National Assembly cranks up pressure on Montreal to become more French

QUEBEC — The province is pressuring the city of Montreal to move faster to conform to the rules of the French Language Charter.

The minister responsible for language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, tabled a motion Thursday with the consent of the other parties to denounce the fact that almost half of Montreal’s boroughs do not have francization certificates indicating they are using the correct level of French in their operations.

The motion says French is the official language of the province and that the state and agencies of the state, including municipalities, must act in an exemplary manner when it comes to applying the rules.

It notes 10 boroughs out of 19, plus Montreal itself, do not have their certificates.

It adds the city’s own charter states: “Montreal is a city of the French language.”

“As a result, the National Assembly asks the city of Montreal as well as its boroughs to conform to the law as soon as possible,” the motion concludes. It is not binding and carries only a moral weight.

The motion was adopted by all four parties: the governing Coalition Avenir Québec, the Liberal party, Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois.

At a news conference on another matter, Jolin-barrette defended the motion, saying he had discussed the situation last summer with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante. He denied springing something on her for his own political reasons.

A day earlier, the CAQ sided with the Liberals in defeating a Pq-sponsored motion calling on the government to declare a linguistic emergency.

After saying in a speech he wants to defend French, Jolin-Barrette was absent for the actual vote.

He has also been under pressure from the PQ, which regularly accuses him of being all talk and no action when it comes to protecting French.

“We are not blaming (Montreal),” Jolin-barrette told reporters. “At the heart of it, we are inviting Montreal to conform. I work in co-operation with the administration and the mayor.

“Montreal is a francophone city, Quebec is a francophone state, so the biggest city of Quebec must prioritize (this issue). It should be a priority file for the city.”

He was unable to specifically identify shortcomings in the way the law is being applied, but said if cities do not have their certificates, issued by the Office québécois de la langue française, it’s because something is not right.

“You must agree that after between 15 and 18 years it is not normal that Montreal or its boroughs still have not obtained their francization certificates,” he said. “There are companies that obtain their certificates far faster.

“For me, things are quite clear. The French language must be the normal language, the language in use. Montreal is a French city. It should operate in French. It should show the example.”

He said he will present in the coming weeks a “robust” action plan on language.

Plante expressed surprise that the motion had arrived out of the blue.

“I have a hard time explaining this motion, because I myself discussed this with Mr. Jolin-barrette,” Plante said in Montreal. “It’s them who gave us a time frame to be able to conform. It runs out at the end of the month and we will achieve it.”