Language law ruling -- a compilation of reports

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling on Thursday that declared unconstitutional a provincial law blocking access to English schools has once again rattled Quebec's linguistic peace.

The ruling affects a tiny fraction of the province's schoolchildren, but it prompted dire warnings that the survival of the French language was threatened. Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois complained that a court "appointed by another nation" had opened a breach in Quebec's sacrosanct language law, while Christine St-Pierre, the Liberal Minister of Culture, said she was "shocked and disappointed" by the ruling.
...

The Charest government's response was quick and unequivocal.

"We are very disappointed with this ruling," said Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre, the cabinet member responsible for languages. "We are going to analyze the judgment in all its details and see what are the options."

St-Pierre emphasized that Bill 104 was adopted in response to an ever-increasing number of students making the leap to the English system using these so-called "bridge" schools.

"That's why in 2002 the law was adopted and it was adopted in unanimity," she said. "We have the legitimacy to legislate on this question."
...
The unanimous decision, written by Justice Louis LeBel of Quebec, said legislation enacted in 2002 had gone too far in trying to rectify a situation that was allowing some immigrant and francophone parents to send their children to public English schools.
...
The ruling prompted a stormy exchange in the National Assembly in Quebec City. Premier Jean Charest said that the primacy of the French language in Quebec was a fundamental value that had to be protected.

Ms. Marois chose to attack the judges in Ottawa. "The Supreme Court, a court appointed by another nation, has just butchered once again a fundamental instrument of the Quebec nation," she said. Mr. Charest called her broadside on the high court "shocking" and noted that yesterday's decision upheld a ruling of the Quebec Court of Appeal.

In a news conference, Ms. St-Pierre said she would do everything possible to protect Quebec's official language. "We represent two per cent of North America, and we have the duty as a government to protect the French language," she said.

For Mario Beaulieu, president of the nationalist Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Montreal, the ruling shows the need for Quebec sovereignty.

"It is unacceptable that the future of French in Quebec should be at the mercy of federal institutions controlled by English Canada, like the Supreme Court," he said in a statement.
...
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

416 225 2777