(Ottawa) The federal government must remove all mention of the Charter of the French language from the bill to modernize the Official Languages Act, pleaded Marlene Jennings on Monday. The president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) fears the negative repercussions of a two-tier regime on Quebec’s English-speaking community.
Posted at 7:18 p.m.
“I would like to express our community’s deep disappointment with the federal government’s recognition of the Charter of the French Language as amended by Bill 96 in the Official Languages Bill,” said the former Liberal MP in parliamentary committee on Monday.
Bill C-13 recognizes the Charter of the French language of Quebec and therefore that French is the only official language in the territory. The government of François Legault recently reformed this charter by adopting Bill 96, decried by the English-speaking community of Quebec for its use of the derogatory clause.
“Its application would have profound consequences on the linguistic expression community of Quebec in terms of public service, education and access to justice,” said Ms.me Jennings.
Bill 96 notably extends the provisions on French as a working language to businesses under federal jurisdiction, such as banks and telecommunications companies. Federal Bill C-13 gives them the choice of applying either the Charter of the French language, which makes French the sole official language of Quebec, or the Official Languages Actwhich favors bilingualism.
Bill 96 also adds articles to the Constitution of Quebec in the Constitution Act of 1867 to recognize the Quebec nation and that its official language is French.
“The QCGN strongly recommends that all references to all legislation that operates notwithstanding the Canadian Charter [des droits et libertés] be removed from Bill C-13,” said Ms.me Jennings.
Quebec lawyer Janice Naymark, who testified on her own behalf, fears that jobs available to Anglophones will be eliminated or that federally regulated companies may simply decide to leave Quebec.
“The problem is that the bill treats English as the language of the majority, but ignores the fact that English speakers in Quebec are themselves a minority,” she argued.
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti had expressed fears after the passage of Bill 96 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had assured that he would protect the rights of Anglophones.
One of the most controversial provisions of Bill 96 is that public services be provided in French to the entire population, including immigrants and refugees who will have six months to learn the language. It does not apply to the historic Anglophone community, which may continue to receive services in English.
The testimony of members of the English-speaking community in Ottawa was delayed for more than an hour Monday after the Liberals tried to limit the time remaining for the study of Bill C-13 in committee to 3 p.m. The opposition parties expressed their disagreement and the debate on the Liberal motion was postponed.
A motion by Conservative MP Joël Godin was subsequently adopted to invite all the premiers of the provinces and territories to come and testify in turn before the parliamentary committee.