The legal dispute over Quebec's language policy began soon after the enactment of the Charter of the French Language by the National Assembly of Quebec in 1977.

The Charter, enacted under the Parti Quebecois government of René Lévesque, expanded upon Quebec's previous language legislation, the Official Language Act, enacted in 1974 under the Liberty Party of Quebec government of Robert Bourassa.

Both legislations were drafted in an attempt to follow the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec (the Gendron Commission).

Unlike the Official Language Act of 1974 (not to be confused with the federal Official Languages Act), the Charter of the French Language was a legal framework defining the linguistic rights of Quebecers, and a language management policy giving the state of Quebec the power to intervene in many sectors of public life to promote French as the common language of all citizens. Its enactment by the National Assembly sparked a legal battle that still goes on today.

Before 1982

In 1867, the British Parliament passed the British North America Act which became the supreme law of the Dominion of Canada (although it was modified several times, it is still part of the Constitution of Canada). This act contained only one section (section 133) dealing with language. It read:

"Either the English or the French Language may be used by any Person in the Debates of the Houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the Houses of the Legislature of Quebec; and both those Languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those Houses; and either of those Languages may be used by any Person or in any Pleading or Process in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under this Act, and in or from all or any of the Courts of Quebec."

"The Acts of the Parliament of Canada and of the Legislature of Quebec shall be printed and published in both those Languages."

Language of legislation and justice

Main article: Quebec (Attorney General) v. Blaikie

Three Quebec Lawyers, Peter Blaikie, Roland Durand and Yoine Goldstein first challenged the constitutionnality of the Charter of the French Language under section 133.

In 1979, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered sections 7 to 13 of the Charter of the French Language inoperative, declaring them contrary to section 133 of the British North America Act of 1867. The highest court in Canada judged that the enacting and passing of laws had to be done in both French and English in the parliaments of Quebec and Canada.

Sections 7 to 13 of the Charter of the French Language had made French the only language of legislation and only provided for a translation of laws in English at the end of the legislative process.

The Quebec government responded by re-enacting the charter (and all other acts enacted since 1977) in French and English. Sections 7 to 13 of the Charter were however left untouched.

In 1981, another Supreme Court decision (Quebec (Attorney General) v. Blaikie (No. 2)) declared that section 133 also applied to government regulations.

After 1982

The patriation of the Canadian Constitution occurred as the British Parliament passed the Canada Act 1982. This act enacted the Constitution Act, 1982 for Canada (including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) whose section 23 introduced the notion of "minority language education rights". This novelty opened another door to a constitutional dispute of Quebec's Charter of the French Language.

Alliance Quebec , an Anglophone rights lobby group was founded in May 1982.

Language of instruction

Main article: Quebec (Attorney General) v. Quebec Protestant School Boards

In 1984, the Supreme Court invalidated Chapter VIII of the Quebec Charter of the French Language on the basis of its incompatibility with section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Charter of the French language had recognized the right to English language instruction to Quebec anglophones alone. Canadian citizens from outside Quebec had to send their children to French primary and secondary schools like all other Quebecers.

Language of commercial signs

Main article: Ford v. Quebec (Attorney General)

In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that the sections of the Charter of the French Language enforcing the exclusive use of French on outdoor commercial signs were unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court remarked that the Quebec government could legitimately require French to have "greater visibility" or "marked predominance" on exterior commercial signs, however it could not enforce the exclusive use of French.

With the Act to amend the Charter of the French language, S.Q. 1988, c. 54 (also known as Bill 178), the National Assembly (under a Quebec Liberal government) made use of the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to keep the original law unchanged.

Compliance

With the Act to amend the Charter of the French language, S.Q. 1993, c. 40 (also known as Bill 86), the National Assembly (under a Quebec Liberal government) amended the Charter of the French Language to make it comply with the Supreme Court rulings. The amending law introduced the "Canada Clause" which replaced the "Quebec Clause". That is, the recognized right to English language education was extended to all Canadian citizens. It also introduced the current regulations on the "marked predominance" of French on outdoor commercial signs in conformity with the Supreme Court suggestion.

External links

• Office québécois de la langue française - Repères et jalons historiques (in French)
• Clause Canada / clause Québec (in French)
• La politique linguistique et la Charte de la langue française (in French)
• The language of legislative instruments under the Constitution
• 13 février 1973 - Présentation des conclusions du rapport de la Commission Gendron (in French)
• Invalidation par la Cour suprême de sept articles de la Loi 101 (in French)
• Histoire de l'interventionnisme de l'État dans le domaine linguistique (in French)
• Il y a 25 ans, la loi 22 (in French)
• Planification linguistique : Le Quebec et le Canada (in French)
• Le choc des langues au Québec : 1760 - 1970 (in French)
• Les fondements d'une politique linguistique au Québec par Marc Chevrier (in French)