Slaw: Does Quebec’s French language policy really need revitalizing?

March 8, 2013 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

In the wake of the Quebec government tabling Bill 14, An Act to amend the Charter of the French language, the [Quebec] Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other legislative provisions to improve yet again the eminence of the French language in Quebec, the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (CSLF) is of the opinion that the government needs to take a hard-line approach if it wants French to really be the common language of all Quebecers.

This reinforces the government’s approach, as the National Assembly is about to debate the soundness of the Bill.

The council was created to advise the Minister responsible for the implementation of the Charter of the French language on matters relating to the use of the French language in Quebec. To that end, the advisory board re-examined the spirit of the law and provided the Minister, Diane De Courcy, a series of recommendations with the goal of revitalizing the language policy.

There are several recommendations, but the following are of particular importance.

The CSLF believes that the trend in recent years is not meeting the desired objective, which is to make French the normal and everyday language of work of all Quebecers.

For more, read by latest post on Slaw.

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Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor

Managing Editor at First Reference Inc.

Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., is a trained lawyer called to the Quebec bar in 1988 and is still a member in good standing. She practiced business, employment and labour law until 1999. For over 18 years, Yosie has been the Managing Editor of the following publications, Human Resources Advisor, Human Resources PolicyPro, HRinfodesk and Accessibility Standards PolicyPro from First Reference. Yosie is one of Canada’s best known and most respected HR authors, with an extensive background in employment and labour across the country. Read more