The languagesituation in Quebec is unique in North America, and is the product of its specific sociological, historical and geopolitical context. Although Francophones constitute the majority of the province's population, they are a minority group wit...

There are new indications to suggest that in 1997, French was the language spoken outside the home by 87% of all Quebeckers. This predominance of French was even observed on Montreal Island, where it was the first language used by three-quarters of all people in their interactions with others.

The Main Principles of Quebec's Language Policy

The basic premise of Quebec's language policy is that in order for French to survive-and thrive-on the North American continent, it must be given the greatest possible competitive edge and protection within Quebec, which is the only place on the continent where French is the language of the majority. The goal is for French to be the language of public discourse and to become the shared language and natural means of communication for all Quebeckers, regardless of their mother tongue and family background.

Whenever a number of language groups coexist under the same jurisdiction, the shared language is a source of social cohesion for all citizens, above and beyond their various mother tongues. This is why one basic objective of Quebec's language policy is to integrate immigrants into Quebec society by means of the French language. However, while insisting that everyone in a society like Quebec must be able to speak French, the government does not wish to prevent people from learning and speaking other languages.

A number of measures that promote French and other languages are included in Quebec's language policy. The most important ones can be found in the Charter. The latter are complemented by measures proposed by various ministries, most notably education and immigration, and in other areas, such as the health and social services sector, as well as in judicial circles. This desire to live in French is being affirmed while the institutions of Quebec's English community and its natives continue to be respected and due consideration is given to other cultural communities.

All this clearly shows that Quebec's language policy is not unilingual in nature. Although it doesn’t lead to an institutional bilingualism which would probably be harmful to the French language, this policy reflects an effort to strike a delicate balance between a clear affirmation of the French character of Quebec society and respect for the Anglophone, Allophone and Native communities of Quebec.

The recognition of French as the official language of Quebec and the common language of all Quebeckers in no way contradicts the importance of and need to learn other languages. On the opposite side, according to the spirit of the language policy, studying and learning languages is a special means of reaching a clear agreement and achieving harmonious collaboration among Quebeckers of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. With regard to minorities, Quebec's policy of integration involves only the language of public discourse; it respects private life and the right of people to perpetuate their languages of origin as mother tongues, even going so far as to provide support in order to ensure that these languages are not lost.

Legislative provisions, most of the time, go hand-in-hand with socioeconomic change; they seldom set such change in motion, and they are rarely the sole impetus for transformations.

A socially-based approach, the goal of which is to create a dynamic, welcoming and attractive French-language environment, can influence the linguistic choices and behavior patterns of all Quebec citizens. Promoting the French language is closely linked to the image of Quebec itself, its language, and the culture that its people wish to project.

How and Where Quebec's Language Policy is Applied

The Charter of the French Language: The Cornerstone of Quebec's Language Policy

More than twenty years ago, Quebec's National Assembly adopted the Charter, the goal of which was to reaffirm the will of the majority of Quebeckers to make French the common and customary language of work, education, communication, trade and commerce.

The Language of Legislation and Justice

The Charter stipulates that all laws must be printed, published, adopted and approved in both French and English. Legislation appears in both languages; this is the case for all regulations as well. The French and English versions of these texts have the same legal status. Furthermore, people subject to trial, lawyers, witnesses, judges and other officers of the court have the right to use French or English at their discretion whenever they speak or undertake any action during a legal argument before a Quebec court of law.

The Language of Instruction

The Ministry of Education is responsible for ensuring the application of the section of the Charter that deals with the language of instruction. The policy of providing instruction in French for all students at the primary and secondary levels is designed to facilitate the linguistic integration of Allophones into the French majority within Quebec society. It should be noted that the previous policy allowing the freedom of choice between English and French as the language of instruction (which prevailed in Quebec until the early 1970s) resulted in the vast majority of immigrants choosing English. Indeed, at the time of the adoption of the Charter, nearly 80% of immigrants were attending English schools. Their tendency to choose English was one of the factors leading to a decrease in the proportion of Francophones in Quebec, and English increasingly became the language of instruction in schools in Montreal. The goal of the Charter has been to reverse these trends by establishing a French education policy at the primary and secondary levels. However, the Charter makes provisions for education in English for Anglophone students who meet certain criteria as established under law.

For many years, Quebec has had a comprehensive English public education system extending from kindergarten to the university level. As opposed to the other Canadian provinces, Quebec provides educational services in its minority language everywhere, regardless of student numbers, when in fact, under the terms of the Canadian Constitution, it could legally choose to only provide services in the minority language when the numbers of students actually justify it. Furthermore, there are private, non-subsidized French-and English-language institutions that are not subject to the provisions of the Charter addressing the issue of choice of language of instruction. The result is that the English minority enjoys special treatment with respect to language choice. And, this is also why there is a particular need to determine who can attend English schools.

Numerous situations are considered in the Charter to establish student eligibility requirements for Anglophone public educational institutions and government-subsidized private ones. Here are the main rules permitting a student to receive English instruction, some of which are derived from the Canadian Constitution.

• One of the child's parents is a Canadian citizen and received the greater part of his/her elementary school instruction in English in Canada.

• One of the parents is a Canadian citizen, and the child has received the greater part of his/her elementary or secondary instruction in English in Canada.

• Neither one of the parents is a Canadian citizen, but one or the other received the greater part of his/her elementary school instruction in English in Quebec.

• The child is temporarily residing in Quebec because one of his/her parents is studying or working there.

• Moreover, when a child is authorized to receive instruction in English, the child's siblings are also authorized to receive instruction in that language.

All citizens who have immigrated to Quebec, regardless of their country of origin or mother tongue, are subject to the same rules regarding admissibility to Quebec's schools.

As such, generally speaking, all immigrants must enroll their children in French schools, this being the cornerstone of the Quebec government's language policy concerning education. The importance of the clauses of the Charter that address instruction in French is self-evident; in fact, these elements of the Charter are a driving force in directing Allophones into Quebec's majority French-speaking society.

After completing primary and secondary school, all Quebeckers, regardless of their language, citizenship or prior schooling, have total freedom of linguistic choice at the college and university levels.

This is by no means the only progressive plank in Quebec's education policy. Of special note is the mother tongue instruction program in public and community schools, which enables some 20,000 students from 20 language communities to receive instruction in their mother tongue each year.

Language of Instruction in Primary and Secondary Schools: In 1976-77, one year before the Charter came into force, there were 1,186,102 students in French schools (83.4% of Quebec's entire student population), whereas 236,588 (16.6%) were attending English institutions. In 1999-2000, there were 1,007,586 students in the French system (89.7%), while 115,783 students were enrolled in English schools (10.3%). Thus, there has been a notable decline in the number of students in both systems. Among those studying in English, the drop was particularly significant between 1976 and 1987. Their numbers have remained relatively stable since then, actually on the upswing since 1992. It should be noted that the percentage of students in the Anglophone system (10.3%) roughly corresponds to their demographic numbers within the Quebec population. The decline in the number of students in the English system during the 1980s can largely be explained by the more stringent eligibility criteria for access to English instruction as defined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which stipulates that Allophones and Francophones must attend French schools.

It should be emphasized that if one looks only at statistics for Allophone students (the majority of whom are immigrants or come from immigrant families), 80% were attending English schools in 1976-77. Today, the opposite is the case, with 80% of all Allophone students being educated in French.

Language of Instruction at the College Level: The Quebec college network currently includes some 125 institutions, distributed as follows: 40 public CEGEPS (colleges providing general and vocational education) and 46 private colleges in the French system; 7 public CEGEPS and 4 private colleges in the English system; and 3 public and 25 private bilingual colleges. In other words, 68.8% of all such institutions are Francophone, 8.8% Anglophone, and 22.4% bilingual.

In the fall of 1980, 81.5% of all college students were studying in French, 16.8% in English, and 1.6% were studying in bilingual institutions where the languages of instruction were English and French. By 1998, the percentage of students in the French college system had risen to 83.3%, while 15% were studying in English and 1.7% were attending bilingual schools.

Language of Instruction at the University Level: There are 7 universities in Quebec: 4 are Francophone and 3 are Anglophone (McGill, Concordia and Bishop's). If we include the various components of the Universite du Quebec and the major schools affiliated with certain universities-for instance, the Ecole des hautes etudes commercials (business administration school), the Ecolepolytechnique (polytechnical institute) and the Institut Armand-Frappier-there are 19 university-level institutions in Quebec, of which 84% are Francophone and 16% Anglophone.

In the autumn of 1998, 82.6% of students were studying in French and 17.4% in English. The percentage of students studying in French has risen slightly since 1988, when 81.2% of all students were in the French system and 18.8% were in the English system.

The Language of the Workplace

To ensure that French is spoken in both public and private life, and that learning and speaking the language are perceived as useful as well as appealing, French must be used in more than just low-status jobs. Speaking French must provide access to well-remunerated work and executive-level positions, and prove to be an essential tool in the Quebec workplace. If not, the usefulness and appeal of the language will rapidly decline in favor of English-this fact being particularly true for newcomers to Quebec.

This is why one main objective of the Charter is to make French the customary language of the workplace and why the right of all workers to carry out their tasks in French is enshrined in the Charter. Thus, the adoption of French as the language of business constitutes one of the major goals of the Charter. Without this stipulation, it would be more difficult to ensure that all workers are able to perform their duties in French in various workplace environments. Programs facilitating the adoption of French within companies employing 50 people or more are drafted by the business in question in collaboration with the Office de la langue francaise (the French Language Bureau). These programs are customized for each company, taking into account its particular characteristics, needs and constraints and ensuring that the deadlines and objectives of the program are realistic. Such programs are designed by looking at the situation of people close to retirement, the external relations of certain companies, the position of businesses that produce material of a cultural nature with a linguistic content, as well as of firms whose head offices and research centers are established in Quebec and whose business activities extend outside of Quebec. Furthermore, given the importance of small businesses (companies employing from 10 to 49 people) to the Quebec economy, the Office de la langue francaise does all it can to ensure that French has its rightful place in such enterprises.

The Language of Trade and Commerce

The Charter sets down various requirements regarding the language of trade and commerce, the goal of which are to protect consumers and to clearly establish the French character of Quebec. This is all the more important given that consumer activities affect everyone on a daily basis and thus condition the vocabulary of each person almost imperceptibly.

The Charter makes general provisions for the mandatory predominant use of French in billboard advertising, a measure whose legitimacy has been recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Charter also provides for the use of French lettering on products, their containers and packaging, as well as the documents and objects included with them. However, this general rule in no way prohibits the use of other languages.

This legislative measure has been adjusted to include various exceptions, formulated especially so that, under certain circumstances, documents can be drawn up, and posters lettered, in a language other than French, without French being present.

The Language of Public Administration

The Quebec public administration plays a key part in enhancing the status of the French language, and it is entrusted to guarantee that the role of the language in society genuinely reflects its status as the official language of Quebec.

The public administration (including, most notably, the government, as well as the various ministries, government organizations, municipalities, and educational and health and social-service institutions) has many obligations stemming from the Charter.

Furthermore, the Politique gouvernementale relative a I'emploi et a la qualite de la langue francaise dans I'Administration (government policy with respect to employment and the quality of the French language in the public administration), which was adopted in 1996, complements the earlier-mentioned obligations of the government, its ministries and certain government organizations. This policy is based upon various findings that first brought to light certain public sector practices that did not always reflect the fact that French is Quebec's official language; instead, these practices established a type of bilingualism in the public service.

The policy establishes general principles enabling the central administration to raise the profile of the French language. Most notably, government ministries and organizations are required to put specific language policies in place and provide information regarding their application in their annual reports.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the Charter makes provisions for the legal recognition of municipal, educational, health and social service institutions providing services to speakers of a language other than French (whenever these speakers make up the majority of a given target group). It also allows such institutions a greater degree of officially sanctioned leeway in certain specific situations, especially as concerning the use of English.

The Language Policy and Health and Social Services

Ensuring the accessibility and availability of health and social services for each and every citizen is an important principle governing the Quebec Health and Social Services System. The services in question are provided in French, reflecting its status as the province's official language as stipulated in the Charter. However, in a spirit of openness and social justice with respect to the English-speaking community, the English language is given special recognition in a specific piece of legislation. Indeed, according to Quebec's Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services, all English-speaking people have the right to receive health and social services in English, to the extent that such services can be delivered, given the human, material and financial resources of the institutions in question. In the same way, the law also ensures that services will be provided, whenever possible, to members of the various cultural communities in their own languages.

In practice, Anglophones have access to health and social services in English everywhere in Quebec. Furthermore, in each region, the percentage of institutions offering services in English is higher than the proportion of Anglophones living in that region.

The Language Policy and Immigration

For almost 30 years, the Quebec government has provided services to help new immigrants in Quebec learn French. In 1996, the National Assembly adopted a bill creating the ministere des Relations avec les citoyens et de I'lmmigration (Ministry of Citizen Relations and Immigration). In so doing, the government has clearly indicated its intention to integrate new immigrants and citizens of all backgrounds as part of a citizenship-based approach. One of the challenges shared by both the government and Quebec society in general is to create conditions that foster full citizen participation; both also wish to ensure the viability of the French language in Quebec.

 

False Perceptions

Those involved in language policy are well aware that erroneous perceptions of Quebec's language policy are widely shared by non-Quebeckers, especially in English-speaking countries-most notably the United States. An interesting anecdote may prove this point: In 1999, the Quebec Secretariat a la politique linguistique held focus group discussions in four US cities (New York, Boston, Atlanta and Chicago) involving 70 opinion leaders from the United States in order to learn more about their perceptions and knowledge of Quebec. In general, the participants knew very little about Quebec, having heard next to nothing about the province except under special circumstances (e.g., referendum, flooding, ice storm). (It should be noted that their knowledge of Canada itself was no better.) As a result, their perceptions and opinions concerning Quebec are rarely based on reliable and objective information, reflecting instead impressions derived from rumors and hearsay. Here are a few examples of the general perceptions of US participants concerning Quebec's language policy:

• The public school system is French only, and Anglophones can only attend private or bilingual schools.

• As concerns the justice system, the defendant has the right to an English-speaking lawyer but not much else.

• English signs are prohibited, and offenders go to prison.

• Anglophones can't live in English in Quebec.

• Quebec's laws come from France, and a defendant is not presumed innocent until proven guilty.

However, when focus-group participants learned the true nature of Quebec's language policy, a number of these false perceptions were dispelled and participants affirmed that Quebec's Charter of the French Language seemed rather balanced on the whole.

This brief outline will help set the record straight by countering some of the more widespread negative perceptions:

• Quebec's laws are published in both English and French and have exactly the same legal status.

• In Quebec's courts, people can choose to use either French or English.

• With respect to education, the Anglophone minority has the right to its own publicly funded schools and school boards, and the same applies at the post-secondary level for colleges and universities.

• In the area of health care, the law also grants all English-speaking people the right to receive health and social services in their own language.

• The Anglophone media network is very impressive: it includes 11 radio stations, 3 television stations, 2 daily newspapers, 14 weeklies appearing exclusively in English, and 17 in both French and English. Among the magazines and periodicals sold in Quebec, 27.5% are in French (approximately 1,100), while the rest (approximately 3,000) are in English, representing about 70% of the total Quebec market.

 

• The Quebec government funds and subsidizes libraries, theatres, films, television and cinematic productions, as well as various English-language cultural institutions in the same manner and according to the same rules as those applied to their Francophone counterparts.

Signs and commercial advertising are often the target of erroneous comments. On this subject, the Charter stipulates that, in principle, French must always be present; however, there is nothing to prevent the incorporation of one or more other languages, so long as the visual impact of French is more significant. This regulation, which includes various exceptions, is designed to protect Francophone consumers who constitute the majority of Quebec's population and to ensure that Quebec maintains its "French character," as established by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Furthermore, despite rumors to the contrary, nobody has ever been imprisoned for having contravened the Charter, such sanctions never having been envisaged.

Many media outlets (often Anglophone) have spread the notion that Quebec has its very own repressive and intolerant "language police." First of all, it is important to point out that there is no such thing as the language police. What does exist is an administrative organization responsible for ensuring that the law is respected. It possesses very limited powers of inquiry that have nothing to do with the powers of a police force. Moreover, the Commission de protection de la langue francaise (Commission for the Protection of the French language) has only four inspectors and a grand total of twenty-six employees at its disposal to cover the entire territory of Quebec, an area approximately four times the size of California. The label "police," used intentionally by certain elements of the media to refer to the Commission, is totally spurious and is a reflection of prejudice rather than an accurate description of what the Commission actually does. In fact, the work of the latter involves two facets. First of all, it investigates citizens' complaints concerning infringements of the law, and then tries to establish whether the perceptions of the offended parties are well founded. When a complaint is deemed admissible, the Commission then contacts the offending party, asking that it rectify the situation. More than 85% of all cases are settled out of court. In cases in which there is no agreement, the Commission may issue a formal notice demanding that the offender proceed with the necessary changes. If the latter does not respond to this demand, the Commission then transfers the file to Quebec's attorney general, who decides whether to take legal action. Cases of prosecution are, in fact, few and far between.

All in all, like any other law, the Charter of the French Language includes measures to ensure compliance. This is no different from what takes place in other nations and autonomous areas such as France, Belgium and Catalonia, all of which have adopted regulations of a linguistic nature.

Quebec is a constitutional state that is careful to respect human rights and freedoms. Thus whenever legislation is drafted, particular attention is paid to respecting the rights guaranteed under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Furthermore, the courts may be called upon at any time to verify the constitutional validity of a given law.

In fact, important amendments have been made to the Charter of the French Language over the years in order to bring some of its clauses in line with decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the language of instruction and trade and commerce. In other words, the Charter of the French Language has, up until now, met the requirements of the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

 

Conclusion

Since its adoption, the Charter of the French Language has enabled the French language to recover a certain degree of status in Quebec and has provided Francophone Quebeckers with a measure of cultural security. It has restored Quebec's French character with respect to public billboards and commercial advertising, most notably in Montreal. It has enabled Francophone consumers to obtain services in their own language. It has contributed to an increased use of French among workers and in everyday business life. It has led immigrant children to attend French schools and has facilitated their integration into the Francophone community.

However, there is still a great deal of progress to be made in all sectors of activity, and the balance that has been reached remains delicate and precarious. The forces dominating the linguistic market in Canada and North America, in conjunction with a globalized economy and the massive introduction of information and communications technologies, all contribute to the widespread use of English. Furthermore, the opening of markets and the globalization of economic activity are leading Quebec's businesses and industries to deal regularly with the outside world and, thus, increasing the demand for and use of languages other than French. Lastly, should be taken into account the long-term demolinguistic future of Francophone society (characterized by an aging population with a low birth rate) that depends, to an ever-increasing extent, on immigrants for its survival.

Hence, if the Charter of the French Language has made it possible, in part, to contain these forces, it has certainly not made them disappear; the pressures that are being brought to bear on the French language in Quebec remain constant.

References:

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• Levine, M. V. 1997. The Reconquest of Montreal. Language Policy and Social Change in a Bilingual City, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press).
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• Statistics Canada, Quarterly Demographic Statistics, no. 91-002-xpb, April-June 1998, volume 14. str. 16-19
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