Bill 96: Protecting the French language

Description

All apologies to those who glaze over when discussion arises about language or “Distinct Society”, with flashes of Meech Lake and Charlottetown. With Quebec’s Bill-96, that could be where we’re headed.

Quebec provincial Bill-96 will firmly entrench the French language as the only official language of the province. Quebec Premier, Francois Legault, wants to open up the Constitution to recognize the Province as a nation. On the horizon, there may be a Minister of French language as well as a Commissioner of French to enforce the new language rules.

Bill-96 also comes with generous use of the “notwithstanding clause” to get what it wants. It brings up a number of questions… What about Quebec anglophones and their rights? As well, can a province open up the Constitution to make changes and do it without a debate?

Our Unpublished.vote question asks:

Do you feel Quebec’s Bill 96 will violate the Constitution? Yes, No or Unsure.

You can log-on and vote starting Sat. May 29th at http://unpublished.vote.

Podcast Guests:

Jack Jedwab, President & CEO Association of Canadian Studies

Francois Charbonneau Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa
Marlene Jennings President Quebec Community Groups Network

References:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-quebecs-bill-96-creates-opportunity-for-federal-liberals-senator-says/

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/lise-ravary-bill-96-is-about-the-survival-of-a-people

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/legault-says-he-is-not-surprised-some-anglos-unhappy-with-bill-96

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-quebec-language-law-is-a-political-gambit

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-bill-96-will-ruin-lives-in-quebec-and-radically-change-canada

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-francois-legault-just-set-a-constitutional-trap-for-justin-trudeau/

https://westmount.org/en/bill-96-message-from-the-mayor-of-westmount/

https://www.mtlblog.com/en-ca/news/montreal/bill-96-in-quebec-9-french-language-reforms-proposed-by-the-caq

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/protesters-denounce-new-language-bill-in-montreal-calling-it-insufficient-to-protect-french-1.5439213

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/kiff-quebecs-bill-96-is-a-much-needed-defence-of-the-french-language

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-s-bill-96-could-make-french-the-only-language-needed-to-get-a-job-1.6027517