{"id":879885,"date":"2026-09-01T20:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879885\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T20:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T20:44:10","slug":"thousands-of-quebec-anglophones-risk-being-left-behind-as-french-only-election-guides-are-mailed-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/879885\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Quebec anglophones risk \u2018being left behind\u2019 as French-only election guides are mailed for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of English-speaking Quebecers may have difficulty finding out how and where to vote as election guides and notices are being mailed only in French for the first time in a provincial campaign.<\/p>\n

Voters seeking English versions will instead be directed to the \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec website, either directly or through a QR code printed on the French documents, potentially posing difficulties for those who either do not own the technology or need help using it. Around one in five Quebecers 75 and older do not own a smartphone, computer or tablet, according to a recent study.<\/p>\n

\u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec said Tuesday that the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec government\u2019s sweeping language law changes in Bill 96 require voting guides and reminder cards to be mailed only in French. It\u2019s part of the CAQ government\u2019s eight-year drive to enforce French in daily life in Quebec \u2014 on signs, in workplaces, at universities, and even attempted in health care at one point. The latter sparked fury before being walked back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is extremely concerning,\u201d Eva Ludvig, president of TALQ, a coalition of English-speaking community groups, told The Gazette. \u201cIt\u2019s a very slippery slope for democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec is an independent and neutral institution. Its mandate is to ensure citizens have the information they need to participate fully and to ensure fairness, not to interpret language legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ludvig added that TALQ is writing to \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec to ask it to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n

There are exceptions, according to \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec. Indigenous voters and people formally declared eligible for English-language education and issued a certificate of eligibility by Quebec\u2019s Education Ministry may contact the agency for information and other services in English. Other anglophone and allophone voters will be directed online.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how many voters already hold an eligibility certificate and how many others would qualify, and whether they could obtain one before the election mailouts begin. Temporary authorizations granted to the children of foreign students or temporary foreign workers do not count, according to the Quebec government\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Eric Maldoff, a lawyer and former president of the anglophone-rights group Alliance Quebec, said: \u201cThe system (for eligibility certificates) was geared for people who are trying to enrol their kids in school. Not for people who are 70 years old, or 80 years old, or 50 years old, or 40 years old to track down certificates at this pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called the policy \u201can attempt to create an obstruction to the equal right to vote\u201d and demanded that Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette\u2019s government press \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec to reverse it immediately.<\/p>\n

The provincial election guide and registration notices will be sent during the week of Sept. 14, \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec said. A reminder card will follow during the week of Sept. 28, telling registered voters where to cast their ballots and naming the candidates in their riding. Most voters are set to go to the polls on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

A Universit\u00e9 Laval study released last week<\/a> found that 21 per cent of Quebecers 75 and older owned neither a smartphone, computer nor tablet in 2025, while nearly three in five said they needed another person\u2019s help to use digital technology. Among those age 65 to 74, close to half said they needed help.<\/p>\n

There were nearly 210,000 Quebec residents 65 and older whose first official language was not French in the 2021 census, according to Statistics Canada.<\/p>\n

Older Quebecers are some of the province\u2019s most dependable voters. In 2022, the provincial election turnout reached nearly four in five among those age 65 to 74. It was about 70 per cent among those 75 and older.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly seniors are the most vulnerable,\u201d Ludvig said, though she added that the problem extends to anyone unable to afford digital devices or internet service and they \u201crisked being left behind\u201d in Quebec\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

In June, Fr\u00e9chette sought to repair the CAQ\u2019s relationship with English-speaking Quebecers<\/a> after years of disputes over language laws. She promised to bring a \u201cdifferent tone\u201d to the relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy overarching responsibility to promote and protect French will not change, but tone matters,\u201d she said in English.<\/p>\n

Still, the political pressure on Fr\u00e9chette has intensified against an invigorated Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois. A new poll published Monday<\/a> placed the PQ first at 29 per cent, followed by the CAQ at 24 per cent and the Quebec Liberals at 22 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the PQ remains ahead in the polls, including and especially among francophone voters, the CAQ is focusing on these voters even more than before,\u201d said Daniel B\u00e9land, a political science professor at McGill University.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201ca situation that many anglophone voters are likely to find problematic,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Will you be affected by this law? Write to me at hnorth@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Profile<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tI\u2019ve been writing for the Montreal Gazette since 2023. My favourite stories are ones that make you think and I’m always looking for new ways to tell them. At McGill, I studied economics and computer science. Now I live in the city\u2019s Plateau, where I wear Doc Martens to try and blend in among the hipsters. Got a story? Email me.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\thnorth@postmedia.com
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

On Quebec Politics<\/p>\n

The Gazette\u2019s On Quebec Politics newsletter by Andy Riga breaks down key election issues, from polling shifts to legislative manoeuvring to ideas circulating in francophone commentary that don\u2019t make it into English-language coverage.<\/p>\n

To sign up, visit this page<\/a> and check the box labelled \u201cOn Quebec Politics\u201d before providing your email address.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of English-speaking Quebecers may have difficulty finding out how and where to vote as election guides and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,120789,66],"class_list":["post-879885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-quebec-elections","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}