French, Official Language of Quebec
The official language of the Canadian providence of Quebec is French.
Passed in 1974, the Charter of the French Language, (also known as Bill
101 and Loi 101) made French the sole official language of Quebec. Previous
to the Charter of the French Language, Quebec was a bilingual providence
which had English and French as its official languages.
“…[French is the official language
of Quebec and its government and law, as well as] the normal and
everyday language of work,
instruction, communication, commerce and business.”
Preamble
of the Charter of the French Language
While the Charter of the French Language acknowledges that there are English
speaking citizens within Quebec’s boundaries, it does serve to make
French the official language. It requires that many documents and labels
be translated from English to French if they are to be distributed in Quebec.
The most interesting portion of the Charter is the first section which states,
in part, the following:
1. The right of persons to have all government branches, professional, corporations,
employee associations and enterprises doing business in Quebec communicate
with them in French.
2. The right of persons to speak French in deliberative assemblies.
3. The right of workers to carry on their activities in French.
4. The right of consumers to be informed and served in French
5. The right of persons eligible for instruction in Quebec to receive
that instruction in French.
The business ramifications to the Charter of the French Language can easily
be deducted in the above listing. If you are going to do business in Canada,
you need to be prepared to do so in both English as well as in French. You
will have to translate your documents, manuals, and product labels into French.
In addition to the rights granted above, the Charter also serves to guarantee
the use of languages other than French in Quebec where reasonable. These
are:
1. Quebec laws are published in English as well as in French.
2. Persons may address courts of law in either French or English.
3. Judgments by courts are made available in either the official language
or in English upon request by one of the parties.
4. The Charter does not apply to Indian Reservations.
It is interesting to note that while in the early 1980s there was a strong
movement towards compliance with the Charter, in later years the movement
has been leaning more towards bilingualism. In the beginning all external
commercial signs were regulated to be in only French; those in English or
bilingual English and French were actually removed and replaced by French
language only ones. The Supreme Court of Canada eventually ruled that this
was unconstitutional and signs can now be seen in bilingual English and French
but French must be predominant over the English.
It is also interesting to note that the rules also apply to technology products
and games or toys marketed to children in Quebec. A store can be fined if
they offer only an English version and not one with its French translation
of items such as video games!
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