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
The Townshippers’ Association hosted its 41st Annual General Meeting this Friday June 4th, 2021, with 34 members, guests, and stakeholders in attendance. For a second year in a row, the Association provided a summary of the last year’s activities via videoconference and the business meeting was followed by the unveiling of the winners of this year’s Young … 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
Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages Raymond Théberge is advising the federal government to maintain the equal status of French and English in its coming changes to the Official Languages Act. The Quebec Community Groups Network enthusiastically endorses this advice. In his annual report tabled in the House of Commons today, Commissioner Théberge said he is … Read more
(Audio) Quebec’s Bill 96, which comes with generous use of the notwithstanding clause, would entrench the French language as the only official language of the province and open up the Constitution to recognize the province as a nation. That brings up a number of questions: What about Quebec anglophones and their rights? Can a province … 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 strong majority of Canadians outside Quebec and a significant minority within this province are concerned about the proposed unilateral amendment to the Canadian Constitution affirming that Quebec is a nation and that its official language is French. That is the finding of a national survey on amending the Constitution and recognizing the Quebec nation … Read more
The results of the poll were collected via a web panel conducted by Léger for the Quebec Community Groups Network and the Association for Canadian Studies among a sample of 1623 Canadians, 18 years of age or older from May 21 to May 23, 2021. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1623 respondents would … 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