BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

How municipal officials communicate with members of the public in English is about to change across the province as new restrictions outlined in Quebec’s Bill 96 come into force next month.

But a directive approved by Hudson town council on Monday aims to maintain using another language other than French in some circumstances, despite the fact that it is one of three municipalities in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region that has bilingual status.

Under the implementation guidelines of Bill 96, adopted by the provincial legislature in 2022 that amended Quebec’s French Language Charter, all municipalities have until September of this year to comply.

But there are a few exceptions towns can avail themselves of if they adopt a specific directive. And that is what Hudson did Monday evening.

Hudson council unanimously approved a motion, entitled Directive relative à l’utilisation d’une autre langue que le français, which outlines a clear framework for town staff as to when and how they can use English.

Council’s approval of the directive is a key move. Without it, a municipality would not be able to provide a broader range of communication in English to residents after September, when the so-called transition period to the stricter language guidelines outlined in Bill 96 expires.

St. Lazare council is expected to make a similar move later this month, according to Mayor Geneviève Lachance.

“It’s a directive that allows employees to apply the exceptions specified in Bill 96 concerning the use of other languages,” Lachance said. “And yes, we plan to meet the deadline. Having said that, Bill 96 brings a level of complexity to municipalities like ours who in real life are truly bilingual even if in the eyes of the (Office québécois de la langue française), we’re not because they use birth language and not spoken language as a base of their law.”

The exceptions include in emergencies, in situations involving public safety, fire prevention, crime prevention, extreme weather events, to ensure that bylaws are accurately interpreted and issues touching on tourism. They also include communication to residents directly from the mayor.

St. Lazare does not have official bilingual status.

Reporter Joshua Allan contributed to this report.