Katherine Korakakis

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The latest of several protests against Quebec’s language law Bill 96 was held this past Sunday outside the Jewish General Hospital by Let’s Talk About Quebec and other groups, attracting nearly 100 people.

Numerous motorists drove by, honking their horns in support.

“We’re contesting the directives,” Marc Perez of Let’s Talk About Quebec told The Suburban. “This is the 10th rally we’ve organized. We want to continue the pressure that we have on the government, and we’ve been saying this for the last three years, that Bill 96 is completely wrong. It’s hurting the anglophone community and it’s so vague that no one knows how to apply it.”

Katherine Korakakis, a candidate for chair of the English Montreal School Board, told The Suburban, “having been one of the main organizers of the first Bill 96 protest in 2022, where we had thousands of people attend, it’s important that we continue to show our discontent to the government of Quebec and to show the ill-effects of this law, which was passed through closure.”

Long-time language activist Antoinette Mercurio of the Unity Group said that when she had to go the JGH in relation to her uterine cancer last year, a male triage nurse insisted on speaking to her in French.

“I’ve always come here, I’ve always been treated fairly… I said if you want to speak French, go work at Charles-Le Moyne Hospital, here it’s bilingual. When you’re sick, this is not when you want to go through!”

The JGH has responded that it can provide services in a language other than French when asked to by a user, and that any complaint should be directed to the ombudsman.

Cosimo La Rosa of the Red Coalition read a statement from organization head Joel DeBellefeuille. The organization recently filed a $1 million complaint with the Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission against Bill 96.

“We’re raising our voices against what has become one of the most divisive, discriminatory pieces of legislation in Quebec’s modern history,” La Rosa said.

DeBellefeuille’s statement says, “Bill 96 is not just about language, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking it’s merely a law to protect the French language. The reality is much darker and much more dangerous. Bill 96 uses a heavy handed power of Section 33 of the Charter, the infamous Notwithstanding clause, uses it to preemptively strike down fundamental rights.

“We’ve all heard the stories of businesses being fined or harassed because their sign wasn’t predominantly in French, or because an employee was overheard speaking in English. It’s a language witch hunt, plain and simple! And it’s tearing at the fabric of our society!” n