Elections Quebec sets limits on use of English at polling stations

An Élections Québec poll worker told CTV News that they were instructed to speak English with voters only in certain situations ahead of voting in election.

According to the document, poll workers can speak with voters in English who say they have an English eligibility certificate or are Indigenous.  The poll worker said they have worked in municipal, provincial, and federal polls for the past 35 years, and it is the first time they have encountered this directive.

“It floored me when I read it; I could not believe it,” they told CTV News. “It’s scary that they have this much control. What’s going to happen next?”

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English-language rights group (TALQ) called the directive concerning.

“Any such directive would violate the spirit of the law and unduly limit English-speaking Quebecers’ rights under section three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to freely exercise their right to vote in an informed manner,” director general Sylvia Martin-Laforge told CTV News.