consistency in the protection and promotion of French. With the adoption of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (pbill 96), on May 24, 2022, the government brought the last stone to the edifice of the exemplary state.
However, the publication on 1er last March, of two regulations that should allow the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the French language, and especially the presence of four temporary clauses, makes us fear that the significant gains made in terms of exemplary government thanks to the current government could be diminished or even obsolete over time.
The vagueness of certain clauses
While these draft regulations formulate exceptions to the principle of exemplary behavior by the State, there are also four clauses stipulating that a body of the Administration may derogate from the CLF if, in doing so, it “compromises the fulfillment of its mission”, after having taken “all reasonable means to communicate only in the official language”.
First of all, we consider this notion of “compromise” of the organization’s mission to be extremely vague. What are the criteria according to which a civil servant could judge the mission of his or her organization compromised by communicating only in French, when several exceptions to the CLF are already provided for? In other words, in addition to the exceptions provided for, what other situation could really “endanger” the mission of a state body?
And then, what is it to have taken “all reasonable means to communicate only in French”? So, is there a list of ways to try to enforce the CLF before resigning to the “impossible”? Finally, we acknowledge that, in theory, these clauses will cease to have effect on 1er June 2025. However, it is very likely that by then, significant political pressure will be exerted so that the government adopts a new draft regulation allowing the application of these clauses to be extended, or even made permanent. Indeed, it is not in human nature to give up “cards in one’s deck”: why would the Administration agree to this without flinching?
The presence of an operational plan?
This, especially since to meet this immense challenge represented by the reversal of the strong tendency of the Quebec State to become bilingual, titanic efforts will have to be made, on all fronts, in a coordinated and coherent manner. However, is there such an operational plan in the government to ensure that in barely 24 months, the Administration will be ready to take the plunge, without a safety net (temporary and general clauses)?
While significant human and financial resources will have to be invested by 1er June 2025 in order to enable the Quebec government to achieve its objectives, are the amounts necessary for these investments provided for in the 2023-2024 budget? Nothing currently allows us to affirm it.
The action group for the future of the French language led by Minister Jean-François Roberge has launched a consultation to fuel the reflection that will lead to an action plan for French over the next few years. We welcome this openness, although the format and deadlines imposed are not optimal.
Invested in the defense and promotion of French, civil society will answer the call, since the time has come for collaboration, collective accountability in favor of our language and strong actions: if we want to guarantee French, and so for this unique culture that is ours, a prosperous future in Quebec and in America, we must all, Administration, government, organizations, citizens, redouble our efforts.
* Also signed this text:
Frédéric Bastien, President of Justice for Quebec;
Jacques Beauchemin, retired professor from the Department of Sociology at UQAM;
Gaston Bernier, general secretary of the Association for the support and use of the French language;
André Binette, constitutional lawyer;
Pierre Curzi, former Member of Parliament for Borduas in the National Assembly of Quebec;
Lucia Ferretti, Full Professor in the Department of Human Sciences at UQTR;
Antonin-Xavier Fournier, political scientist and professor at Cégep de Sherbrooke;
François Gendron, former Member of Parliament for Abitibi-Ouest in the National Assembly of Quebec and former Minister for the Government of Quebec;
Frédéric Lapointe, President of the National Movement of Quebecers;
Maxime Laporte, president of the French Quebec Movement;
Gérald Larose, former president of the CSN;
Jean-Paul Perreault, president of Impératif français;
and Daniel Turp, professor emeritus at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal.