Published May 23, 2024

JOHN JANTAK
and BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A merger of the four municipalities on Île Perrot into one city would most likely spell the end of bilingual services in Pincourt, according to Mayor Claude Comeau.

“There’s a danger this could happen because we’re the only town on the island with bilingual status,” Comeau told The 1019 Report. “I’m pretty sure we would not be able to keep it.

“It might not be allowed because the other three towns on the island do not have bilingual status and I think the combined population wouldn’t bring it up enough to justify having it,” he added.

Only 34.7 per cent of the population of Pincourt reported their mother tongue as English, according to the 2021 Census, compared with 41.7 per cent who listed French as their mother tongue. Although below the 50-per-cent threshold, Pincourt was confirmed eligible to maintain its bilingual status last year after its municipal council voted to keep the designation in the wake of the National Assembly’s adoption of Bill 96, which updated the provincial Charter of the French Language.

But if Pincourt forfeits its charter as an independent municipality in the event of a merger, the number of anglophones in the new municipal entity under a new charter would not surpass 50 per cent.

If a merger of the four towns on the island is approved – as proposed early this month with the official launch of grassroots citizens’ group advocating for the amalgamation of the towns of Pincourt, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, the town of Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil – Pincourt would cease to exist, along with its bilingual status.

For Pincourt residents, the end of bilingualism would mean they wouldn’t receive any services or documents in English.

“Right now everything is bilingual, like our website and all our documents,” Comeau said. “If there is a merger, everything would have to be analyzed and a study done. That would be the first step.”

Losing bilingual status wouldn’t be good for the town, Comeau added.

“A lot of people are happy and proud of having bilingual status,” he said. “It was a big issue during my election campaign in 2021. People asked if I was going to keep it going. And that’s what I did,” he added, referring to the requirement under Bill 96 that required municipalities with bilingual status to pass a formal resolution to keep the status.

Last May, the province’s language watchdog, the Office québécois de la langue française, confirmed that all 48 municipalities in danger of losing their bilingual status in the province – including two of the three with the designation in Vaudreuil-Soulanges – had taken the necessary steps to keep the designation following the adoption of Bill 96.

Bill 96, which came into effect in June 2022, tightened Quebec’s language laws and asserted that French is the province’s only official language. According to a provision of the legislation, bilingual municipalities were at risk of losing the right to communicate with their residents in English if fewer than 50 per cent of their population claim English as a mother tongue. However, these municipalities could vote to maintain the designation regardless of demographics if elected officials approved a resolution to keep the status.

In all, there are 91 officially bilingual municipalities in Quebec, including three in Vaudreuil-Soulanges – Hudson, Pincourt and Île Cadieux. Last December, the OQLF sent notices to the 48 bilingual municipalities that were at risk of losing the status. In this region, that included Pincourt and Île Cadieux. Hudson was never deemed at risk as 60.4 per cent of its population claims English as a their mother tongue. As such, its status was automatically renewed.

Pincourt, where 34.7 per cent of residents list English as their mother tongue, adopted the resolution on Jan. 10, 2023, while elected officials in Île Cadieux, where only 25 per cent of residents list English as their mother tongue, adopted the resolution a week later.

“(The status) is part of our identity,” Pincourt Mayor Claude Comeau said at the time. “We’ve always had it. Out of respect for all our English-speaking and allophone citizens, we need to keep it.” The bilingual cities and towns will keep their status until the next federal census, in 2026, when statistics about English speakers are likely to change. All bilingual municipalities will then have to go through the process of confirming this status all over again.

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