Hanes: I voted in English this Quebec election to safeguard my linguistic rights
English-speaking Quebecers are voting to make ourselves heard after recent language policy changes.
On Sunday afternoon, I headed down to the advance poll in my riding to exercise my rights.
Not only did I get a jump on voting in the Oct. 5 election, discharging a democratic right that only comes around roughly every four years, I also wanted to test my rights as an English-speaking Quebecer at a sensitive time.
Normally I wouldn’t give much thought to which language I spoke when casting my ballot. I would just go with the flow.
But days earlier, Élections Québec had issued a directive to staff to only speak French with voters, in accordance with Bill 96.
They instructed polling station workers to question anyone addressing them in English about their right to government services in a language other than French. They were told only to make exceptions for Indigenous people or individuals eligible for education in English in Quebec.