Opinion

The federal government appears to be sleep-walking past a ticking constitutional timebomb to avoid provoking Premier François Legault, all the while ignoring whatever perilous consequences its current approach might entail, write Eva Ludvig and Joan Fraser, QCGN president and board member, respectively. Read more

Premier Legault’s recent Twitter outburst “should not deter the Trudeau government from seeking a Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the notwithstanding clause,” writes Joan Fraser, a former senator and editor in chief of the Montreal Gazette, as well as current QCGN board member. Read more

“Non-profit organizations serving English- speaking Quebecers are seriously underfunded compared with francophone groups, and thus often unable to provide important and sometimes essential services,” reads an open letter from the QCGN. Read more

“It was a good meeting,” says QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge of the pre-budget consultation with Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard. The QCGN called for more equitable funding for English services, as well as for wide-ranging hearings to be held on the potential negative impacts that could be created by Bill 96. Read more

Several Quebec municipalities with an English-speaking population of less than 50 per cent have announced that they intend to retain their bilingual status. The fact that towns with even a fractional English-speaking population are protecting their citizens’ rights to access services in English sends a strong message to the Quebec government, says QCGN Director General … Read more

While 2022 was a year of linguistic tension for English-speaking Quebecers, more of the same is expected to come this year in the form of Bill C-13, writes columnist Robert Libman. The Quebec Community Groups Network is calling on the Senate Standing Committee on Official Languages to refer the bill to the Legal and Constitutional … Read more

  Marlene Jennings, former QCGN president and board member of the Red Coalition, is one of three new columnists being welcomed by the Montreal Gazette. “Jennings will be bringing her extraordinary professional and personal experience to bear on, among other things, the once-again tumultuous issue of language in Quebec,” writes Bert Archer, editor in chief … Read more

“No legislation, past or present, will damage our community more than Bill 96,” reads an op-ed by QCGN President Eva Ludvig: “Moving forward the QCGN strongly suggests that [Minister Eric] Girard and his government hold formal consultations on the regulations that implement Bill 96.” Read more

How will Bill 96 affect the English-speaking community in 2023? “The law is being implemented in phases, and I think many of the bigger concerns are down the line,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig. Read more

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has no commitment to give on whether the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro will retain its bilingual status.  A spokesperson for the mayor says that the decision will be made in the new year after consultations with the borough. “We trust that Mme. Plante and her administration will do the right thing and … Read more

“As another long year in politics draws to a close, the English-speaking community of Quebec finds itself as hard-pressed as at any time in recent history,” writes former politician Tom Mulciar. Among the few bright spots this year, Mulcair adds, is the QCGN’s “well-crafted” open letter to Parliamentarians, calling for the removal of the Charter … Read more

Poll commissioned by the QCGN shows that a majority of French-speaking Quebecers support the rights of English-speaking Quebecers. Read more

Some 90 per cent of Quebec respondents to a Léger survey commissioned by the QCGN say that English-language schools boards are important. About 93 per cent indicate that they feel that the Quebec government’s plan to eliminate these school boards would put minority rights at risk, with only 13 per cent saying they support the … Read more

“English is not a species in peril in Quebec,” says Premier François Legault in response to federal Liberal MPs defending Quebec’s English-speaking community during a committee meeting examining Bill C-13. The QCGN maintains that Bill C-13 tramples on the rights of Quebec Anglophones due to the Bill’s reference to the Charter of the French Language. … Read more

“All Canadians should be outraged by Bill C-13,” writes William Steinberg, former Mayor of Hampstead. “The biggest problem with C-13 can be fixed easily by removing all references to Quebec’s Charter of the French Language. The Quebec Community Groups Network has prepared an open letter to the honourable David T. Lametti,” he adds: “Thousands have … Read more

“We want the stability of having English and French recognized equally in our provinces and as Canadians,” says QCGN Executive Director Sylvia Martin-Laforge, adding that Bill C-13 goes directly against this goal. There’s an asymmetrical approach now to English and French in Bill C-13 and the “Official Languages Act” that we do not agree with,” … Read more

French-speaking Quebecers strongly support the rights of English-speaking Quebecers, according to the November poll by Léger conducted for the QCGN.  Read more

The majority of French-speaking Quebecers support the right for those in the province’s English-speaking community to receive government services in English, according to a Léger poll commissioned by the QCGN. “As the National Assembly begins its work, we want all parties to understand, to be aware of what Quebecers feel about access to services for … Read more

A recent poll by the QCGN indicates that 77 per cent of Quebec Francophones believe that the federal government should continue to safeguard the rights of the province’s English-speaking minority, while 87 per cent of Quebec Anglophones believe that Ottawa should do more. “This is not a divisive issue,” says QCGN Director General Sylvia Martin-Laforge … Read more

“Bill C-13 purports to modernize our Official Languages Act. But what the government of Canada is really proposing is to create a discriminatory language regime in Quebec that will not apply to the rest of Canada,” reads the QCGN’s open letter to federal Justice Minister David Lametti, calling for all mention of the Charter of … Read more

“New Official Languages Act must safeguard language rights of English-speaking Quebecers,” the QCGN states in an open letter in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph Read more

“We urge parliamentarians to remove all references to the Charter of the French Language from Bill C-13 and not to throw our minority linguistic community overboard,” writes QCGN President Eva Ludvig. Read more

“It’s not a zero-sum game,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig about Bill C-13, which the QCGN warns will essentially abandon language rights for Quebec’s English-speaking minority in favour of bolstering the French language. Eva speaks at 9:24.  Watch here

The QCGN calls for all mention of the Charter of the French Language to be removed from the federal Bill C-13. Former Senator and QCGN Board Member Joan Fraser says that the bill’s acknowledgment of the charter, recently amended by Bill 96, “would be explicitly declaring federal support for this use of the notwithstanding clause … Read more

The QCGN is sounding the alarm on Bill C-13, the federal government’s planned update of the Official Languages Act, which is set to pass before the year’s end. “We feel like we’re being abandoned by the federal government who we look to as our champion,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig. Read more