A Quebec Superior Court has ordered Élections Québec to send election reminder cards in both English and French, challenging the government’s previous insistence that all voting materials be sent only in French for the first time in Quebec history.   

Judge Sylvain Lussier granted an interlocutory injunction period, which means Élections Québec is exempt from the Charter of the French Language for the next 10 days.

“The status of French is not restricted by the permission to inform English-speaking voters in their own language,” he wrote, as reported by CBC Montreal.  

Earlier this month Élections Québec announced it would only be mailing election documents in French ahead of the Oct. 5 vote, to conform with Bill 96, which makes French the only language of communication for government institutions. 

Geoffrey Chambers, former president of the Quebec Community Groups Network (now known as TALQ), filed the lawsuit against the government with the goal of reinstating English versions of the documents before the Oct. 5 vote. The plaintiffs are also fighting for a permanent injunction past the provisional interlocutory injunction, as reported by The Montreal Gazette. 

Elections documents mailed out ahead of voting day include the election guide, a notice of entry and a reminder card, which lists candidates in the voter’s riding as well as the location of the polling station. 

The reminder card is the only of the three that will be sent in English, as the court found it to be “unrealistic and very costly,” as reported by CBC News, to re-send a notice of entry and voter guide. 

Anybody wishing to read voter guidelines in English can do so on our website, or at electionsquebec.ca.