\u201cI\u2019ll tell you right away that we have no intention of having some kind of password or identification mechanism,\u201d Roberge told reporters in Quebec City on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll keep what I would call the good-faith mechanism that we currently use.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made the comment a day after Quebec\u2019s French language commissioner complained that English remains too freely available on Quebec government websites and should be sharply reduced, with checks on who is allowed to read it.<\/p>\n
The recommendation was in a report that the commissioner published<\/a> on the linguistic choices Quebec makes when communicating with the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n The commissioner\u2019s office evaluated content on the websites of seven major government bodies, including Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec, Revenu Qu\u00e9bec, Services Qu\u00e9bec, Retraite Qu\u00e9bec and the workplace safety, auto insurance and health insurance boards.<\/p>\n In a statement to The Gazette, the commissioner\u2019s office said the sites \u201care essentially bilingual (French and English), with a button allowing the user to switch from one language to the other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe government\u2019s message appears contradictory: on the one hand, the Charter of the French Language establishes that French, as the official language, must be used exclusively; on the other, the administration operates essentially bilingual websites,\u201d the office said.<\/p>\n It said English should be scaled back: \u201cExcept in the exceptional situations provided for by the charter, the websites of the organizations evaluated must be in French only.\u201d<\/p>\n Extensive English content could still be provided, the commissioner said, but only in \u201csecure areas of websites\u201d \u2014 and only if the government body \u201ccan demonstrate that an exception applies.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2023, government websites have displayed banners stating that access to English content is intended only for eligible Quebecers, along with links explaining eligibility placed at the bottom of English-language pages.<\/p>\n The Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec passed reforms in 2022 that strengthened the Charter of the French Language, commonly known as Bill 101, and imposed an \u201cexemplary\u201d duty on the state to prioritize French.<\/p>\n Under Bill 96, which amended the Charter of the French Language, certain groups are entitled to access English services in Quebec.<\/p>\n Among them are people eligible for English-language schooling, members of Indigenous nations and the Inuit, new arrivals in Quebec for less than six months and people outside Quebec.<\/p>\n Under the commissioner\u2019s recommendation, websites of the government organizations studied would be in French only, \u201cexcept when they relate exclusively to a situation provided for by an exception and are not otherwise relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n As examples, it said English information could be freely available if it is related to health or public safety requirements; residents eligible for English-language education in Quebec; Indigenous Peoples; immigration; and tourism.<\/p>\n Roberge\u2019s stance is in line with what he said in 2023 \u2014 that anglophones would simply have to assert that they have existing language rights to receive government services in English.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be self-identification,\u201d he told The Gazette at the time<\/a>. \u201cWe aren\u2019t going into any kind of witch hunt. We are sticking with good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n Trying to \u2018remove English from the public space\u2019: TALQ<\/p>\n The commissioner\u2019s recommendation alarmed the anglophone rights group TALQ, which called it \u201canother attempt to diminish and minimize the English-speaking community and remove English from the public space.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, the coalition of anglophone groups said it was relieved the English content will remain in place.<\/p>\n \u201cCommon sense has prevailed, and we thank Minister Roberge for keeping his word,\u201d said TALQ president Eva Ludvig.<\/p>\n She said the commissioner should have considered the impact on the English-speaking community.<\/p>\n \u201cYou almost feel as if they\u2019re always searching, looking for different ways \u2014 almost at a loss as to what to do next\u201d with regards to the anglophone community, Ludvig said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we all have to focus on things like the economy and housing, and just let English-speaking Quebecers go on with their lives in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n The commissioner also studied other ways Quebec could be more \u201cexemplary\u201d in its use of French.<\/p>\n The report found government departments are not ensuring they stop providing services in English to new immigrants after they have been in Quebec for six months\u00a0\u2014 one of the limits imposed in 2023.<\/p>\n It also looked at whether Quebec government departments are following rules requiring that Quebec music be played when callers are placed on hold. After finding that many play instrumental music, the commissioner recommended that hold music must be vocal, so French can be heard.<\/p>\n In addition, the commissioner studied the language of government advertising on digital platforms, finding that some run English-language ads \u2014\u00a0one, for example, on platforms including The Gazette and the Globe and Mail. It recommended a French-only rule, except \u201cwhere the content concerns a situation for which a permitted exception already exists\u201d under the charter.<\/p>\n The CAQ government appointed Beno\u00eet Dubreuil as Quebec\u2019s first French language commissioner in 2023. His role is separate from that of the Office qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois de la langue fran\u00e7aise<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dubreuil\u2019s mandate is advisory and observational, while the OQLF handles day-to-day application of language laws.<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n
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