It’s not law yet, however the Quebec Legislature voted 78 in favor and 29 against to pass the bill. It will likely become law next month.
Almost every section of this bill contravenes the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It looks like Fascism is now present in North America (Quebec).
The Washington Post (link below) does a good job of describing sections of the bill.
Here’s a more detailed summary of some of the more controversial sections of Bill 96:
1. Access to the Courts:
Court transcripts need to be translated to French even for trials which are held in English. This also applies to Quebecers who were schooled entirely in English in Quebec and who speak no French. The individual is left to pay for translation costs. So if someone cannot afford a translator, they are out of luck.
This is in direct violation of section 133 of the 1867 Constitution Act. This section guarantees that either English or French may be used "in any pleading" in the courts of Quebec or the rest of Canada and "in any process" issuing from those courts.
2. Access to Higher Education:
English speaking students who are studying at an English language junior college will be required to take an additional three French language courses in order to graduate and attend university. This will prevent very bright students that lack a proficiency in French from attending an English language university. Foreign students do not need to complete these three French courses to attend an English language university in Quebec. They can attend merely by providing their grade 12 diploma from their country of origin. So foreign students have more educational rights in terms of access to higher education than English speaking Quebec students.
3. Access to Health Care:
According to bill 96, access to health care in English is only guaranteed to historic English speakers in Quebec. So if a visitor from say New York needs urgent medical attention, he or she is out of luck. I guess all of the English language hospitals in Montreal (Lakeshore General, St. Mary’s, Montreal General, Jewish General, Royal Victoria, Montreal Children’s Hospital …etc) are only permitted to serve historic English speaking Quebeckers?
4. Companies with 25 or more employees need to acquire a Francization certificate:
So if a family run business in Quebec has say 27 employees (full time, part time …etc), and each employee is a family member who speaks English, then that company would no longer be permitted to stay open in Quebec. I can envision a good number of Quebec companies that produce goods for foreign export that operate in English, and have less than 50 employees will be forced to shut down.
5. The language police will be allowed to conduct searches without a warrant:
Not even real police officers are permitted to search your property without a warrant. So the language police will have even more powers that the real police.
Overall, if these provisions of Bill 96 are put into law, then Canada is no longer permitted to call out foreign countries overseas in regards to human violations. These countries would have very good reason to point the finger right back at Canada.
Let’s hope that word of this bill spreads quickly so the world will get an idea of what’s happening in Quebec. Imposing economic sanctions on Quebec would not be out of the cards. It’s a very real possibility given the extreme nature of the bill.
Almost every section of this bill contravenes the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It looks like Fascism is now present in North America (Quebec).
The Washington Post (link below) does a good job of describing sections of the bill.
Here’s a more detailed summary of some of the more controversial sections of Bill 96:
1. Access to the Courts:
Court transcripts need to be translated to French even for trials which are held in English. This also applies to Quebecers who were schooled entirely in English in Quebec and who speak no French. The individual is left to pay for translation costs. So if someone cannot afford a translator, they are out of luck.
This is in direct violation of section 133 of the 1867 Constitution Act. This section guarantees that either English or French may be used "in any pleading" in the courts of Quebec or the rest of Canada and "in any process" issuing from those courts.
2. Access to Higher Education:
English speaking students who are studying at an English language junior college will be required to take an additional three French language courses in order to graduate and attend university. This will prevent very bright students that lack a proficiency in French from attending an English language university. Foreign students do not need to complete these three French courses to attend an English language university in Quebec. They can attend merely by providing their grade 12 diploma from their country of origin. So foreign students have more educational rights in terms of access to higher education than English speaking Quebec students.
3. Access to Health Care:
According to bill 96, access to health care in English is only guaranteed to historic English speakers in Quebec. So if a visitor from say New York needs urgent medical attention, he or she is out of luck. I guess all of the English language hospitals in Montreal (Lakeshore General, St. Mary’s, Montreal General, Jewish General, Royal Victoria, Montreal Children’s Hospital …etc) are only permitted to serve historic English speaking Quebeckers?
4. Companies with 25 or more employees need to acquire a Francization certificate:
So if a family run business in Quebec has say 27 employees (full time, part time …etc), and each employee is a family member who speaks English, then that company would no longer be permitted to stay open in Quebec. I can envision a good number of Quebec companies that produce goods for foreign export that operate in English, and have less than 50 employees will be forced to shut down.
5. The language police will be allowed to conduct searches without a warrant:
Not even real police officers are permitted to search your property without a warrant. So the language police will have even more powers that the real police.
Overall, if these provisions of Bill 96 are put into law, then Canada is no longer permitted to call out foreign countries overseas in regards to human violations. These countries would have very good reason to point the finger right back at Canada.
Let’s hope that word of this bill spreads quickly so the world will get an idea of what’s happening in Quebec. Imposing economic sanctions on Quebec would not be out of the cards. It’s a very real possibility given the extreme nature of the bill.
