Earlier this week the Government of Canada introduced its proposed update of the Official Languages Act, Bill C-32. If passed, the bill will result in the first changes made to the act since 1988, but in the days since its introduction, the proposed legislation has already drawn criticism from a number of groups including the … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) has warned that if Bill 96 becomes law, it has the potential to create a “rights-free zone” in the province in the name of the protection of the use of French. QCGN president Marlene Jennings made the statement during a bilingual virtual press conference on June 10. The QCGN … Read more
Asked about the issues highlighted last week by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) regarding the province’s proposed language reform, Bill 96, Canada’s Minister of Justice, David Lametti, shared that he plans to continue to study the bill carefully but generally downplayed worries. “We’ll continue to watch the situation, but we’re comfortable to let the … Read more
Since winning power in 2018, Premier François Legault has become a much savvier leader, dialling down his divisive rhetoric from a few years back. But that doesn’t mean he’s changed his stripes. Now that he’s in charge, Legault is pretty much doing all the things he threatened to do when he was a raging populist, … Read more
For over a decade, a dedicated team of volunteers has fought tirelessly to preserve the burial ground of 6,000 Irish migrants who perished after their arrival in the 1800s. At the time, 70,000 Irish refugees arrived in Montreal after leaving their homeland during the potato famine. Many died of typhus either on the boats or … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network is seriously concerned about the impact of Bill 96 on Quebec’s English-speaking community and minorities in general. “We need to ask over and over and over: Why does protecting the French language require the blanket suspension of human rights? asks QCGN President Marlene Jennings. Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network says Bill 96 is wide-ranging, complex and represents a significant overhaul of Quebec’s legal order. QCGN head Marlene Jennings told reporters today the bill seeks to modify 24 provincial statutes as well as the Constitution Act of 1867. Jennings says the government’s pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to shield … Read more
Wording by the Quebec government in its proposed amendment of the Canadian Constitution could exclude many from being defined as a Quebecer, according to an analysis of Bill 96 by the Quebec Community Groups Network. The QCGN is an umbrella group made up of English-speaking community organizations. It says the proposed new language law would effectively make the province a … Read more
QCGN President Marlene Jennings discusses the implications of Bill 96 for Quebec’s English-speaking and minority communities with CJAD’s Elias Makos. Listen here
The Quebec Community Groups Network says Bill 96 is wide-ranging, complex and represents a significant overhaul of Quebec’s legal order. QCGN head Marlene Jennings told reporters today the bill seeks to modify 24 provincial statutes as well as the Constitution Act of 1867. Jennings says the government’s pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause to shield … Read more
The adoption of Bill 96 on official languages can have an “unpredictable and far-reaching” judicial impact, says the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), an organization made up of several English-speaking groups. “There seems to be a consensus among the population, particularity with French-speaking Quebecers, who say there is no need to worry about Bill 96. … Read more
Quebec anglophones were bracing for the worst when Quebec Premier François Legault tabled his long-awaited bill to beef up protection for the French language last month. But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. As Quebec anglophones know after 45 years of language wars: the devil is often in the details. And after an exhaustive … Read more
Bill 96 is Quebec’s legislation which aims to make French the primary language of the province. Bill 96 would also declare Quebec ‘A Nation’—a move that would require opening up the Constitution. What could possibly go wrong? Premier François Legault says the main reason for the need is the declining use of French in Quebec. … Read more
Non-francophones hold widely diverging views from French-speaking Quebecers on Bill 96, which aims to reinforce the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). A majority of anglophones and allophones also believe the debate over the proposed legislation will strain relations between the majority and minority communities. “There is a reason for optimism here in that … Read more
“It is no longer a question of modernizing the Official Languages Act. We have returned to the negotiation of the partnership between French and English in Canada,” QCGN President Marlene Jennings says of Bill 96 before the Senate Committee of Official Languages. Jennings comments that the Trudeau government is proposing to “territorialize language rights by crushing … Read more
Francophones and non-francophones are at odds over the Quebec government’s desire to amend the Constitution Act of 1867 to recognize the Quebec “nation” whose “official” and “common” language is French. As many as 79.5% of francophones – but only 25.2% of non-francophones – “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that Quebec should be defined as a nation … Read more
Within hours of the Meech Lake Accord on April 30, 1987, an Angus Reid poll conducted for Maclean’s magazine showed that 51 per cent of Canadians from coast to coast were in favour, 27 per cent were opposed and 22 per cent were undecided. Condemnation of Bill 96 and Quebec’s self-proclamation as a nation was … Read more
Some 25 years after an independence bid by Quebec almost broke Canada apart, a new push by the province to strengthen its French-speaking identity poses an awkward challenge for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau months before an expected election. The Quebec Community Groups Network, which seeks to defend anglophones, said Legault’s proposed measures “override fundamental human … Read more
A majority of non-francophones feel “less proud to be a Quebecer” as a result of the Legault government’s sweeping new language bill, according to a poll. Nearly 80 per cent of anglophones and 63.5 per cent of allophones gave the above answer in response to the reinforcement of the Charter of the French Language under Bill … Read more
Quebec’s legislation to further enforce the use of French in the province creates an “opportunity” for the federal Liberals as a national election looms this year, says a veteran Quebec senator. “Crisis equals opportunity,” said Dennis Dawson, who was appointed to the Senate in 2005 on the recommendation of then-prime minister Paul Martin after three terms as … Read more
In Le Devoir, columnist Konrad Yakabuski notes that QCGN President Marlene Jennings warned the federal government that Bill 96 jeopardizes the constitutional rights of linguistic minorities and imperils the integrity of Canada’s constitutional architecture. Expect more voices to be added to that of Jennings in the coming weeks, he writes, adding that that Prime Minister … Read more
Draft Bill 96 leaves it up to the municipal council to save Chelsea’s bilingual status. The proposed amendment to Quebec law, the Canadian Constitution, and the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms would make it harder for English-only speaking Quebec residents to access services and information in English from their municipality. Quebec Community Groups Network … Read more
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments that Quebec can unilaterally rewrite sections of the Constitution have upset representatives of the English-speaking community. But the federal Justice Minister, David Lametti, insisted later that the federal government has not forgotten it has a role guarding the rights of Canadian minorities, including anglophones in Quebec. Jennings expressed her worry about what Bill … Read more
Despite concerns by anglophone interest groups over the possible infringement of freedoms and rights, Sainte-Rose MNA Christopher Skeete, Premier François Legault’s liaison to Quebec’s English-speaking community, is defending Bill 96, the CAQ government’s proposed new law updating the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101). “The Quebec Community Groups Network deeply regrets that proposed changes … Read more
In his first comments since the announcement of Quebec’s most notable language reforms in decades, Mr. Trudeau said Tuesday that the province can amend part of the Constitution to underscore that it is a nation and that its official language is French – adding that both things have already been recognized by the federal government. … Read more