National
Bill 96: Quebec public servants now required to make ‘exemplary’ use of French
People take part in a protest against Bill 96 in Montreal, Thursday, May 26, 2022. Quebec’s language law reform is continuing to draw criticism and legal challenges from the province’s English community, a year after it was adopted, as more of its provisions come into effect. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
By Jacob Serebrin in Montreal
Quebec’s language law reform is continuing to draw criticism and legal challenges from the province’s English community as more of its provisions come into effect Thursday, exactly a year after it received royal assent.
While many elements of the law, commonly known as Bill 96, took effect shortly after it was passed, others were delayed. Those include restrictions on communications with the provincial government in languages other than French, French-language requirements for certain contracts and a requirement that small businesses tell the government how many of their employees don’t speak French.
The Quebec government has described the law as a moderate response to what it says is the declining use of French in the province, particularly in Montreal. Quebec Premier François Legault has repeatedly said that French will always be under threat in North America and he wants to avoid Quebec becoming like Louisiana, where few people speak French despite the state’s French history.
But Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, said the changes taking effect Thursday — and others to follow — will make life harder for English-speaking Quebecers. “We are now seeing the impact of a bad bill, a draconian bill,” she said in an interview. “We see what this really means and the impact it will have on the day-to-day lives of business people, of everyday workers, of students.”
Here are three of the main changes coming into effect:
Civil service to use French “in an exemplary manner”
Chantal Bouchard, spokeswoman for the watchdog that enforces the province’s language laws, says this change means that when on the job, civil servants “must speak and write exclusively in French, except in certain cases.” The rule will not affect access to health care and social services in English, Bouchard said.
In a directive to government agencies, the province’s French Language Department said other exceptions include situations where health, public safety or principles of natural justice require the use of languages other than French.
“We won’t leave anyone in danger,” Jean-François Roberge, Quebec’s Minister of the French Language, told reporters in Quebec City, Wednesday, adding that 911 services will still be available in English.
There are also exceptions for Indigenous people, those who communicated with the government in English before the bill was tabled in May 2021 and people who have the right to English-language schooling in Quebec. Immigrants can also be served in another language, but only for the first six months they live in Quebec.
Roberge said the government will rely on people’s “good faith” when they self-identify as belonging to one of the exempt groups. He said government officials will ask a few questions to establish that people are entitled to receive service in English, but they won’t be issuing anglophone identity cards.
Also starting Thursday, Quebec government websites with English-language content will display banners informing people that the content is only intended for people eligible to receive government communications in English.
Small businesses must report how many employees can’t communicate in French
This requirement applies to businesses with between five and 49 employees, and the data will be made public by the province’s corporate registry.
François Vincent, Quebec vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the requirement will mean more paperwork for small business owners at a time when they’re already facing a labour shortage.
“I think it will be important for the government to be flexible,” he said. “They should help and support the businesses to get the information the government needs without giving fines.”
Other provisions intended to increase the use of French in small businesses and further restrict the use of languages other than French on signs go into effect in June 2025.
Contracts of adhesion must be presented in French to both parties
These are standard contracts drawn up by one of the parties, such as employment contracts, collective agreements, insurance policies, franchise agreements and telephone service contracts.
As long as a French copy has been presented, people can then decide to request the contract in another language.
Vincent said this measure will cost his members more if they have to prepare two copies of the same contract and pay for translation.
Other changes related to the law — including French-language requirements for students in the province’s English junior colleges — come into effect this fall.
The law faces several legal challenges, including one filed at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday.
That suit, brought on behalf of six English-speaking Quebecers who say they already struggle to get government services in English and worry the situation will deteriorate as more elements of Bill 96 come into effect, seeks to have many aspects of the bill struck down.
“On the first of June, a lot will change,” said Andrew Caddell, president of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy, the organization that brought the suit, and one of the six plaintiffs.
Caddell told reporters he worries the law’s far-reaching impacts will make English-speaking Quebecers second-class citizens. “We can protect a language and community without eliminating the rights of another,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023.
Media
Trudeau government agency suggests writing its own articles for ‘trusted’ media outlets
From LifeSiteNews
According to an October 28 article by Blacklock’s Reporter, a Trudeau government agency has floated the idea of producing its own material to be published by certain ‘trusted media platforms.’
A federal agency has suggested writing its own news stories for “trusted media platforms” to publish.
According to an October 28 article by Blacklock’s Reporter, the International Development Research Centre, a Crown corporation run by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, has proposed the idea that subsidized media outlets publish government-authored articles.
“Significant shifts in the overall media landscape have affected how people receive and perceive information,” the International Development Research Centre said to contractors. “In addition, while the rapid rise of digital information has made it easier to reach people, consumers’ attention is scattered and harder to get.”
“In such context the Centre invests strategically to connect with its target audiences,” it continued. “This project provides an avenue to reach them where they are, on trusted media platforms they already consult on a regular basis.”
The cost of the project was not disclosed, according to Blacklock’s, nor was it explained if the articles would be clearly state whether or not they were written by the federal government. According to the plan, the agency would pick news themes and have final say on “content for articles to be produced” and “review all proposed final articles for accuracy.”
The agency stated that their ideal platform is “a French language, mass audience magazine based in Canada.”
“The project will secure the production and publication of articles related to Centre-supported research, international development or foreign affairs in a renowned current affairs outlet,” said General Interest Articles. “These stories will contribute to showcase the importance and relevance for Canadians.”
While the plan suggests that the government penned articles would better reach Canadians, media payouts have many Canadians concerned with the objectivity of the media.
In fact, in September, House leader Karina Gould directed mainstream media reporters to “scrutinize” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has repeatedly condemned government-funded media as being an arm of the Liberals.
Similarly, earlier this month, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s department admitted that federally funded media outlets buy “social cohesion.”
While certain media has been funded by government for decades in Canada, the Trudeau government has ramped up such funding since taking power.
Beginning in 2019, Parliament changed the Income Tax Act to give yearly rebates of 25 percent for each news employee in cabinet-approved media outlets earning up to $55,000 a year to a maximum of $13,750.
The Canadian Heritage Department since admitted that the payouts are not even sufficient to keep legacy media outlets running and recommended that the rebates be doubled to a maximum of $29,750 annually.
Last November, Trudeau again announced increased payouts for legacy media outlets that coincide with the leadup to the 2025 election. The subsidies are expected to cost taxpayers $129 million over the next five years.
Similarly, Trudeau’s 2024 budget outlined $42 million in increased funding for the CBC in 2024-25.
The $42 million to the CBC is in addition to massive media payouts that already make up roughly 70 percent of its operating budget and total more than $1 billion annually.
Dan McTeague
“Axe the Tax” is just the beginning
From Canadians for Affordable Energy
All across Canada preemptive obituaries are being written for the Carbon Tax. (I’ve written one myself.) And for good reason. The closer we get to the full implementation of Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax, the harder regular people are being hit in the wallet. The tax has helped make it more expensive to feed and clothe our families, to heat our homes, and to gas up our cars. It has been a direct assault on the Canadian standard of living.
The fact that the Trudeau Liberals are behind the Carbon Tax is central to their collapsing poll numbers. And Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has capitalized on its unpopularity by pledging to “Axe the Tax” every chance he gets. Chances are that pledge will carry his party into the majority, whenever we get around to having an election.
That said, we must be careful because the Carbon Tax is just one part of Trudeau’s Net-Zero program. It would be a catastrophic blunder for the Conservatives, upon entering government, to repeal only the Carbon Tax and leave the rest of the Liberals’ green agenda in place. Doing so would jeopardize Poilievre’s ability to make life in Canada more affordable.
There are a whole raft of policies on this file which a Poilievre government should quickly repeal. Here are a few which ought to be at the top of the list:
Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR)
Trudeau’s Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR), which I’ve nicknamed the Second Carbon Tax, are designed to reduce the carbon intensity of fuels like gasoline and diesel by blending increased amounts of ethanol into those fuels, making them less efficient while potentially contributing to engine corrosion and other problems. Plus, it’s estimated that the CFR will raise gasoline prices between six and seventeen cents a litre by 2030. Which is to say, we’ll be paying more for fuel and getting less out of it.
And, like the original Carbon Tax, the cost of the CFR is felt beyond the pumps, with estimates suggesting it will increase household energy costs by between 2.2 and 6.5 percent a year, while also significantly constricting the growth of our economy. These regulations ought to be scrapped entirely.
Emissions Caps
As I’ve written elsewhere, the Trudeau government’s proposed Emissions Cap, which targets our nation’s oil and gas sector, “would make Canada the only country in the world which willingly and purposefully stifles its single largest revenue stream.” Oil and gas is our “golden goose,” according to a study by Jack Mintz and Philip Cross, but the Trudeau government is proposing a cap on that sector’s carbon emissions, which a recent Deloitte report found “would lead to a 10% decrease in Alberta’s oil production and a 16% decrease in conventional natural gas production.” That translates to an estimated decline of real GDP in Alberta of $191 billion, and of $91 billion in the rest of Canada.
This is madness, and that’s before we even touch on the fact that it will have no discernable impact on global carbon emissions. It merely ensures that the world’s energy needs will be met by less environmentally responsible nations like Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
Electric Vehicle Mandates and Subsidies
Among the most reckless policies enacted by this government is Trudeau’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandate, which bans the sale of new gas-and-diesel driven cars and trucks by 2035. I’ll say that again – in just under a decade, every new car and truck sold in Canada will have to be electric! This despite the fact that electric vehicles are notoriously bad at holding their charge in cold weather, one of our country’s trademarks.
And that’s assuming you can find a place to charge them. Natural Resources Canada estimates that we will need roughly 450,000 public charging stations by 2035 to make this EV transition at all realistic. At the moment we have about 28,000.
Plus, the wholesale adoption of EVs across Canada would put a tremendous strain on our electrical grid, especially at a time when the environmentalists have been pushing for a nationwide transition to less reliable methods of generating electricity, like wind and solar.
And then there’s the billions in subsidies which support the mandate. Federal and provincial taxpayer dollars are being thrown at automotive companies to underwrite their producing a product which taxpayers will then be forced to buy. It’s an outrageous example of double dipping.
Poilievre seems to understand this. He has called the EV mandate “a tax on the poor,” because of the elevated cost of an EV, compared to traditional vehicles, and he’s slammed the subsidies as bad deals for Canada.
Even so, when Trudeau has accused Poilievre of wanting to cancel the subsidies, Poilievre has tended to pivot to discussing the “generational” opportunity Canada has to start producing the minerals necessary for EV batteries, if only the Liberals would speed up the approval process for new mines.
That’s all well and good, except that the entire EV industry is built on subsidies and mandates. And even with those, countries around the world are finding that demand for EVs is much softer than anticipated. Some “generational” opportunity for Canada, to become a key link in the supply chain for a product that no one wants! Much better to change course, scrap the mandates and subsidies, and see if the industry can stand on its own two feet. Once consumers have shown that they’re willing to buy EVs, then we can talk.
And Many More…
Of course, repealing these policies is just scratching the surface. I could easily have written about the problems with Bill C-69, the so-called “no new pipelines bill;” Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act which significantly reduces Canada’s ability to export our natural resources; or Bill C-59, which bans businesses from touting the environmental positives of their work if it doesn’t meet a government-approved standard.
The fact of the matter is, Canadians need a government that will not just pull down the low-hanging fruit of the Carbon Tax, but to “axe” the numerous Net-Zero policies, enacted by Trudeau’s and his environmentalist allies over the past nine years, which are making all of our lives more expensive.
Pierre Poilievre has his work cut out for him. Let’s all hope that he turns out to be the man we need him to be. We can’t afford anything less.
Dan McTeague is President of Canadians for Affordable Energy.
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