Indigenous group, task force, suburban mayors all denounce Bill 96 for different reasons

Daniel Sucar
The Advocate

Local Journalism Initiative

Some groups who were not given a chance to speak at the National Assembly hearings on Bill 96 opted to air their grievances in writing.

They included the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, which in a statement, demanded assurance that First Nations languages would not be affected by Quebec’s sweeping changes.

Meanwhile, the Task Force on Linguistic Policy, a group that was formed early this year with the specific aim to draw public attention to the details contained in Bill 96, called on the federal government to “disallow” the passing of Bill 96.

In its brief, the Montreal Association of Suburban Municipalities criticized how the legislation forces the province’s 84 bilingual municipalities to formally adopt a motion if they wish to keep their bilingual status.

“In our cities, we can speak of real linguistic peace,” wrote association leader and Montreal West Mayor Beny Masella. “Our status takes nothing away from the French language. It just adds English.”

The brief concludes by asking the government to make the bilingual status of these municipalities permanent, even if their percentage of English-speaking residents has dipped.