The future of the town of Pincourt’s bilingual status will be the subject of a study, according to the grassroots citizens’ group advocating for the amalgamation of the four towns on Île Perrot.
In a statement issued last week, the group is pointing to precedents set last year that supports its claim that there is a strong likelihood the district will be able to continue offering residents information and services in both English and French in the event of a municipal merger.
The group – Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot, which launched a movement last month advocating for the creation of one municipality for the island to better provide cultural and sports services, offer a long-term planning and development vision for the island, as well as reduce administrative costs – points to examples of other former towns that have been involved in municipal mergers that last year voted to maintain their bilingual status in the wake of the provincial government’s adoption of Bill 96.
The group says both the former independent municipalities of Lennoxville, which is now a borough of the amalgamated city of Sherbrooke, and Greenfield Park, which is now a borough of Longueuil on the South Shore of Montreal, both successfully opted to maintain their bilingual designations last year. The elected representatives of both those areas voted to maintain the status as required following the adoption of Bill 96, which amended Quebec’s Charter of the French Language.
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. But only 48 of them 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.
In Lennoxville and Greenfield Park, which were both merged with their neighbouring municipalities in 2002, elected representatives voted to maintain their districts’ bilingual status.
Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot said the province’s Municipal Affairs Ministry will participate and subsidize the study to confirm Pincourt’s bilingual status.
If the four towns of Île Perrot – Pincourt, Île Perrot, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil – are merged, the new town would have a population of about 40,600, and become the second largest town in Vaudreuil-Soulanges – right behind Vaudreuil-Dorion, which has 43,300 residents, according to the 2021 census. The new merged town would be the 35th largest municipality in Quebec and the fourth largest in the greater Suroît region, which includes Valleyfield, Châteauguay and Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
When the group launched its campaign last month, founding member Lise Chartier said the aim was to share information and spark a public conversation on the possibility of merger. Although the core group of founding members have no political ambitions, they are hoping individuals who support the cause will run in the next municipal elections in 2025.