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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

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