In a report unveiled Wednesday, the City of Montreal Committee on the French Language recommends that the City create an Office of the French Language and Francophonie and demonstrate exemplary use and promotion of the French language.
Chaired by former minister Louise Harel, the committee makes eight recommendations to Valérie Plante’s administration. By suggesting the establishment of a French Language Office, the committee mentions the need to “make accessible a portrait of the linguistic situation by district in order to guide actions” and to appoint those responsible for francization of services and districts with a procedure for reporting and processing complaints. The committee also asks the City to “position Montreal as THE business gateway to the continent for the economic Francophonie.”
“The metropolis has a decisive responsibility,” indicated Louise Harel during the unveiling of the report in the presence of Mayor Plante and Noémie Dansereau-Lavoie, French language commissioner for the City of Montreal.
“The French language is the one and only language of Montreal,” said Valérie Plante on Wednesday morning.
Created in February 2022, the committee’s mandate is to advise and support the City in the implementation of its Action Plan for the promotion of the French language 2021-2024.
In March 2023, the committee submitted a first report containing 12 recommendations to the City, including the addition of the slogan “French-speaking Metropolis of the Americas” to the City’s official logo. He also recommended that the City adopt a “transversal approach” to promote the French language in all administrative authorities, because he then judged that the promotion of the French language was not sufficiently reflected in the policies and action plans of the city. the City. He also suggested that a place of “high visibility” be named in honor of Camille Laurin, father of the Charter of the French language.
Further details will follow.
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