This past Wednesday, the MRC Pontiac council of mayors had an extended question and answer session with MNA André Fortin about the provincial government’s new language law, known as Bill 96.

The bill, introduced in the National Assembly earlier this month, would make numerous changes to everything from . . .

municipal governance to CÉGEP enrolment to commercial signage. Fortin said that the more contentious aspects of the bill could re-open old wounds from previous battles over language in the province.

“I think one of the overarching fears about this bill is that it might create a bit of a linguistic divide in the province as has been done in the past when initiatives of this sort have come up …” he said, emphasizing that the bill was far from concrete at this point and could change significantly in the coming months.

He explained that one of the rule changes directly affecting municipal governance would not affect any jurisdictions in the MRC, but would have an impact on neighbouring regions like the Municipality of Pontiac. Municipalities that fall below the 50 per cent threshold of native English-speakers would have their bilingual status revoked, though councils would have a 100 day period to reinstate it if they chose. MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller tabled a motion reiterating the bilingual nature of the region, but Fortin said that no action would be required to retain their current status.

“I didn’t see the resolution that Jane was proposing, but you in the MRC Pontiac, because your municipalities are over 50 per cent English speaking residents, those that do have the bilingual status, you don’t need to pass a resolution to say that we want that status back.”

Fortin pointed out that local businesses would be heavily affected by the changes.

“Small businesses are going to be impacted significantly by this bill because it brings in the concept of a right to live in French,” he said. “So what that basically means, is everything you do from the time that you’re born to the time that you pass away, you should be able to do in French in the province. So any shop that you walk into has the obligation to serve you in French. Every small business can no longer just post a bilingual required position … they cannot ask for knowledge of English unless they make the demonstration that it’s necessary and they must take every reasonable means to avoid requesting English. So that means evaluate the linguistic needs of the task, evaluate the linguistic capacities of others who are already employed to do this task, limit the maximum number of positions for which English is already necessary, so there is a number of requirements on small business if you want to post a position that requires a language that is not French.”

He added that businesses between 26 and 49 employees as well as federal employers like banks and airlines, which had previously been exempted from certain language requirements, would now be regulated by the new law.

“So that means that if you’re a business that’s between 26 and 49 [employees], and we’ve got a few in the Pontiac that are operated by Anglophones, you would have to basically ensure that your business operates in French,” he said.

Those not in compliance would have to form a “francisation” committee to ensure that the company was on track to meet these new obligations. All government communications with businesses and other governments would also be exclusively in French.

He added that there had been additional funds approved of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to ensure that the law was enforced, which would mean more inspectors visiting Pontiac businesses.

“The other thing worth noting is that in its last budget … the government put $104 million in additional funding to the OQLF budget. What this money basically is there to do, is to ensure that all these changes that the government is bringing in will be enforced over time,” he said.

Another big change would come to English CÉGEPs, which would have to cap the number of students from French schools that they accept each year and prioritize students from English schools.

“What the government is saying, instead of restricting my rights as a Francophone to go to an English CÉGEP, what they’ll do is they’ll limit the number of spaces in an English CÉGEP to 17 per cent of the overall spaces in the province and from year to year,” he said. “That percentage can never grow, it can only drop. So, eventually there will be less and less services available to Anglophones.”

Campbell’s Bay Mayor Maurice Beauregard asked Fortin if children that had chosen to attend French school would be barred from attending an English CÉGEP and questioned what that would mean for the local branch of Heritage College.

“… that’s how they put it in the legislation, the English CÉGEPs have to make an effort to prioritize [English students],” Fortin said. “It’s still a little wishy-washy about how they can do that, how many they have to accept, do they have to take someone that went to an English high school but has a 64 average over somebody that went to a French high school and has an 84 average? It’s not clear it just says that they have to make an effort. “

Fortin echoed Beauregard’s concern about how the limited spaces for French students would be divvied up between the English CÉGEPs throughout the province.

“It says that the ministry of higher education has the authority to decide year after year how many spots go to all the CÉGEPs,” he said. “Will they prioritize Dawson College in Montreal over Heritage College in the Outaouais? Possibly. I’m a bit worried because we only have one CÉGEP in the Pontiac, it’s Heritage College and obviously it does accept some … students who might not have that ability to go to school in English because it’s the only CÉGEP. I’m worried the French kids in the Pontiac will maybe lose that opportunity to go to Heritage [in] Campbell’s Bay and at that point, will they have the means to go to CÉGEP de l’Outaouais in Gatineau? I don’t know. That’s the tricky part, and that’s one of my worries about the bill.”

Shawville Mayor Sandra Murray asked Fortin whether the new law would affect access to health care services. Fortin responded that he didn’t think there would be any immediate changes but added that stricter signage and more frequent language testing by professional orders for nurses or doctors could have an effect.

“The bill doesn’t specifically address medical services, so there doesn’t appear to be any changes on that front at first glance,” he said.

When Warden Toller attempted to pass the resolution, Allumettes Island Mayor Winston Sunstrom pointed out that none of the mayors had a chance to see it prior to the meeting nor had any been involved in its drafting. Clarendon Mayor John Armstrong said that he would appreciate being able to work with his council on the resolution, suggesting there was more to add in regards to small businesses.

“I always like to include my council on the decisions,” he said. “What is written, I think is very good but there could be maybe more added to it in certain areas as far as small business and different things like that, that every municipality with their councils would have to take a look at this one and if we feel like more needs to be added to it, then we add to it.”

Toller agreed to send the resolution out to the 18 municipal councils, and discuss it further at their planning meeting next month.

“I guess I was a little too enthusiastic about this but what we will do is … we will send this out to each of your municipalities and then we’ll bring it back and we’ll put it on the June plenary [meeting], and we’ll take our time and do it properly,” she said.

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