The 10-day injunction means the provincial election authority must prepare the reminder card, but Lussier says the statutory date for the mailing \u201cfalls outside\u201d the duration of his ruling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf necessary, the parties may appear before the court to seek a renewal of the order, at which time the court could order the mailing,\u201d Lussier wrote.<\/p>\n
Lussier wrote in his decision the court, however, \u201cwill not order the mailing of an English version of the registration notices and the voter\u2019s guide. The evidence on record convinces the court that this would be an unrealistic and extremely costly undertaking.\u201d <\/p>\n
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French-only mailers include a QR code and contact information to access the documents in English.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of September, \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec announced it wouldn\u2019t mail out English-language versions of the provincial election guide, the notice of entry and the reminder card. The French-only mailers will include a QR code and contact information to access the documents in English.<\/p>\n
Pointing to possible hurdles English-speaking seniors could face in accessing voting information, Lussier said the court is \u201cnot convinced that the existence of a telephone line with services in both languages enables all members of the community to obtain complete information.\u201d The Elections Act, he added, \u201cmandates the mailing of three documents for this purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
The French-only mailouts were a result of language reforms by the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government. \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec has previously said its requests for an exemption were denied.<\/p>\n
The ruling issued Wednesday temporarily suspends part of the language law. A spokesperson for Quebec\u2019s justice department told The Gazette that \u201cout of respect for the judicial process, we will not comment\u201d on the ruling.<\/p>\n
Doug Mitchell, the lawyer representing plaintiff Geoffrey Chambers, said in an interview he is pleased with the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe judge did a very thorough review of the law and, in my view, clearly arrived at the right result,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mitchell added that it\u2019s \u201cunfortunate that we were in a position that we came before him\u201d when it was already too late<\/a> to send out bilingual versions of all three documents, but he thinks \u201cit\u2019s a very solid judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit\u2019s goal was to reinstate the English versions of the documents ahead of the Oct. 5 vote with a provisional interlocutory injunction. They are also seeking a permanent injunction.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is at a provisional stage, it really endorses the rights that we were seeking to advance,\u201d Mitchell said of the ruling.<\/p>\n \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec spokesperson Gabriel Sauv\u00e9-Lesi\u00e8ge said in an email that \u201cwe acknowledge the decision handed down this morning. We will be able to produce the reminder card in both languages.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, anglophone-advocacy groups such as TALQ raised concerns about the French-only mailers and the possibility of English-speaking voters being left behind.<\/p>\n Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec Leader and incumbent premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette has defended the measure, saying French is the sole official language of the province. She also told reporters the ballot question will be available in both languages, though \u00c9lections Qu\u00e9bec noted there isn\u2019t much to translate<\/a>.<\/p>\n This report will be updated.<\/p>\n