The French language is and will always be fragile in our beautiful corner of North America. According to the latest linguistic projection scenarios for Quebec published by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), the proportion of Francophones by language spoken most often at home will drop from 82% in 2011 to 75% in 2036.
Faced with the linguistic challenge, everyone publicly recognizes that the Quebec state should be exemplary with regard to French. However, at the Syndicat de la function publique et parapublic du Québec (SFPQ), we have repeatedly shown that many workers in the public and parapublic service are required to communicate in English, either because there is no no clear linguistic instructions to favor French, either because these directives are not presented to them.
So, Bill no 96 tabled last spring by the minister responsible for the French language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, seemed at first sight to put an end to the linguistic confusion which makes many of our members language arbiters in spite of themselves. A ministerial document thus announced that “an exclusive use of French by the Administration in all its activities, both oral and written, would be established, while allowing that, in certain very specific situations, another language could be used. be used ”. In fact, the Quebec government will continue to communicate massively in English if a certain clause of the bill is not amended shortly in parliamentary committee.
Let us note that, during the public consultations in September, in order to reinforce certain exceptions to the exclusive use of French, my Union proposed that an interpretation service in native languages be established for the public services of the Administration. We also proposed that the period of transition to public services exclusively in French be extended for new arrivals, while offering during this period an interpretation service in several languages other than English.
The SFPQ however found a gaping loophole in this bill for the exemplary nature of the State, subsequently deplored by many organizations: the anticipation clause of article 22.2. This acquired right provision would establish that any person who has already corresponded in English with an agency of the Administration before May 13, 2021 could now demand that this public body continue to communicate with him in English, forever …
Recourse to government services in English is already a very widespread practice in Quebec. While 7.5% of the population has English as their mother tongue, 15.4% of citizens have English as their language of correspondence at Retraite Québec and 30.2% at the Régie de l’assurance disease of Quebec (RAMQ) in Montreal. In reality, this infamous grandfather clause would not support newcomers, the historic English-speaking community, or the Aboriginals. In total contradiction with the ministerial announcements for the exemplarity of the State and the exclusive use of French, this clause would in fact only serve to actively anglicize hundreds of thousands of immigrants already established in Quebec, and this, theirs. lifelong.
Obviously, this bill will have to be amended to instead give these immigrants a few years before switching to government services in French. We could also add an exception for people already aged 65 or over. Moreover, in addition to the other well-defined legitimate exceptions, it is in French that things will be done with the Quebec state. After all, an official language is precisely the language of institutions, a vector of integration and support for the common language.
But if the proposed article 22.2 of bill noo 96 was not amended to go beyond this grandfather clause, so a century after making French the official language of Quebec, in 2074, his government would still speak in English to people who were neither newcomers nor indigenous peoples, or even the historic English-speaking community. I trust that Minister Jolin-Barrette and the other members of the committee will find a better way for us.