The Bloc Québécois intends to follow the Trudeau government on its reform of the Official Languages Act. Dead to the soap with the elections, Bill C-32 must be presented to parliament within the first 100 days of the new government, according to the Minister of Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
The first version of this legislative modernization – presented in June by Mélanie Joly – provides that “consumers in Quebec or in a region with a strong francophone presence [auront] the right to communicate in French with private companies under federal jurisdiction […] “. The text also guarantees that “employees of private companies under federal jurisdiction working in Quebec or in a region with a strong French-speaking presence [auront] the right to work in French. Bilingualism in the courts must also be extended to judges of the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Bloc Québécois spokesperson for official languages, Mario Beaulieu, accuses the government of “promoting institutional bilingualism in Quebec”. Granting the “choice” of the working language to Quebec companies under federal jurisdiction amounts to favoring English, according to him. “Bill C-32 blocks the possibility of applying Bill 101 to institutions under federal jurisdiction. “
“Quebec must be the sole manager of its language policy,” he pleaded in an interview with the To have to. “The official languages act, when it comes into conflict with the Charter of the French language in Quebec, that should be the charter that prevails. “
He is attacking the “blind spot” of the bill, that is to say the federal funding of organizations promoting the English language in Quebec.
“Money is the sinews of war,” he proclaims. “The institutions are so overfunded that they are used to Anglicize newcomers and even some Francophones. […] Bill C-32 does not affect that. She should touch on this. His party plans to release a study of Canadian public accounts next month to detail these claims.
Supporting studies
The Bloc Québécois relies on the observations of the demographer, mathematician and specialist in Canadian language issues, Charles Castonguay. This professor at the University of Ottawa published a damning book a few months ago on the situation of French in the country entitled “Le fiasco de la politique langue canadienne”.
According to its study, nearly 80% of young Francophone adults on the Island of Montreal say they are able to conduct a conversation in English, while for young adults of the same age group with English mother tongue, 76% say that they are able to conduct a conversation in French.
“English is better known among young Francophones than French is known among young Anglophones. However, on the Island of Montreal, there are three times more young Francophones than young Anglophones. The law of numbers means that it is normally the minority that is more bilingual than the majority. This is no longer the case, ”said Mr. Castonguay indignantly.
The specialist notes that the place in Canada where the decline of French is observed the most is in the region of the federal capital. “Since the initial Official Languages Act, the weight of French, the mother tongue, has increased from 20.5% to 14.7% of the population of Ottawa, and that of French, the language of use, from 17%. 2% to 10.3%, ”he explains in his book.
Canada’s Official Languages Act has not been reformed since 1985.