“We always go too far for those who don’t go anywhere,” said Pierre Falardeau. Since the adoption of Bill 22 in 1974, there has always been someone for whom the slightest measure aimed at imposing the precedence of French was excessive.
Of course, everyone agrees to promote it, on the condition that its use remains optional and that it is no more disturbing than a lighted lantern at Saint Joseph’s Oratory.
It was therefore inevitable that the coming into force of the section of Bill 96 according to which public services must be provided exclusively in French, including those offered by municipalities, would cause a stir.
Only members of the so-called historic English-speaking community, Indigenous peoples as well as immigrants who were already communicating with public administrations before May 13, 2021 will be able to use English.
However, there is no restriction on its use “when required by health, public safety or the principles of natural justice”. Under no circumstances are municipalities that have bilingual status required to communicate exclusively in French with their residents.
It is true that all of this could complicate life for newcomers, at the very least cause them some anxiety, even if the Legault government makes a point of recruiting in the future only immigrants who will already be fluent in French, a few exceptions.
Even if some will check if a person is indeed among those who have the right to use English, it is always a bit embarrassing to make a false statement, all the more so when speaking to a representative of the authorities of his host country, although many will no doubt do so.
The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, recognizes that a period of adaptation will be necessary, and it is to be hoped that the new rule will be applied with discernment and humanity.
We could very well have granted newcomers a period of 12 or even 24 months, rather than 6, without that diminishing the scope of the message that the government wants to send, but the outcry would have been the same. Native English speakers resent being asked if they are entitled to services in English, but how do you distinguish between people who don’t without asking?
The City of Côte-Saint-Luc chose to ridicule the thing on its answering machine, but Quebecers learned long ago that ridicule does not kill, while recklessness can. US network CBS previously reported that “language police” arrested a parrot for shouting in English. In the eyes of some, it is the stubbornness of this tribe that has clung to French for centuries on a continent where English is king that is ridiculous.
Defenders of the free choice of language everywhere and in all circumstances seem rather to defend the right of the English-speaking community to assimilate immigrants by betting on the force of attraction of English, which would nullify practically all efforts made to convince them to integrate into the French-speaking majority.
Since the adoption of Bill 101, successive governments, including those of the PQ, have been criticized for setting a bad example by reinforcing through their bilingual communications the feeling that it is quite possible to live in Quebec without ignorance of French is a disadvantage.
For once there is one who dares, it would be inappropriate to reproach him for it, even if the Legault government refuses to adopt other measures that would be more structuring, such as the extension of the provisions of the law 101 at the college level.
All over the world, immigrants are required to communicate with public bodies in the language of their host country, without benefiting from a transition period during which they can use another language while they learn the new one.
The “moral contract” offered to them commits them to accepting that French is the common language of Quebec. In return, the State has the obligation to give them the means to learn it. It’s give-and-take.
The Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, undertook to clean up the francization services, whose organization the Auditor General had described as a “fiasco”. Launched last week, Francisation Québec intends to offer a one-stop shop that should put an end to the scattering of programs that constituted a Kafkaesque shambles, from which participants too often left without having learned much. If ridicule could kill, we would have known it for a long time.