Bill 96 doesn't go far enough: Beaudoin

EX-PQ minister says language law can't be `moderate and reasonable'

As opening acts go, it was hardly smooth sailing.

And the first minority group is not scheduled to appear before Thursday.

The nine-day hearings into Bill 96, the Coalition Avenir Québec government's overhaul of the Charter of the French Language, got off to a bumpy start Tuesday with groups and individuals lining up to criticize the proposed legislation.

The word from many of the first witnesses is that the CAQ is being too moderate and not going far enough to give French the shot in the arm it needs.

By far the most acerbic blast came late in the day when two former Parti Québécois cabinet ministers, Louise Beaudoin and Louise Harel, ripped into the bill, saying it “will not sufficiently restrain the decline of French in Quebec.”

“The minister will have to show more courage to get there,” Beaudoin, who was the minister responsible for language in Jacques Parizeau's government, told the committee examining the bill. "(The law) cannot be a moderate and reasonable bill given the state of French in Quebec.”

Moderate and reasonable are the words the current minister responsible for French, Simon Jolin-barrette, uses to describe the bill, which he tabled May 13.

Harel went further, saying she disagrees with the CAQ government's decision to not extend the rules of the French-language charter to the English CEGEP system, which would effectively ban francophones and allophones from attending those schools.

“The bill is disappointing,” Harel said.

Beaudoin added she “fell off my chair” when she saw Bill 96 allows municipalities that want to retain their bilingual status — even if the percentage of English-speakers drops — to do so by adopting a motion to that effect.

About 60 per cent of officially bilingual municipalities have done so in the name of linguistic peace.

Speaking via video hookup, Beaudoin and Harel's presentation was wide-ranging. At one point, Harel focused on the anglophone media, saying they are part of the problem.

“Their media would need to stop traumatizing them in a sense,” Harel said. “We can't exactly say the anglophone media of Montreal displays openness in the promotion of French.”

Later on Tuesday, political scientist Christian Dufour boldly told the committee he wanted to address the elephant in the room.

“Like it or not, English has been present in Quebec for 250 years and will remain in the future,” Dufour said. “It makes no sense to pretend English does not exist. Experience shows that the best way to control it is by not according it the same importance as French.”

He said he changed his view on the CEGEP question and said a ban on francophones and allophones attending English colleges is the “missing link” in the bill.

“This bill is not audacious enough,” Dufour said. “Such a decision will make waves, yes. But this (bill) lacks energy. In fact, it is too consensual.

“Camille Laurin (the father of the original charter) gave French a shot in the arm in his time. Why wouldn't we do it today? Is saying francophones and immigrants will go to CEGEP in French so dramatic? Is it the end of the world?”

That's the kind of day it was, with labour unions making similar remarks despite Jolin-barrette's pitch in the morning that he is defending French.

“The facts are there and factual. French is in a worrisome decline in Quebec — particularly in Greater Montreal,” Jolin-barrette said. “I can't repeat this enough. When French loses ground in Quebec, it is the nation that loses strength.

“A major reform of the Charter of the French Language is not only necessary, it is a national priority.”

Jolin-barrette also reacted to some of the more extreme comments on language made over the last few weeks, particularly during parallel hearings into the bill sponsored by the Quebec Community Groups Network.

“These attacks against Quebec no longer work,” he said. “It is with respect but firmness that an appeal for calm is necessary.”

On her way into the hearings, Liberal language critic Hélène David said that while she agrees the charter needs to be overhauled, she has questions about the new inspection powers the bill would give the Office québécois de la langue française in the digital world.

The bill proposes to give inspectors the power to access electronic devices and “any related document” in an investigation.

The legislation is sweeping and has been widely criticized by minority communities. The Quebec English School Boards Association, the first minority group at the hearings, is to present a brief Thursday.

On Tuesday, Guillaume Rousseau, a Université de Sherbrooke constitutional law professor who advised Jolin-barrette in the drafting of Bill 21 on state secularism, criticized aspects of Bill 96 but told the committee he does not believe the rights of English-speaking Quebecers would be affected in any way.

The hearings are televised on the National Assembly website.