Woe to the unsuspecting Montreal merchant who greets a sensitive anglo female client with a “Bonjour-Ho!” Blood may be spilled. Lips may be fattened. Eyes may get blackened. “Bonjour-Ho!?” Seriously? ‘Fraid so. Even during the grimmest of times, we can always count on our politicians to bring a little, nay, a lot of levity to … Read more
MONTREAL – The Bloc Quebecois has offered a suggestion for Montreal store clerks accustomed to greeting customers with ‘Bonjour-Hi!’ The Bloc is suggesting the more festive, and less English, ‘Bonjour-Ho!’ Twitter erupted when the Bloc posted the suggestion, along with its campaign “2021: On touche du bois!” “Montreal will also benefit from the ‘Bonjour-Ho!” campaign, … Read more
Le gouvernement libéral a promis à plusieurs reprises de procéder à une modernisation de la Loi sur les langues officielles. Récemment, la rumeur d’un livre blanc sur l’avenir des langues officielles a suscité la crainte que le dépôt d’un projet de loi ne soit encore repoussé. La ministre des Langues officielles, Mélanie Joly, dit travailler sur le … Read more
As it becomes clear that 2020 will end without the federal government taking meaningful action to modernize the Official Languages Act, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada – the national voice of Canada’s French-speaking minority communities – is sorely disappointed at this missed opportunity. The government’s failure to introduce a bill comes at the … Read more
We spoke to anglos who (actively) support the protection of the French language, cementing the fact that language debates are a thing of the past. They say that nothing is certain in this world but death and taxes. And, if you live in Quebec, you can also add contentious language debates to that. Last week … Read more
C’est un geste extraordinaire que viennent de poser les six anciens premiers ministres du Québec encore vivants. Dans une lettre ouverte publiée hier, ces personnalités politiques d’allégeances différentes réclament d’une seule voix qu’Ottawa applique la loi 101 à toutes les entreprises du Québec qui sont sous juridiction fédérale. Après 40 ans de loi 101, il … Read more
Daniel Johnson, Jean Charest et Philippe Couillard ont signé la même lettre ouverte que Pierre-Marc Johnson, Lucien Bouchard et Pauline Marois. Ces six anciens premiers ministres demandent ce que six maires des plus grandes villes réclamaient déjà la semaine dernière pour défendre le français. Lire la suite
Si le gouvernement du Québec souhaite vraiment renforcer le statut de la langue française, il devrait d’abord et avant tout engager une réforme de l’enseignement du français. La langue française constitue le cœur de l’identité québécoise. Pour les Québécois, elle est non seulement un moyen de communication, mais aussi une manière d’être au monde : elle … Read more
Les six anciens premiers ministres du Québec toujours vivants s’unissent pour demander que l’application de la Charte de la langue française soit étendue aux entreprises sous juridiction fédérale. Dans une rare unanimité entre libéraux et péquistes, Pierre-Marc Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Lucien Bouchard, Jean Charest, Pauline Marois et Philippe Couillard signent aujourd’hui une lettre ouverte en … Read more
Les partis d’opposition aux Communes pressent le gouvernement Trudeau d’agir dès maintenant pour assujettir les entreprises à charte fédérale à la loi 101, dans la foulée de l’appui en ce sens de six ex-premiers ministres québécois. Pierre Marc Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Lucien Bouchard, Jean Charest, Pauline Marois et Philippe Couillard ont exprimé leur soutien, mercredi, … Read more
How many think Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, was a Democrat? How many think that Pierre Trudeau, who gave us a charter of rights, opposed Bill 101? As we hear about Justin Trudeau’s new-found preoccupation with strengthening French in Quebec, many point out that his support for Bill 101 is a case of unlike … Read more
If Quebec applied Bill 101 to federal entities it would exclude Quebec anglophones from services and opportunities and would be a slippery slope to a national unity crisis. Read more
Since hybrid committee meetings began on Sept. 23, 86 per cent of witness interventions have been in English, with 14 per cent in French, according to the House administration’s findings. Read more
The open letter was signed by former Liberal leaders Daniel Johnson, Jean Charest and Philippe Couillard and their Parti Québécois counterparts Pierre-Marc Johnson, Lucien Bouchard and Pauline Marois. Six former Quebec premiers have signed an open letter supporting a motion by the Legault government calling for a toughening of the enforcement of Bill 101 and extending the … Read more
There is pressure on the Canadian government to subject federally chartered agencies and businesses to Bill 101. It should do no such thing. In recent months there has been a campaign in Quebec, orchestrated by independentist parties and nationalist movements, and now joined by a bi-partisan group of former Quebec premiers, to induce the Canadian government to subject … Read more
The Facing Common Challenges for a More Vital Community Consultation was held on December 1, 2020 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. via Zoom with 72 stakeholders in attendance. During the consultation we reviewed the primary themes and challenges identified in the first year of the Community Growth Plan before introducing our objectives for year 2. The first objective is to have a mobilization strategy developed by community partners working in concert. This strategy is to allow stakeholders … Read more
November 24, 2020 – Quebec’s Minister Responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, announced on Tuesday a plan to table a bill aimed at strengthening French in the province. “Quebec was born in French, and it will stay French,” Jolin-Barrette said at a news conference on Tuesday. Read more
November 25, 2020 – Members of Quebec’s English-speaking community have reacted with skepticism over promises by the Legault government to respect the rights of the minority in its overhaul of the French Language Charter. “We heard the same thing about Bill 40, and the Quebec English School Boards Association is in court now defending our … Read more
During a recent meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, the decline of the French language in Quebec was questioned. Other statements during the hearing suggested that Canada’s English linguistic minority does not exist. Let us quickly deal with this last point. Under the law of Quebec and Canada, there is … Read more
Canada’s Official Languages Act was made law in 1969, was substantially amended in 1988 and is now overdue for an overhaul. As the issue of language rights re-emerged in the final weeks of 2020, it was obvious that many elements of the debate have changed since 1988, but, as Royal Military College professor Stéphanie Chouinard … Read more
Dear House Leaders: On October 1, 2020, Government House Leader Simon Jolin-Barrette introduced a motion in the National Assembly regarding the exclusive use of French by members of the legislature in their addresses to members of the press gallery, unless dealing with issues of safety and public health. The motion was supported by all parties. … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network is heartened by an encouraging decision last week from the Court of Appeal in our community’s fight against the imposition of Bill 40. In August, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) had obtained an injunction from Superior Court suspending application of Bill 40 for English boards until the merits … Read more
The upcoming Throne Speech provides Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a golden opportunity to make good on a longstanding pledge – and take the final steps needed to modernize the Official Languages Act. Time and circumstances have converged. As Parliament resumes later this month, consensus on how to update the Act has already been achieved. … Read more
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares his third Throne Speech and a return to Parliament, he has a golden opportunity to make good on his longstanding pledge to modernize the Official Languages Act and fulfill his vision of linguistic duality and strong official language minority communities. Read more
Our community has the Constitutional right to manage and control our schools. The Coalition Avenir Québec government has taken this right away from our English-speaking community – and together we must fight to take back this fundamental right. All nine of our English school boards along with the Quebec English School Boards Association have launched … Read more