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Bill 96: Protecting the French language
Unpublished Cafe
English - May 28, 2021 23:02 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBNews Society & Culture current affairs news politics political commentary ottawa canada ontario Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
All apologies to those who glaze over when discussion arises about language or “Distinct Society”, with flashes of Meech Lake and Charlottetown. With Quebec’s Bill-96, that could be where we’re headed.
Quebec provincial Bill-96 will firmly entrench the French language as the only official language of the province. Quebec Premier, Francois Legault, wants to open up the Constitution to recognize the Province as a nation. On the horizon, there may be a Minister of French language as well as a Commissioner of French to enforce the new language rules.
Bill-96 also comes with generous use of the “notwithstanding clause” to get what it wants. It brings up a number of questions… What about Quebec anglophones and their rights? As well, can a province open up the Constitution to make changes and do it without a debate?
Our Unpublished.vote question asks:
Do you feel Quebec’s Bill 96 will violate the Constitution? Yes, No or Unsure.
You can log-on and vote starting Sat. May 29th at http://unpublished.vote.
Podcast Guests:
Jack Jedwab, President & CEO Association of Canadian Studies
Francois Charbonneau Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences University of OttawaMarlene Jennings President Quebec Community Groups Network
References:
https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/lise-ravary-bill-96-is-about-the-survival-of-a-people
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-quebec-language-law-is-a-political-gambit
https://westmount.org/en/bill-96-message-from-the-mayor-of-westmount/
https://cultmtl.com/2021/05/quebec-and-bill-96-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-french-language/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-canada-constitution-changes-language-bill-1.6031828
https://globalnews.ca/news/7877142/quebec-language-reform-canadian-constitution-experts/
https://globalnews.ca/news/7896966/bloc-quebecois-motion-quebec-nationhood-constitutional-change/
https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-quebecs-bill-96-reignites-language-issue
https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/26971
https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/a-sneak-attack-on-language-rights/