All municipalities in Quebec that were in danger of losing their bilingual status under a provincial language law chose to retain their right to serve people in English and French.
The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) has confirmed that the 48 cities, municipalities or boroughs that had been notified that their status could be revoked have taken the necessary measures to remain bilingual.
With this legislative amendment, the municipalities that received notices had to analyze the need to maintain or not their bilingual status and thus take a position, said the OQLF.
Under Quebec’s new language law, municipalities where less than 50% of the citizens have English as their mother tongue could lose the right to communicate with residents in English.
However, Bill 96 allowed bilingual towns to avoid having their status revoked by passing a resolution affirming their desire to remain bilingual, within 120 days of receiving the notice from the province.
More than half of the province’s 89 bilingual municipalities received these notices in December, as their English-speaking population ranged from 7.2% to just under 50%. Most of the 48 municipalities or boroughs adopted the resolution, said the OQLF.
Thomas Verville, spokesperson for French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge, explained that the law strikes a balance between promoting French and preserving the rights of the English-speaking minority. He stressed that it will now be up to the mayors to justify this choice to their voters.
Bill 96, which came into effect last June, tightened the province’s language rules and affirmed that French is the only official language of Quebec and the common language of the Quebec nation. However, the idea of waiving the right to serve residents in English did not sit well with the mayors.
Otterburn Park, a town 40 kilometers east of Montreal, chose to retain its status even though only 7.2% of its citizens have English as their mother tongue.
Scott Pearce, who represents mayors of bilingual cities at the Federation of Quebec Municipalities (FQM), said he was not at all surprised by the unanimous decision to remain bilingual, saying it was not controversial.
Mr. Pearce added that the choice to remain bilingual is often made out of respect for the history of a region as well as for English-speaking taxpayers, many of whom are older.
The municipalities that received notices are mainly located near the border with Ontario, in the west of the island of Montreal as well as in the Laurentides and Estrie regions, all of which have historically had significant English-speaking populations.
Mr. Pearce is mayor of Gore, north of Montreal, a township municipality founded by Irish immigrants. Even though the English-speaking population there has fallen to around 20%, he said there was no question of dropping the status.
He said most fears surrounding the decline of the French language are centered in Montreal, where the proportion of people who speak French at home and at work is declining.
According to him, in rural areas like his, language is not a problem. Almost the entire younger generation speaks both languages, and he sees no animosity between Anglophones and Francophones.
While it’s imperative that people be able to get services in French, he said it’s helpful for the municipality to be able to communicate with people in the language they understand best when it comes to complex issues. , such as water quality and lake protection. Bilingual status allows a municipality to use both French and English in its written and oral communications as well as on its signage.
The process of revoking or renewing the status must take place every five years, after each census.
Although all municipalities have chosen to remain bilingual this time around, the OQLF indicated that there are also advantages for services in French. The discussions surrounding this exercise have also led other municipalities to review their practices to ensure that they communicate in French with the public, according to the office.