{"id":94346,"date":"2026-05-28T22:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/94346\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T22:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:41:24","slug":"quebec-urged-to-scale-back-english-on-its-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/94346\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec urged to scale back English on its websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quebec\u2019s French language minister has dismissed the recommendation. Read the latest story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

English remains too freely available on Quebec government websites and should be sharply reduced, the province\u2019s French language commissioner says.<\/p>\n

Content on the websites of seven major government bodies should generally be offered in French only, except in narrowly defined cases covered by legal exemptions, the commissioner said in a report released Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The recommendation follows an examination of how agencies, including Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec, Revenu Qu\u00e9bec, Services Qu\u00e9bec and the workplace safety, auto insurance and health insurance boards, communicate with the public.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Gazette, the commissioner\u2019s office said the websites of the organizations evaluated \u201care essentially bilingual (French and English), with a button allowing the user to switch from one language to the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s message appears contradictory: on the one hand, the Charter of the French Language establishes that French, as the official language, must be used exclusively; on the other, the administration operates essentially bilingual websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it wants the Ministry of the French Language to review government guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcept in the exceptional situations provided for by the charter, the websites of the organizations evaluated must be in French only,\u201d the commissioner\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

English content could still be provided in \u201csecure areas of websites,\u201d but only if the government body \u201ccan demonstrate that an exception applies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ministry of the French Language and the office of French Language Minister Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s \u2018exemplary\u2019 obligation<\/p>\n

The Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec passed reforms in 2022 that strengthened the Charter of the French Language, commonly known as Bill 101, and imposed an \u201cexemplary\u201d duty on the state to prioritize French.<\/p>\n

Since 2023, government websites have displayed banners stating that access to English content is intended only for eligible Quebecers, along with links explaining eligibility placed at the bottom of English-language pages.<\/p>\n

But the commissioner\u2019s report said the system effectively relies on an honour code that is not working.<\/p>\n

Data from the agencies shows no consistent trend in the use of English pages since the changes were enacted, the commissioner\u2019s report noted, concluding that the current measures have failed to deliver the intended shift.<\/p>\n

As it stands, \u201canyone can consult the English pages of government agencies\u2019 websites as often and for as long as they wish, without any action, even a symbolic one. This solution cannot allow the government to achieve the objectives of the charter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Bill 96, which amended the charter, certain groups are entitled to access English services in Quebec.<\/p>\n

Among them are people eligible for English-language schooling, members of Indigenous nations and the Inuit, new arrivals in Quebec for less than six months and people outside Quebec.<\/p>\n

Under the commissioner\u2019s recommendation, websites of the government organizations studied should be in French only, \u201cexcept when they relate exclusively to a situation provided for by an exception and are not otherwise relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

As examples, it said English information could be freely available if it is related to:<\/p>\n

Health or public safety requirements.<\/p>\n

Only to people eligible for English-language education in Quebec or to Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n

Exclusively to the reception of immigrants into Quebec society, exchanges with partners outside Quebec, or the provision of tourism services.<\/p>\n

Anglophones push back<\/p>\n

An anglophone rights group pushed back against the commissioner\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just another attempt to diminish and minimize the English-speaking community and remove English from the public space,\u201d said Eva Ludvig, president of TALQ, a coalition of anglophone groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unjustifiable to try to limit services for the English-speaking community. Government websites are not there to promote a government. They\u2019re there to provide services to the public, and the public includes the English-speaking community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if anglophones are comfortable using French in daily life and at work, they still need access to specific government information in English, she said. <\/p>\n

And that need goes beyond health and education \u2014 a wide range of government services should be equally accessible in English as in French, Ludvig added.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Roberge said anglophones would just have to say they have existing language rights to receive government services in English, dismissing concerns that they would have to provide proof of eligibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be self-identification,\u201d he told The Gazette\u00a0at the time. \u201cWe aren\u2019t going into any kind of witch hunt. We are sticking with good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ludvig said the commissioner\u2019s recommendation would contradict that pledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister Roberge said this would\u00a0be by\u00a0\u2018good\u00a0faith.\u2019 Now, (the commissioner is)\u00a0talking about\u00a0monitoring\u00a0websites, ensuring\u00a0that people have the right to it.\u00a0What happened to\u00a0good\u00a0faith\u00a0and the honour system?\u201d<\/p>\n

The CAQ government appointed Beno\u00eet Dubreuil as Quebec\u2019s first French language commissioner in 2023 to monitor the evolution of the language situation and oversee compliance with the charter.<\/p>\n

Dubreuil\u2019s role is separate from that of the Office qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois de la langue fran\u00e7aise<\/a>, which is responsible for enforcing and monitoring compliance with language laws.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Profile<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tA Montreal native, Andy Riga has reported for The Gazette since 1991, covering technology, transport, business, and now politics, language and other Quebec issues.
\n
\nMontr\u00e9alais d\u2019origine, Andy Riga est journaliste \u00e0 la Gazette depuis 1991. Apr\u00e8s avoir couvert la technologie, le transport et les affaires, il traite aujourd\u2019hui de la politique, des enjeux linguistiques et d\u2019autres sujets d\u2019actualit\u00e9 au Qu\u00e9bec.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tariga@postmedia.com
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quebec\u2019s French language minister has dismissed the recommendation. Read the latest story here. English remains too freely available…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[91],"tags":[43629,43632,169,43633,168],"class_list":["post-94346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-riga","tag-anglophones","tag-french-language","tag-latvia","tag-quebec-language-policy","tag-riga"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116654616410712515","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}