Bureau de la langue française

Montreal appoints director of its Bureau de la langue française

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

The City of Montreal has appointed a director of its newly-created Bureau de la langue française. The bureau was created last February on a recommendation by the city’s French Language Committee, under the leadership of Louise Harel, former interim PQ leader.

The new director Aurélie Arnaud has held key positions within the City of Montreal since 2016, including Indigenous reconciliation, ecological transition, transportation, and of course the promotion of the French language. She has been involved in the linguistic file since 2017, drafting the very first Action Plan for the Promotion of the French Language, successfully obtaining francization certificates in all boroughs.

Arnaud’s appointment “marks an important step in fulfilling our commitment to making French a living, inclusive language that is fully anchored in Montreal life,” says Caroline Bourgeois, Executive Committee member responsible for the French language. “As a Francophone metropolis of the Americas, we have a responsibility to be exemplary and promote our language in all spheres of municipal life. This Office will play a central role in supporting our services and strengthening our collective action in favor of the French language.”

Arnaud’s role will be to support municipal services in the implementation of actions aimed at promoting, enhancing, and protecting the French language throughout Montreal.

The Bureau’s mission, according to the City, “is to strengthen the use of French in the City’s services and activities, in line with the recommendations of the French Language Committee, in addition to accelerating the City’s transition to exemplary behavior and the implementation of the new provisions of the Charter since the adoption of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French. It also manages funding agreements with the Ministry of the French Language, particularly through the Program for the Promotion and Valorization of the French Language.

Arnaud will oversee the implementation of the City’s next Action Plan for the Promotion of the French Language, mobilize municipal departments around common objectives, monitor commitments made, and lead concrete initiatives to support the presence and vitality of French in communications, services, and administrative practices. She will also play a key role in establishing strategic partnerships, ensuring accountability, and promoting the City’s actions to the public and partner institutions.

Her appointment, the press release reads, is part of the city’s desire to make French a lever for social cohesion, inclusion, and collective pride, while affirming its role as a French-speaking metropolis of the Americas.

The creation of the bureau has its critics, those who question its need, given that the provincial language laws already apply to the city. As Andrew Cadell of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy told The Suburban in February, it will come down to how the new Bureau applies that law. The hope, he said, is that the office will offer the non-Francophone community some flexibility. n

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Plante announces Bureau de la langue française for Montreal

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

With less than a year left in her final mandate, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante has decided to open Montreal’s own Bureau de la langue française, “fully assuming (the city’s) status as a French-speaking metropolis of the Americas.” This was expected since last October, it was a recommendation of the city’s French Language Committee, presided over by former interim PQ leader, Louise Harel.

“Montreal stands proudly as a bastion of the French language,” the mayor said. “The creation of the Bureau de la langue française marks a decisive turning point in our commitment to promoting and protecting our shared language.”

The bureau’s mandate will be, among other things, to ensure the implementation of the new provisions applying to municipal administrations provided for in the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French.

“This office will spearhead our mission and will make French shine in every corner of our city,” Plante said, “supporting our municipal services and inspiring our citizens to value our linguistic heritage.”

But with the Charter of the French language already governing the province, some question the necessity of this new office. Andrew Caddell, president of the Task Force on Linguistic Police says “it’s a battle that’s already been won,” pointing out that a large majority of Anglophones can already carry on a conversation in French. But while he does give the Plante administration its due for promoting French, he cautions that it’s going to come down to how the Bureau applies the law. “Is it going to be that much more restrictive on Anglophones to be able to access information” from city institutions that they pay for, he wonders. “If the law is applied as written,” he says, “it could be carte blanche for any hypernationalist to make sure that no Anglophone get services or is allowed to have a meeting in English.”

Caddell hopes the Bureau exercises flexibility. “But if it’s an office that is completely inflexible, and is applying both the spirit and the letter of the law, then we have a problem.”

Caroline Bourgeois, the executive committee member responsible for the French language, acknowledges that “this will present challenges in an international Metropolis like Montreal, but we are determined to build bridges with all of the pillars of our community. French will continue to unite us,” she adds, “as the common language of Montreal.”

The official opposition Ensemble Montréal party had no official comment or reaction by publication. n

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