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Premier Christine Fréchette is set to kick off Quebec’s legislature session with a bill that will renew the notwithstanding clause on Bill 96, the province’s language law.
Minister of the French Language Jean-François Roberge is expected to table the legislation on Wednesday, sources tell CBC News.
The notwithstanding clause, which has been invoked most frequently by Quebec, allows provincial governments to enact legislation that limits sections of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a maximum of five years. After that point, it either expires or can be renewed by lawmakers.
In the case of Bill 96, which the National Assembly adopted in 2022, the notwithstanding clause was put in place on the legislation for five years. That means lawmakers have until 2027 to renew the notwithstanding clause. Fréchette’s early renewal will come one year ahead of that deadline.
Last month, Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard surprised members of his own party, particularly those representing large English-speaking constituencies, when he said he’d renew the notwithstanding clause on Bill 96 if elected.
Milliard later added that he would want to modify certain sections of Bill 96 to lessen the impact on businesses and lengthen the six-month timeline imposed on immigrants to learn French, but stated that, overall, he would like to see legislation protected.
Canada’s Justice Minister Sean Fraser told CBC in April that he had “significant concerns” with the way provinces are overriding Charter rights by invoking the notwithstanding clause. He said he wants to establish guardrails around its use at the federal level as the document turns 44.
In response to Fraser’s comments, University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes said the sooner the federal government acts, “the better.”
“I’m really concerned that what we are seeing is, in my view, a slow death of the Charter due to the excessive use of the notwithstanding clause,” Mendes said.
As part of Quebec’s coming legislative session, Roberge’s office told CBC News he will also table another bill to extend the application of Bill 101 to adult and vocational education.
The premier will have only five weeks to push through her ambitious legislative agenda before the summer break and October’s provincial election.