Newcomers and those not part of that community will no longer be able to ask for certain government services in English

Access to English services provided by the provincial government, like electricity bills and automated telephone menu options, will be restricted going forward under new language guidelines.

Simon Jolin-Barrette , the Coalition Avenir Québec minister responsible for the French language, said Monday that while the rights of the “historic English community” to access services will be preserved, newcomers and those not part of that community will no longer be able to ask for certain government services in English.

Distroscale

“For the historic English minority, there is no issue. They will always be able to receive services in their own language,” Jolin-Barrette said, without specifying the criteria used to determine who is a member of that minority.

Email requests for clarification from his communications director were not returned before publication.

“For the English community, it will change nothing … because they have the right to receive these services in English,” Jolin-Barrette said.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

But for a new arrival who requests their hydro bill be sent in English, the answer will be no, Jolin-Barrette said.

“It’s not because you say ‘I want it in English’ that it will be that. It’s very important that government communication be in French. That’s a natural reflex, except if you’re from the English minority. And also for companies, it has to be in French.”

Asked how newcomers would be able to read and understand their Hydro bills, Jolin-Barrette said French-language training will be provided to them.

The government has an obligation to set an example in terms of the level of French used in communications it has with citizens and businesses, he said.

Jolin-Barrette called the press conference in reaction to a report issued by the Conseil supérieure de la langue française Monday, which found that while Quebec’s ministries and public agencies do a good job of following the government’s linguistic policy of favouring unilingual French communications, there are “gaps” that must be corrected to ensure the administration serves as an example.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Ministries and government agencies are allowed to create their own policies, depending on the services they provide. The government will attempt to create one linguistic policy to be followed by all groups. Bodies like the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs or the Secretariat for relations with the English-speaking community will be exempt because of their majority English-speaking clientele.

Premier François Legault requested an overview of the situation after Le Journal de Montréal reported Hydro-Québec was sending out 400,000 unilingual English bills to customers who requested it, after decades of sending out bilingual notices to all citizens.

The Conseil found that some ministries lacked up-to-date linguistic policies and that 46 per cent of the 622 automated telephone voice-menu options inspected, which are supposed to be in French only, also offered English options.

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Montreal constitutional lawyer Julius Grey questioned the logic of attempting to bolster one language by restricting access to another.

“Withdrawing of services from individuals always hurts the weakest,” he said. “I just cannot see why the government is preoccupied with the fact that individuals receive service in another language.”

There has been a tradition in Quebec observed by the Liberal and Parti Québécois governments of accommodating individuals who want to speak to the government in English, “and I hope that this will be maintained. I am also worried about using words like ‘historic English community.’ How do you define it? Those who are allowed to go to English schools under Bill 101?”

Quebec’s French-language charter makes French the sole language of Quebec, and “rightly so,” Grey said. “But when it comes to practice, we all know that Montreal uses two languages, and it’s disrespectful to Montreal, a crucial, economically vibrant region, not to respect the particular quality of Montreal, which is bilingualism.”

Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

There is a historical precedent for the use of English in Quebec, with its anglophone roots and large numbers of hospitals, universities, schools and other institutions, he said.

Geoffrey Chambers, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network that advocates for the anglophone community, said services are constitutionally protected, and it appeared the CAQ is trying to create problems that don’t exist.

“The idea that you would further reduce those rights or narrow the definition of the community that is entitled to have those services is just looking to create social unrest and confusion and discord. … I don’t think you are going to have an integrated society that gets along if you treat English as some sort of toxic influence that you want to reduce to a minimum and eliminate.”

If people want to phone Revenu Québec and say they are more comfortable doing their taxes in English, they should be able to do so, Chambers said.

Chambers said constitutional lawyers advised him the restrictions would be easy to challenge in court.