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Changes to Quebec\u2019s French-language law are creating confusion for English-speaking residents trying to access services, according to a midterm report from Canada\u2019s commissioner of official languages.<\/p>\n
Raymond Th\u00e9berge said some health-care workers still struggle to know when they can offer services in English under Law 14, also known as Bill 96. He added that similar challenges are being felt in Quebec\u2019s education and business sectors.<\/p>\n
Th\u00e9berge, speaking in Dieppe, N.B., where he tabled his findings on the 2023-2028 action plan, stressed that Ottawa must ensure federal spending cuts do not affect Canadians\u2019 language rights. The plan includes $4.1 billion in funding for official languages programs.<\/p>\n
In its fall budget, the federal Liberal government outlined a plan to reduce program spending and administrative costs by about $60 billion over five years and to cut 40,000 public service jobs by 2029. Th\u00e9berge said past budget cuts have already impacted language programs, including training, research and service delivery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commissioner has put in black and white what we see on the ground every day,\u201d said Eva Ludvig, the president of Talking. Advocating. Living in Quebec (TALQ) \u2014 an advocacy group for the province\u2019s English-speaking community \u2014 in a news release. <\/p>\n
\u201cFederal programs that function reasonably well elsewhere in Canada stall, get blocked, or vanish into a black box when they reach Quebec\u2019s English-speaking communities.\u201d<\/p>\n