The federal parties will pass a “coherence test” on Wednesday when they vote on a bill aimed at better protecting the French language, said Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.
The other political parties are “always ready” to make statements of principles, he noted in an interview with The Canadian Press. However, “a statement of principles is cheap and worth cheap”.
“If you are ready to support French or recognize the principle, for example, of the application of the Charter of the French language to Quebec businesses, you will vote in favor of a bill that seeks to establish it and who wants to institutionalize it. It goes without saying,” he said.
In Bill C-238, which is sponsored by MP Claude DeBellefeuille, the Bloc first resumes the content of its Bill C-254 which died on the order paper during the last Parliament, but which had previously been sent to committee with the support of the Conservatives and the New Democrats.
This part aims to subject businesses under federal jurisdiction operating in Quebec to the Charter of the French language, to have French recognized in the Official Languages Act as an “official and common language in Quebec” and to force any company subject to the Canada Business Corporations Act that carries on business in Quebec to have a corporate name that meets the requirements of the Charter of the French language.
This aspect, insists the Bloc, enjoys in Quebec the “massive support” of all the former prime ministers of Quebec who are still alive, the mayors of the largest cities and the main unions, in addition to having been the subject of a unanimous motion of the National Assembly of Quebec.
Second, the Bloc members copy and paste the content of their Bill C-223, which had failed to pass second reading, obtaining only the support of the Conservatives. This component aims to require that a permanent resident aged 18 to 64 who lives in Quebec have sufficient knowledge of French to obtain Canadian citizenship, whereas at the moment Canada requires knowledge of English or French. .
Yes No Maybe
Already, the Liberals have announced that they will vote “against” sending it to committee and the New Democrats have indicated to The Canadian Press that they will vote “for”. The vote of the Conservatives will therefore be decisive. They will make a decision during their caucus meeting in the morning, indicated their official languages spokesperson, Joël Godin.
During the debates in the House of Commons, the elected Conservatives were rather stingy with comments, providing no clue as to their intentions. They noted, however, that they support the changes to the Citizenship Act and that federal companies should not aim for “the lowest common denominator”, pointing in passing to Air Canada and Canadian National.
In the New Democratic Party (NDP), Deputy Leader Alexandre Boulerice said he “extremely agrees” with the section aimed at applying the Charter of the French language to businesses under federal jurisdiction, the current situation being “completely absurd “.
“If you work for a Caisse populaire, you have the right to claim your employment contract and your communications with your employer in French,” he said. However, if you work for the Royal Bank or the Bank of Montreal, you don’t have that right. It is therefore a question of double standards, whereas it is a question of banking institutions in both cases. »
But “the shoe pinches” from his point of view when it comes to imposing a French test on all immigrants who want to obtain citizenship from the territory of Quebec since as “progressives” it would be a requirement ” abuse” in refugee and family reunification cases.
In a written statement sent to The Canadian Press, Mr. Boulerice maintains that there are “means to encourage the vitality of French in Quebec and across the country. […] without discrimination against immigrants.
He also mentions that the protection of French must be done “with respect for the English-speaking minorities in Quebec who also have rights” and that “there are two official languages in Canada and they have equal status and rights and privileges. “.
Protect from coast to coast
The Liberals also recognize that the two official languages “are not on an equal footing” and that French is in decline in Quebec. “However, we must take care of minority languages everywhere in Canada and not only in Quebec,” argued MP Élisabeth Brière during the debates.
Ms. Brière said that Bill C-13 introduced by the government “goes much further” than that proposed by the Bloc Québécois. In particular, it ensures that Francophones will be able to work and be served in their language in Quebec, “but also in other regions of Canada with a strong Francophone presence”, which the Charter of the French language does not do.
But the Bloc Québécois does not see it that way. According to him, the Liberal bill “has its merits for Francophone communities outside Quebec”, but in Quebec, it allows companies to choose to apply the provisions of the Official Languages Act or those of the Language Charter. French.
In an interview, the Bloc leader added that the idea that it is necessary to protect English in Quebec has “obviously, absolutely no sense” and that the Liberals are “weakening the protection of French in Quebec” in order to further protect it in the rest of the country.
The new federal law also protects Anglophones who want to continue working in English in Quebec in businesses under federal jurisdiction, according to Bloc Québécois spokesperson for official languages, Mario Beaulieu.
“Bill 101 was intended to make French the common language of the workplace, while the Official Languages Act gives the right to work in French or in English,” he said. It reinforces bilingualism rather than French. »
Census data released last month by Statistics Canada revealed that French continues to decline in Quebec and the rest of the country. The percentage of Quebecers who mainly speak this language at home rose from 79% to 77.5% between 2016 and 2021.