Bill C-13 has received criticism from English-speaking Quebecers and several senators for driving a wedge between linguistic minorities. The Senate’s Official Languages committee will hear input on Monday from experts and communities affected by the proposed legislation. Speaking on behalf of the QCGN will be President Eva Ludvig and Board Member Joan Fraser. Read more
English-speaking Montrealers looking to use the city’s information line, 311, will now have to listen to a 40-second message detailing who has the right to receive services in English under the Charter of the French Language. “This is where we really start seeing the impact of Bill 96,” comments QCGN President Eva Ludvig. Read more
Quebec’s Bill 101 should not be referenced in Bill C-13, as its inclusion in the federal bill could be seen as an endorsement of the notwithstanding clause, says Senator Tony Loffreda. The QCGN, which has voiced its opposition to this reference, says its representatives have been invited to discuss their concerns about Bill C-13 on … Read more
As of today, employees of government agencies will be required to serve clients in French only, unless the client has English-language rights or is a new immigrant. This measure, included in Bill 96, will require the “good faith” of clients to be truthful about whether they qualify for English services. QCGN President Eva Ludvig expresses … Read more
CTV Montreal lists the five measures of Bill 96 which go into effect today, among which includes the requirements for companies with between five and 49 employees to disclose the number of workers that have an adequate knowledge of French. This measure provokes numerous questions, including “What does adequate mean?” and “Who evaluates it?” says … Read more
QCGN President Eva Ludvig speaks with CityNews Montreal about the new provisions of Bill 96 that went into effect yesterday, and some of the concerns shared among members of the English-speaking community. Read more
“We are now seeing the impact of a bad bill, a draconian bill,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig about Bill 96: “We see what this really means and the impact it will have on the day-to-day lives of business people, of everyday workers, of students.” Read more
“We expect the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to understand and support official language minority communities, including the English-speaking minority in Quebec,” says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). She was responding after the federal Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, sidesteps the question of whether, in his role … Read more
Eva Ludvig, QCGN’s president, explains some of the potential effects on small businesses anticipated under provisions of Bill 96 that take effect tomorrow. Businesses with as few as five employees are among those targeted. The likely impact of the many new regulations and rules is “draconian,” she says. This approach is likely to hobble Quebec … Read more
Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather could face long-term backlash for voting against Bill C-13, as he was the only Liberal and only Member of Parliament to do so, says Professor Daniel Béland. The language legislation was approved by a vote of 300-1, and is now before the Senate, where the Quebec Community Groups Network says … Read more
Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather stood against the tide by voting “No” to Bill C-13 yesterday – the only MP in the House of Commons to do so. “It’s difficult to go against your own party, but he stuck with his principles and that’s admirable,” says QCGN President Eva Ludvig. Read more
Sherbrooke MP Élisabeth Brière and Compton-Stanstead MP Marie-Claude Bibeau both intend to vote in favour of Bill C-13, the drastically overhauled Official Languages Act. The reference to Quebec’s Bill 96 embedded in the pending federal legislation “has been our major issue with C-13,” says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN). Read … Read more
Columnist Allison Hanes minces no words, in an analysis and recap of positions taken by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), several outspoken federal Liberal MPS, and others on the new Official Languages Act: “English-speaking Quebecers shouldn’t be fooled” by Ottawa’s public packaging of Bill C-13, she writes. Read more
In an editorial taking a broad view of the federal Action Plan for Official Languages announced last week, Robert Dutrisac of Le Devoir takes note of the response of the Quebec Community Groups Network with regard to federal funding levels. Read more
Measures specific to English-speaking Quebecers include $6.5 million over five years to support the training and integration of bilingual health personnel. However, says Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), “our major concern (remains) Bill C-13, which will incorporate the [Quebec] Charter of the French Language into the [federal] Official Languages Act.” … Read more
With their newly announced official languages policy, the federal Liberals are “speaking to different constituencies” both inside and outside of Quebec, and trying to balance political pressures on a file where they are “damned if they do, and damned if they don’t,” say observers. Meanwhile Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, which … Read more
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) expresses disappointment that Jean-François Roberge, Quebec’s minister for the French language, does not see any need to use funding for the province’s Anglophones – newly earmarked under Ottawa’s fresh Action Plan for Official Languages – to support English-language community organizations in Quebec. Read more
A thriving and vibrant English-speaking community benefits the provincial government and all Quebecers, emphasizes Eva Ludvig, QCGN president, after an array of National Assembly figures blast new federal funding for anglophone groups and initiatives. Read more
The ways new federally supplied funding under the Action Plan for Official Languages will ultimately be allocated, the process of nailing down specific purposes and objectives, is likely to be clarified over the next several months, Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, tells Sabrina Marandola on the CBC Radio afternoon show Let’s … Read more
The federal Action Plan funds destined to assist Anglophones in Quebec should be utilized for French-language instruction of the English-speaking community, said Quebec’s minister of the French language, Jean-François Roberge, to reporters in a scrum this morning. Read more (In French)
While the approach adopted by Jean-François Roberge, Quebec minister for the French language, is disappointing, it is quite normal that some Action Plan funding is already used and will continue to be used to help francize Quebec Anglophones, Eva Ludvig, QCGN president, explains to TVA Nouvelles: “We need help. We have young people who are … Read more
MPs representing Quebec ridings with a significant English-speaking population have raised objections to the Trudeau government’s Bill C-13, updating the Official Languages Act (OLA). None — other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — attended yesterday morning’s unveiling of the new Action Plan for Official Languages. MP Anthony Housefather earlier suggested he could not vote for … Read more
“There are specific programs in here for English-speaking Quebec, and there is work to be done by our community sectors to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to us,” says Sylvia Martin-Laforge, QCGN director general. QCGN President Eva Ludvig notes that additional Action Plan funds pledged by Ottawa have been earmarked “for economic development, … Read more
The minority English-speaking community in Quebec will get a portion of that budget to ensure its vitality.“We have not always received our fair share” of federal funding “and it’s starting to look different for the English-speaking community,” says Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), following the Action Plan announcement. Funding … Read more
Announcing details of the new federal Action Plan for Official Languages, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau singles out French speakers as the only minority group in danger in Canada. “We remain concerned that the French-language charter (of Quebec) is included” in the dramatically reformulated Official Languages Act, Bill C-13, which currently incorporates Quebec’s Bill 96 and … Read more