Heritage Canada has launched a major consultation on official languages. I submitted a brief entitled French is in decline, for a real action plan.
French is in decline in Quebec, as elsewhere in Canada. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages recommended in May 2023 that this decline be formally recognized. My brief accepts this observation, provides examples of the decline of French, summarizes the factors explaining this decline, identifies those responsible, examines the most recent linguistic developments, all of which point in the same direction, and proposes real, not superficial, solutions. I am making recommendations for Quebec without any intention of harming Francophones outside Quebec. In fact, I myself am originally from Ontario.
Please find below the HTML version of our submission. For the version as submitted in PDF, click here.
2026 Cross-Canada Official Languages Consultations
Submission to HERITAGE CANADA
French is in Decline - For a Real Action Plan
(translation of LE FRANÇAIS EST EN DÉCLIN- POUR UN PLAN D’ACTION RÉEL)
MARC J RYAN, of Bonjour Merci Québec www.BMQC.org
AUGUST 2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
BIOGRAPHY
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
QUOTES
DECLINE OF FRENCH - EXPLANATORY FACTORS
CHANGES SINCE THE 2023-2028 ACTION PLAN
CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECLINE OF FRENCH
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECLINE OF FRENCH
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
BIOGRAPHY
Background: from the Outaouais region (Ontario et Québec), of mixt parentage (mother- french canadian; father- irish canadian)
Studies: Engineering graduate (McGill U); law degree (Université de Montréal); masters in business law (Université de Montréal);
Work history: Gouvernement du Québec (Commission des valeurs mobilières -lawyer and adviser to the commission), then with the head office of a telecommunication company (Bell Canada et BCE Inc.- General counsel and Corporate secretary);
Past recognitions : Scarlet Key Honour Society of McGill University (member); Fondation du Barreau du Québec (Vice-president) ; Société St. Patrick’s de Montréal (board of directors); Governor general's Canadian leadership Conference) (member); Fair Canada (board member ).
Political affiliations (past and present): none
Creator of the website Bonjour Merci Québec https://www.bmqc.org/
Marc J Ryan, Montréal QC info@BMQC.org
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Heritage Canada has launched pan-Canadian consultations on official languages for 2026.
French is in decline in Quebec, as elsewhere in Canada. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages recommended in May 2023 that this decline be formally recognized.
My submission accepts this observation, summarizes the factors explaining the decline, examines the most recent linguistic developments, which all point in the same direction, and proposes real, not superficial, solutions.
I am making recommendations for Quebec without any intention of harming Francophones outside Quebec. In fact, I myself am originally from Ontario.
Our general recommendation (RECOMMENDATION 1) is to adopt an asymmetrical territorial approach to language: promote French in Quebec without abandoning Francophones outside Quebec.
And we make 21 other more specific recommendations:
Abandon Statistics Canada's (SC) definition of bilingualism in Quebec (RECOMMENDATION 2). We should promote genuine mastery of French by everyone in Quebec, and not simply settle for bilingualism as defined by SC.
We recommend modifying federal funding (RECOMMENDATIONS 3 and 4) to:
- cease funding any English-language school system unless all its graduates acquire genuine mastery of French; and
- provide substantial funding for French in Quebec, and in particular for the French-language training program for immigrants in Quebec.
The federal government has specific targets for Francophone immigration outside Quebec. It should adopt (RECOMMENDATION 5) Francophone immigration targets for Quebec that are socially acceptable in Quebec, or else relinquish its immigration powers in Quebec.
Promote French as the federal language of work in Quebec (RECOMMENDATION 6). We could consider reviving the B&B Commission's French language work units’ model, or simply more aggressively enforcing French in the federal public administration and in federal businesses in Quebec.
Use the federal government's administrative and legislative powers to promote French and remove any incentive to choose to do business and work solely in English in Quebec. Federal legislation must be reviewed in its entirety and amended to comply with the new objectives of the Official Languages Act. In our submission, we provide four specific examples (RECOMMENDATIONS 7 to 10) of legislation that is deficient in this regard: the Citizenship Act; the Patent Act; the Trademarks Act; and the Canada Business Corporations Act.
Revise the federal government's linguistic image in Quebec and abroad (RECOMMENDATIONS 11 and 12).
The Official Languages Act (OLA) encourages the federal government to promote Canada's bilingual character abroad and authorizes it to enter into agreements with foreign governments recognizing Canada's bilingual identity. This promotion of bilingualism abroad is conditional upon the need to protect and promote French and the equality of the two languages. In an environment where French is declining, we submit that such promotion abroad is inappropriate. It creates confusion for immigrants in Quebec and disregards Bill 101, which the OLA now recognizes, and which aims to integrate immigrants in French.
Furthermore, it risks creating confusion for Francophone immigrants outside Quebec by raising false hopes of being able to live in French after their relocation.
Out of respect for Bill 101, the federal government should cease practicing public bilingualism in Quebec, except for reasons that are socially acceptable in Quebec.
Modify the federal government's linguistic approach in court proceedings in four areas (RECOMMENDATIONS 13 to 18):
a) by supporting Quebec in reconsidering two past Supreme Court decisions that have harmed learning French and the prestige of French: the 1984 decision involving the Protestant School Board of Montreal (PSBGM); and the 1979 Blaikie decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, which required an English version not only for Quebec legislation but also for its regulations.
b) thoroughly revise the scope of the Court Challenge Program, so that it would now have two components:
i) the traditional component dedicated to individual language rights, which would be made explicitly subject to the following restrictions: acknowledging the recognition of Bill 101 by the Official Languages Act, and not funding lawsuits whose objective or effect would be to promote the dominant use of English in Canada or the decline of French in Canada, including in Quebec; and
ii) a component dedicated to advancing collective rights that foster the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured, and in particular to acknowledge the harmful effect of any school system in Quebec that produces graduates without a genuine mastery of French;
c) Considering the major role of the Civil Code in Quebec identity, I would like to add a non-linguistic comment. Justice Bertha Wilson of the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that the Civil Code of Quebec is subject to the Charter to a greater extent than the common law elsewhere in Canada. This anomaly has been the subject of commentary, but 36 years later, nothing has been done to correct this situation.
d) The Attorney General of Canada should, before the courts, with respect to the decline of French:
i) formally endorse the conclusions of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, which recommended recognizing the decline of French; and
ii) indicate to the courts that it no longer endorses the Supreme Court's position expressed in the Nguyen decision, namely that the Attorney General of Quebec, in order to justify measures to promote French, bears the burden of demonstrating that there is a real threat to the survival of French in Quebec.
RECOMMENDATION 19:
Provide clear written directives to the Commissioner of Official Languages on the priority need to protect French in Quebec, based on the same restrictions and objectives that we recommend for the Court Challenges Program.
RECOMMENDATION 20:
In 2017, the Commissioner of Official Languages endorsed a decision authorizing the country's junior hockey team to designate English as the team language in order to quickly build team spirit. Nine years later, this decision still stands. It is time to act to correct this injustice. The Commissioner of Official Languages must revoke this decision.
I propose two solutions (there are probably others):
a) adopt a rotation system. At regular intervals, the team language changes from English to French, and vice versa; or
b) that Canada create two national teams, one with English as the team language, the other with French as the team language. Canada would then request that international bodies allow both teams to participate in competitions.
Finally, I would like to look beyond the strict framework of a Canadian Heritage action plan and offer some comments of a constitutional nature.
RECOMMENDATIONS 21 and 22.
In the long term, I believe it would be wise to plan to amend section 59 of the 1982 Constitution so that section 23 of the Charter (which enshrines the English school system in Quebec within the Charter) ceases to apply to Quebec. and to amend section 133 of the 1867 Constitution so that it ceases to apply to Quebec.
a) Section 59 was adopted without Quebec's consent. It renders section 23 partially inapplicable to Quebec. It is time to complete this legislative work and amend the current section 59 so that section 23 of the Charter ceases to apply entirely to Quebec. Section 23 is a major obstacle to Quebec's power to require non-Francophones not only to learn but to acquire true mastery of French.
b) At Confederation in 1867, section 133 was imposed, but only on Quebec. Notably, to this day it still does not apply to Ontario. The same should be true for Quebec. This would notably put an end to situations where one of the greatest civil jurists Quebec has ever known was cavalierly rebuffed by the Supreme Court.
QUOTES
That the Government of Canada formally recognize that French is in decline in Canada and in Quebec, particularly in urban areas including the metropolitan region of Montreal and that it take steps to reverse this alarming trend. House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, 2023.
our professionals have been subjected to French tests at the Office de la langue française, which have been a major source of concern. We cannot accept that non-francophone Quebecers trained in our schools should be singled out for "special treatment" if they wish to work in Quebec. This is alienating, to say the least. If the government considers it has failed to fulfill its obligations to ensure that all Quebecers graduate from our public school system with a sufficient knowledge of French, the responsibiliy for this failure must be borne by the government, not individuals. Eric Maldoff, Alliance Qubec- lettre à René Lévesque 22 3 1982.
We believe that all Canadians should be assured the rights and the services necessary to enable them to live and to feel at home in either official language
throughout Canada. Preamble to the constitution of Alliance Quebec, 1982.
It should be as normal for the children of immigrants in QC to grow up to be Francophones as it is for the children of immigrants in Ontario to grow up to be Anglophones. In Canada today, this is not the case. Norman Spector: Tweet le 25 novembre,2020. Ancien secrétaire du comité fédéral pour les relations fédérales, et ancien chef de cabinet du premier ministre du Canada Brian Mulroney.
I’ve been able to live in Montreal (for 14 years) without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal. Michael Rousseau, Air Canada, 2021. NB : M. Rousseau retires in 2026 without ever using french in his work.
Section 23 should include an interpretation paragraph cancelling the equivalency between minority-language educational rights in and outside Quebec, specifically the definition of rights-holders. Section 59 cancelling Section 23(a) in Quebec was a first step. It’s time to complete the decoupling. Mario Polese, Options politiques, 2022.
We will always defend the French language and culture in Canada. Post on X (Twitter) of Prime Minister Mark Carney, 22 August 2026.
Malgré les récents rapports constatant le déclin du français partout au Canada, la fonction publique canadienne continue d’être dominée par l’anglais...l n’y a pas d’issue. À moins d’un changement radical, les réunions « bilingues » auxquelles j’assisterai continueront d’être une supercherie ne contenant que deux mots de français, « bonjour » et « merci ». Je ne suis qu’au début de ma carrière, mais je suis déjà éreintée par ce combat constant. Combien de plaintes devrai-je déposer auprès du Commissariat aux langues officielles ? Anna Pellerin-Petrova , Dérives linguistiques dans la fonction publique canadienne, 8 2 2023 Le Devoir
DECLINE OF FRENCH - EXPLANATORY FACTORS
This submission follows up on a submission I had the honor of presenting earlier this year to a committee of the Assemblée Nationale du Québec on the same topic- the decline of French.
The main contributing factor to the decline of French is largely beyond government control. It is the dominant percentage of Anglophones in America, combined with the global hegemony of English in business
Ce serait beaucoup plus simple si les deux langues officielles du Canada étaient aussi utiles l’une que l’autre comme langue seconde. Mais ce n’est pas le cas. La vitesse à laquelle l’anglais est devenu la langue mondiale et la même vitesse à laquelle le français a décliné sur le même plan ont peu d’équivalents dans l’histoire. Je me souviens encore d’une époque où la deuxième langue attendue de tout Polonais ou Portugais éduqué était le français. La géopolitique y est pour beaucoup : la montée en puissance des États-Unis; l’héritage linguistique de l’Empire britannique; et le fait que l’anglais soit aujourd’hui la lingua franca de l’Asie du Sud et de l’Est. L’avènement de l’ère numérique a porté le coup de grâce. Internet avait besoin d’une langue commune, et cette langue est l’anglais. Mario Polese, 2022, Options politiques.
These two factors are growing and alone justify abandoning the 60-year-old symmetrical approach of the B&B Commission, which (except for the language of work in Quebec) treated French and English equally.
Most of the other factors can be controlled, if not influenced, by governments:
2- Legislation that may, knowingly or unknowingly, favor English for working, living, and doing business in Quebec.
3- The language of work in the public and private sectors.
4- An English-language school system in Quebec whose graduates often do not truly master French.
5- Significant immigration of Anglophones and Quebec's limited capacity to accommodate them (note the quote from Norman Spector above).
And there are sociolinguistic factors that governments must recognize and take into account:
6- Population shifts that contribute to the decline of French, including: a) internal migration to Quebec of people who are not currently required to send their children to the French school system; and
b) the departure of bilingual Anglophones from Quebec;
7- The phenomena of language transfers from French to English, which disproportionately benefits English.
CHANGES SINCE THE 2023-2028 ACTION PLAN
Much has changed since the current action plan. And these changes all point in one direction: the decline of French and the lack of real proficiency in French among many non-Francophones in Quebec.
At the federal level, two major developments occurred in May 2023:
1-The report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages recommended formally recognizing the decline of French:
That the Government of Canada formally recognize that French is in decline in Canada and in Quebec, particularly in urban areas including the metropolitan region of Montreal and that it take steps to reverse this alarming trend.
2- And Bill C-13 (An Act for the substantive equality between Canada’s official languages) was passed. This Act:
- provides thatthe norm for the interpretation of language rights is substantive equality;
-formally recognizes that that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English and that there is a diversity of provincial and territorial language regimes that contribute to the advancement, including Quebec’s Charter of the French language, which provides that French is the official language of Quebec;
-recognizes the need to advance the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured; and
-provides that the federal government's commitment to fostering the development of Francophone and Anglophone minorities in Canada must respect the necessity of protecting and promoting the French language in each province and territory, taking into account that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English;
Numerous other recent developments confirm the wisdom of these legislative and parliamentary initiatives at the federal level in May 2023.
Here are eight other examples of recent actions relevant to the decline of French.
3- Overall, one-third of non-Francophones in Quebec cannot hold a short conversation in French. In 2021, the proportion of people able to hold a conversation in French was 69.7% among Anglophones and 65.3% among Allophones. See OQLF, p. 34: RAPPORT SUR L’ÉVOLUTION DE LA SITUATION LINGUISTIQUE AU QUÉBEC. According to the 2021 Census (Figure 3) by Statistics Canada, 29.1% of Anglophones educated in English schools in Quebec are not bilingual (able to hold a short conversation in French).
4- In 2024, the Commissaire de la langue française noted in his report on the evolution of French that all indicators of French usage in Quebec were declining. A report from the OQLF (Office Québécois de la langue française) that same year reached the same conclusion. At the federal level, for the past 50 years, there has been a continuous anglicization of the public service—see the study by Vincent Larochelle published in 2026 by the Institut du Québec (see also the commentary by Radio-Canada journalist Marianne Depelteau).
5- According to a 2022 study by Popica and Gagné on students in English-language CEGEPs (pre-university colleges):
a- Approximately two-thirds of our students are not proficient in spoken and written French after 12 years of compulsory French instruction.
b- The English-language school system does not motivate its students to learn French.
c- The imposition of French language learning is often perceived as an injustice by English-speaking students.
We are referring here to students who have successfully completed their secondary education and decided to pursue further studies in Quebec. The proportion of other students (those who did not complete secondary school or who did not continue their post-secondary studies) who are not proficient in spoken and written French is undoubtedly higher. Who is responsible for this fiasco?
6- In 2022, the Quebec government adopted Bill 96, Loi sur la langue officielle et commune du Québec, le français. Bill 96 requires students in English-language CEGEPs to take a certain number of courses in French; the reaction from some Anglophones was almost hysterical.
The administration of English-language CEGEPs and their students opposed it, citing, get this, their students' poor command of French.
L’Assemblée nationale condamnera des milliers d’étudiants à l’échec sur fond de « crise sociale » si elle adopte le projet de loi 96 dans sa forme actuelle, met en garde le président de la Fédération des cégeps, Bernard Tremblay. Il s’inquiète particulièrement des contrecoups de l’obligation de suivre « un minimum de trois cours donnés en français » imposée aux étudiants inscrits dans un cégep anglophone, qui figure dans la version amendée du projet de Loi sur la langue officielle et commune du Québec, le français. « Il y a des milliers d’étudiants qui seront dans l’incapacité d’être diplômés », déclare M. Tremblay dans un entretien avec Le Devoir mercredi. Plus de 35 % des quelque 29 000 étudiants inscrits dans les cégeps anglophones ont une connaissance insuffisante de la langue française pour suivre des cours en français, souligne-t-il, données statistiques à l’appui. Crise sociale en vue, selon la Fédération des cégeps 2022 Marco-Belair-Cirino Le Devoir.
This is a very telling example of the lack of French proficiency among many graduates of English-language high schools, almost 50 years after Bill 101.
7- A Léger-CCQEA survey on the experience of employers hiring Anglophones confirms these difficulties. One-third of employers who hired Anglophone employees encountered difficulties integrating their Anglophone staff. Employers primarily reported language barrier problems.
8- According to a 2026 survey by the Association of English-Language School Boards, if a law required Anglophone students to attend French-language vocational training, only 20% would opt for a French-language program.
Le projet de loi no 8 récemment déposé à l’Assemblée nationale du Québec, qui restreint l’accès à la formation professionnelle et à l’éducation des adultes dans le réseau anglophone, menace notre économie...Le projet de loi repose également sur l’hypothèse erronée selon laquelle les étudiants exclus des programmes de langue anglaise se tourneront vers le système d’enseignement en français. Or, les données disponibles suggèrent le contraire. La même enquête révèle que seuls 20 % des personnes visées par ces changements opteraient pour un programme en français, tandis que près de la moitié n’envisageraient pas une telle transition. Plutôt que de s’inscrire dans un centre de formation professionnelle francophone, plusieurs ont indiqué qu’ils reporteraient leurs études, les abandonneraient, chercheraient d’autres possibilités hors du Québec ou tenteraient d’accéder au marché du travail sans qualification.
Thus, here are Anglophones who acknowledge their need for post-secondary vocational training but would choose not to pursue it at all solely if the courses were in French. It can be safely inferred that a lack of French proficiency is the primary, if not the sole, reason for this behavior.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECLINE OF FRENCH
What are the implications of this decline of French?
Earnings associated with working in English are moderately higher than the median, and dramatically higher for the average, when compared to earnings associated with working in French.
Data from the 2021 federal census show that earnings associated with working in English are moderately higher than the median, and dramatically higher for the
average, when compared to earnings associated with working in French. When English is the language of work, median employment income is $4,600 higher ($43,000 vs. $38,400), and average employment income exceeds that of individuals working in French by $15,000 ($61,800 vs. $46,640). So, more than
60 years after the start of the Quiet Revolution, working in English in Quebec in 2021 meant earning an average income more than 30% higher than that of
people working in French. This leads to high levels of English language substitution among francophones and allophones, a major contributing factor
of anglicization. Submission of Pierre Serré.
The Bloc Québécois representative on the Standing Committee on Official Languages cited this submission by Pierre Serré to reiterate that the average income of Anglophones, contrary to popular belief, is still higher than that of Francophones:
La proposition de PERT voulant dépeindre à l’aide de statistiques taillées sur mesure une communauté anglo-québécoise appauvrie ne tient pas la route, mais semble être encore appuyée par le gouvernement fédéral, y compris le bureau du Commissaire fédéral aux langues officielles. L’utilisation par PERT du revenu médian d’emploi, s’ajoutant à l’inclusion de près de 270 000 non-anglophones moins rémunérés dans ses calculs, ternit abusivement le portrait d’une collectivité qui trône toujours au sommet de la pyramide économique du Québec.
Dans son témoignage, Pierre Serré explique que le recours à la PLOP ajoute au total de la communauté historique anglophone quelque 267 000 personnes provenant en bonne partie de « milieux immigrants allophones » et ayant des revenus « largement inférieurs à la moyenne ». Leur présence statistique fait chuter le revenu médian annuel des « anglophones » de 4000 $ (11,1 %) et le revenu moyen annuel de 4130 $ (7,8 %). Le recours plus réaliste au revenu moyen et aux chiffres de la langue d’usage à la maison pour définir la collectivité anglo-québécoise que propose M. Serré offre un portrait plus réaliste de la situation où les anglophones gagnent en moyenne 6000 $ de plus par année au travail que les francophones du Québec. 18 october, 2024 dissent by the Bloc québécois representative on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Money clearly has an impact on the choice of language used. And the more a language is used, the more valuable it becomes, and the more motivated the population will be to use it. This is what is known as the network effect (effet réseau).
Comme l’explique Grin, les langues se distinguent de la plupart des autres « biens », au sens économique, d’une manière importante : « plus il y a de gens qui utilisent une langue, plus elle devient utile aux autres personnes, toutes choses étant égales par ailleurs149 ». En ce sens, les langues fonctionnent un peu comme les plateformes numériques ou les réseaux sociaux, dont l’utilité croît avec le nombre de leurs utilisateurs. Il s’agit d’une différence importante par
rapport à d’autres biens publics, comme les routes ou les transports collectifs, qui se détériorent lorsqu’on les utilise, de même que par rapport à la plupart des biens privés, qui ne peuvent pas être utilisés par plusieurs personnes en même temps. Cette propriété particulière des langues découle de ce que les économistes appellent un « effet de réseau » et influence de façon importante les choix linguistiques des individus...En raison des effets de réseau, une langue connue par un grand nombre de personnes peut s’imposer dans un domaine particulier, au détriment des autres langues moins connues. C’est ainsi que l’anglais a pu s’imposer comme langue véhiculaire dans plusieurs domaines. Par ailleurs, cette position dominante se renforce par un mécanisme simple : plus le nombre d’utilisateurs de l’anglais s’accroît, plus il devient utile de maîtriser cette langue, ce qui contribue à accroître encore plus le nombre de ses utilisateurs. Extrait de Analyse de la situation du français au Québec Recension des écrits et cadre théorique 2024 Commissaire de la langue française
The decline in the number of people using French undermines the motivation of the entire population to choose to use it; this is the reverse application of the network effect.
And French is becoming less prestigious compared to English. In the early 1960s, during the work of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (the so-called B&B Commission), sociolinguistic studies showed that both French and English speakers accorded greater prestige to English. What is worrying is that this social pressure on young people to use English persists. Thus, the Commissaire de la langue française noted in his 2024 literature review analysis (son analyse des recensions des écrits )publié en 2024 that :
Il est intéressant de noter qu’au début des années 1960, les francophones comme les anglophones évaluaient le français négativement par rapport à l’anglais, autant sur le plan du statut (l’ambition, l’intelligence, la capacité à diriger, etc.) que de la solidarité (le sens de l’humour, la bonté, la sympathie, etc.99)....Plus récemment, une étude menée auprès d’adolescents montréalais anglophones, francophones et allophones révélait des résultats similaires, en se basant à la fois sur une mesure directe (questionnaire) et une mesure indirecte (le test du locuteur masqué101). Peu importe la méthode, le statut de l’anglais était évalué plus positivement que celui du français, et ce, indépendamment de la langue maternelle des répondants.
In these circumstances is it surprising that many immigrants resist choosing French?
It should be as normal for the children of immigrants in QC to grow up to be Francophones as it is for the children of immigrants in Ontario to grow up to be Anglophones. In Canada today, this is not the case. Norman Spector: Tweet le 25 novembre,2020.. Former Secretary of the Federal Standing Committee on Federal Relations, and former Chief of Staff to Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
This decline of French has become increasingly evident to Francophones. According to a 2025 survey by Daoust et Gareau-Paquette, the proportion who recognize this decline has increased from 51% to 74% in twenty years.
And on the non-Francophone side, any decline in French (although many Anglophone groups refuse to admit that there is a decline) reinforces the following beliefs:
a) that one must respect, and not oppose, the sacrosanct market economy that explains and justifies the decline of French;
b) that it is normal to be able to live, and in fact to choose to live, entirely in English in Quebec;
We believe that all Canadians should be assured the rights and the services necessary to enable them to live and to feel at home in either official language
throughout Canada. Preamble to the constitution of Alliance Quebec, 1982.
c) that there is no obligation for a non-Francophone to master and use French;
I’ve been able to live in Montreal (for 14 years) without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal. Michael Rousseau, Air Canada, 2021.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECLINE OF FRENCH
In 1982, the lobbying group Alliance Quebec complained that the Quebec government was imposing additional requirements on graduates of English-language schools to practice certain trades or professions in Quebec. AQ, through its president Eric Maldoff, stated at the time that any lack of competence in french among students was the fault of the government, not the students.
our professionals have been subjected to French tests at the Office de la langue française, which have been a major source of concern. We cannot accept that non-francophone Quebecers trained in our schools should be singled out for "special treatment" if they wish to work in Quebec. This is alienating, to say the least. If the government considers it has failed to fulfill its obligations to ensure that al1 Quebecers graduate from our pub1ic school system with a sufficient knowledge of French, the responsibility for this failure must be borne by the government, not individuals. Extract of a letter from Eric Maldoff to René Lévesque 22 3 1982, cited by Paul Prosperi in his 1995 PhD thesis.
Our opinion? Parents who fail to do what is necessary to ensure their children acquire a true mastery of French definitely bear their share of responsibility for the decline of the French language.
But this responsibility is shared: For example, with the English-language public school system in Quebec, which, 50 years after Bill 101, continues to graduate students without a genuine mastery of French.
And with the Quebec government, which turns a blind eye to the poor French results of the English-language school system. Note: In 2024, I submitted a brief to the Quebec government outlining the necessary changes to ensure that all graduates of the English-language school system truly master French.
But the federal government also bears a significant share of the responsibility. Consider this:
- In 1982, the federal government adopted section 23 of the Charter without Quebec's consent, imposing a segregated language system in Quebec entirely funded by Quebec taxpayers. Furthermore, section 23 limits Quebec's power to intervene in the management of the English system;
- The federal government intervened in the Supreme Court in the Blaikie decision in 1984 to pressure the court into adopting, for incomprehensible reasons, an interpretation allowing parents from other parts of Canada to send their children to English-language schools in Quebec; and
- By subsidizing English-language institutions in Quebec to the tune of billions of dollars without ever requiring non-Francophones to demonstrate genuine proficiency in French.
- Historically, the federal government has presented itself as the great defender of minorities, including linguistic minorities, which is often perceived by Anglophones as federal opposition to real measures to promote French in Quebec. To take one example, the continued opposition of many Anglophones to French as a working language is partly explained by unfortunate statements made by certain federal politicians. Consider this statement: Pable Rodriguez, who in 2009, then the Liberal Party's Minister of Official Languages, declared that applying the language of work provisions of Bill 101 to federal businesses in Quebec would infringe on the rights of the English-speaking minority. It is time to take action to correct this perception.
In the next section of this submission, I propose measures within federal jurisdiction to assume its share of responsibility for the decline of French and to address its decline.
RECOMMENDATIONS
ASYMMETRY
We come here to what I call Section 23's original sin: the implicit premise of equality of circumstances of Canada's two language minorities. Equality of treatment is a core principle (a priori entirely noble) of the Charter, transposed here to language rights. However, the reader will hopefully forgive me for turning to Aristotle's well-known aphorism: “Trying to make unequal things equal is the worst form of inequality.” Simply, applying the principle of legal equality to Canada's two official language minorities is an error and contrary to the sociological facts . Mario Polese , 2022, Political options.
RECOMMENDATION 1: Our general recommendation is to adopt an asymmetric territorial approach to language: promote French in Quebec without abandoning Francophones outside Quebec.
Here are 21 other more specific recommendations:
BILINGUALISM
RECOMMENDATION 2: Abandon Statistics Canada's (SC) definition of bilingualism in Quebec. According to SC, being able to hold a short conversation in French is sufficient. However, the Official Languages Act now recognizes Bill 101, which mandates French as the official language, the language of work, the common language, and the language of integration. We must therefore promote genuine proficiency in French in Quebec, and not simply accept bilingualism as defined by SC.
FINANCING
According to a study by the Bloc Québécois, since 1995, the federal government has distributed $2.08 billion of our taxes to support English-speaking communities in Quebec under the Official Languages Act. Little to none of this money funds the promotion of French in Quebec.
We recommend modifying federal funding:
RECOMMENDATION 3:
a) to cease funding the English-speaking school system unless all its graduates acquire a genuine mastery of French; and
RECOMMENDATION 4:
b) to provide significant funding for French in Quebec, and in particular for the system of French language training for immigrants in Quebec.
IMMIGRATION
RECOMMENDATION 5: The federal government has specific objectives for Francophone immigration outside Quebec. The Official Languages Act (preamble) states that:
the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of remedying the decline in the demographic weight of French linguistic minority communities, including by restoring and increasing their demographic weight;
The federal government should also adopt Francophone immigration targets in Quebec that take into account the demographic weight of Francophones in Quebec, and that have social acceptability in Quebec, otherwise it should abandon the exercise of its powers in immigration to Quebec.
WORKING LANGUAGE
RECOMMENDATION 6:
Promote French as the working language at the federal level in Quebec. The federal government must acknowledge the limited use of French in today’s federal civil service (the Bonjour-Merci phenomena- see Anna Pellerin-Petrova in Quotes) and the linguistic fiasco in Gatineau, which is largely due to the omnipresence of English in the federal public administration.
dans la région de Gatineau, le nombre de personnes qui travaillent en français a chuté de façon prononcée par rapport au nombre de francophones. Cette chute
est liée à la situation très défavorable au français que nous observons dans l’administration publique fédérale, de même que, dans une certaine mesure, dans les autres secteurs du marché du travail. See in Études published by the Commissaire de la langue française.
We could consider reviving the French language work units model of the B&B Commission, or by simply imposing French more aggressively in the federal public administration and in federal companies in Quebec.
LEGISLATIVE REVISION
We must use federal power to promote French and remove any incentives to choose to do business and work in English in Quebec. Federal legislation must be reviewed in its entirety and amended to comply with the new objectives of the Official Languages Act. In a previous article, we examined in detail the necessary changes.
We give here some examples of legislation that is deficient in this regard.
RECOMMENDATION 7:
a) In 2020, the Bloc Québécois proposed Bill C-223 to amend federal legislation requiring sufficient knowledge of French for immigrants who are ordinarily resident in Quebec; for more information, see this 2021 summary from the Government of Canada, which states that English is largely overrepresented in language exams for citizenship in Quebec:
Le Québec a eu le taux le plus élevé de naturalisation pour la période d’analyse de 2009 à 2012 (63% comparativement à 53% en moyenne dans le reste du Canada).
Au cours de l’année financière 2018-2019, 28% (5 438) des examens administrés étaient en anglais et 42% (14 018) en français, sur un total de 19 456 examens de la citoyenneté administrés par le Ministère au Québec. À titre de référence, au cours de la même année, un total de 126 690 examens de connaissances ont été faits à travers le pays, notamment 110 612 (87%) en anglais et 16 088 (13%) en français.
Bill C-213 was never adopted. Similar legislation is needed.
RECOMMENDATION 8:
b) The federal Patent Act (BPA SC 1985 chp . P-4) grants a legal monopoly across Canada for eligible patents. Sections 27 and 42. The PA provides for the filing of documents in English or French. In practice, this means that the vast majority of applications are filed and granted in English only, but benefit from an exclusive right, power, and privilege of use, even in Quebec. The PA should be amended to provide that this exclusive right, power, and privilege of use does not apply in Quebec if the application and grant are not in French, or in both English and French.
RECOMMENDATION 9:
(c) The federal Trademarks Act (TMA) (LB SC chp. P-4) grants a legal monopoly across Canada to eligible trademarks. The TMA provides for filing documents in English or French; other languages require a translation. Section 31(1). In practice, this means that the vast majority of trademark applications are filed and granted in English only, but benefit from an exclusive right to use the trademark, with respect to those goods or services, throughout Canada, including Quebec. This has caused problems since the adoption of Bill 101 in 1977 because holders of trademarks registered only in English at the federal level systematically invoke the right to use their trademark in English only, even in Quebec. To end these conflicts, the TMA should be amended to stipulate that this exclusive right of use does not apply in Quebec if the trademark is not filed in French, or in both English and French.
RECOMMENDATION 10:
d) The Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA SC 1985 chp . C-44) provides for the filing of articles of incorporation to create a federally regulated business corporation, including the designation of its corporate name. In practice, this means that a very large number of corporate names are filed and granted in English only, but are granted the right to use them throughout Canada, including in Quebec. This has caused problems since the adoption of Bill 101 in 1977 because Bill 101 contains its own rules on corporate names. Furthermore, a corporate name is often also registered as a trademark. Holders of corporate names registered in English only at the federal level often invoke the right to use them in English only in Quebec. To put an end to these conflicts, it would be necessary to amend the LCSA to provide that this right to use a corporate name does not apply in Quebec in the absence of federal registration of the corporate name in French, or in English and French.
IMAGE OF CANADA
Revising the federal government's linguistic image in Quebec and abroad.
The Official Languages Act:
- encourages the federal government to promote Canada's bilingual character abroad (section 41(6)(c)(iii)). However, every action considered must promote progress toward equality of status and use of French and English in Canadian society, while respecting the need to promote French, given that it is a minority language in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English (section 41(6)(b)(i)).
- authorizes the federal government to enter into agreements with foreign governments recognizing Canada's bilingual identity. But every action envisaged must promote progress towards equality of status and use of French and English (s. 43 (1) (h).
This promotion of bilingualism abroad is surprising. Unlike the term multiculturalism, the term bilingualism is nowhere to be found in the Constitution or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And what does it mean to promote Canada's bilingual character or identity when we know that the language policies of the B&B Commission and Pierre Trudeau aimed at institutional, not individual, bilingualism, and only at the federal level; that the vast majority of Canadians are not bilingual; and that New Brunswick is the only province to present itself as bilingual? See Is Canada Really Bilingual ?
This promotion of bilingualism abroad is conditional on the need to protect and promote French and the equality of the two languages.
RECOMMENDATION 11:
In an environment where French is declining, we submit that it is inappropriate to promote bilingualism abroad in this way. It becomes a source of confusion for immigrants in Quebec and disregards Bill 101, which the Official Languages Act now recognizes, and which aims to integrate immigrants in French.
And it risks creating confusion for Francophone immigrants outside Quebec by raising false hopes of being able to live in French after their move. It is not surprising that Francophone immigrants outside Quebec are much more likely to move back to Quebec than non-Francophone immigrants. See Statistics Canada and see here .
RECOMMENDATION 12:
Out of respect for Bill 101, the federal government should promote the French linguistic identity of Quebec. This means ceasing to practice public bilingualism in Quebec, except for reasons that are socially acceptable in Quebec.
THE COURTS
Modifying the linguistic approach in court proceedings in 4 areas:
a) by supporting Quebec in any attempt to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider past decisions that have harmed the use of French.
Here are two examples of past decisions that are difficult to understand today:
RECOMMENDATION 13:
(i) The 1984 decision involving the Protestant School Board of Montreal (PSBGM). In this decision, the Supreme Court of Canada, for reasons that remain unclear, refused to consider section 1 of the Charter when examining the provisions on the education of English speakers in Bill 101. It has since corrected this error for other parts of Bill 101. The question now is whether to consider the Swiss precedent and conclude that a democratic society can require that newcomers to Quebec from the rest of Canada send their children to French-language schools.
RECOMMENDATION 14:
ii) the 1979 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, which required an English version not only of Quebec legislation, but also of its regulations. This decision, by the court's own admission, went beyond the text of the law;
RECOMMENDATION 15:
b) Thoroughly revise the scope of the Court Challenges Program, so that it now include 2 components:
(i) a traditional component dedicated to individual language rights, but which would be explicitly subject to the following restrictions: acknowledging the recognition by the Official Languages Act of Bill 101, and that French is a minority language in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English; and not funding lawsuits whose objective or effect would be to undermine the substantive equality of English and French in Canada, or to promote the dominant use of English in Canada or the decline of French in Canada, including in Quebec; and
ii) a component dedicated to advancing collective rights that would promote the existence of a majority Francophone community in a Quebec where the future of French is assured, and in particular to acknowledge the harmful effect of any school system in Quebec that produces graduates without a genuine mastery of French;
RECOMMENDATION 16:
(c) Considering the major role of the Civil Code in Quebec identity, I would like to offer a non-linguistic comment. In the 1990 decision in McKinney v. University of Guelph , Justice Bertha Wilson of the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that the Civil Code of Quebec is subject to the Charter to a greater extent than the common law elsewhere in Canada.
Several critics have interpreted the Court's reasons in the Dolphin Delivery decision as establishing a distinction between the common law and legislation, and as if they were implying that the common Law and disputes between individuals are linked, and legislation and disputes involving the government are linked. Having interpreted the ruling in this way, critics then pointed out that, if their view was correct, the Civil Code of Lower Canada would be subject to the Charter, but most of the common law law would not be.
This anomaly has been the subject of commentary , but 36 years later, nothing has been done to correct this situation.
What are we waiting for?
And finally:
RECOMMENDATION 17:
d) The Attorney General should, with regard to the decline of French before the courts:
(i) formally endorse the conclusions of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, which recommended recognizing the decline of French, and, barring a future change of position by the Committee, take a position before the courts that they must recognize this decline without the need to re-litigate to establish proof of this decline in every case; and
RECOMMENDATION 18:
(ii) indicate to the courts that it no longer endorses the position of the Supreme Court expressed in the Nguyen decision that the Attorney General of Quebec, in order to justify measures to promote French, has the burden of demonstrating that there is a real threat to the survival of the French language in Quebec ( paragraph 19 ) , rather than simply demonstrating that the measure in dispute would help to prevent or reverse the decline in French.
COMMISSIONER OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
RECOMMENDATION 19:
Provide clear written directives to the Commissioner of Official Languages on the priority need to protect French in Quebec, drawing on the same restrictions and objectives recommended in RECOMMENDATION 15 for the Court Challenge Program.
HOCKEY
RECOMMENDATION 20:
If there's anything that can rival French as one of Canada's fundamental characteristics, it's the sport of hockey . In this context, it's significant that the Commissioner of Official Languages endorsed a decision in 2017 authorizing the country's junior hockey team to designate English as the team language in order to quickly build team spirit.
PCH a démenti l’allégation selon laquelle l’utilisation du français était interdite.
L’institution a affirmé que ce sont les entraîneurs qui avaient décidé de désigner l’anglais comme la langue de l’équipe. La décision, qui a été approuvée par le directeur général de l’équipe, visait à bâtir rapidement un esprit d’équipe entre les 23 joueurs afin qu’ils puissent exceller sur la glace. D’après PCH, Hockey Canada a justifié sa décision comme suit : à l’instar de toutes les équipes nationales, l’équipe nationale junior du Canada est composée de joueurs des quatre coins du pays qui ne jouent pas ensemble régulièrement, et se connaissent à peine dans certains cas. PCH a affirmé que malgré la décision de désigner l’anglais comme la langue de l’équipe, aucun joueur n’avait reçu l’ordre de ne pas parler français. La décision des entraîneurs visait à accroître l’esprit d’équipe et la chimie entre les joueurs ainsi qu’à les aider à mieux se connaître et à se faire confiance, tant sur la patinoire qu’en dehors de la patinoire. Si une personne dans le groupe ne parlait pas français, les joueurs ou le personnel devaient interagir en anglais. Lors de la rencontre du 28 janvier 2018, des représentants du Commissariat et de
Sport Canada ont discuté de la décision de Hockey Canada de désigner l’anglais
comme la langue d’Équipe Canada pendant le Championnat mondial junior de 2017 de la FIHG. Sport Canada a confirmé qu’il appuie la décision de Hockey Canada compte tenu du contexte et d’autres facteurs, comme l’esprit d’équipe, le rendement, l’excellence et les résultats....À la lumière de ce qui précède, le Commissariat conclut que PCH a rempli ses obligations aux termes de la partie VII de la Loi. Par conséquent, la plainte s’avère nonfondée et aucune recommandation n’est formulée. CLO 2017 2017-1268-EI et 2017-1468-E
Nine years later, this decision still stands. It is time to act to correct this injustice. The Commissioner of Official Languages must revoke this decision.
I propose 2 solutions (there are undoubtedly others):
a) Adopt a rotation system. At regular intervals, the team's language changes from English to French, and vice versa; or
b) that Canada create two national teams, one with English as its team language and the other with French as its team language. Canada would then request that international governing bodies allow both teams to participate in competitions.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Finally, I am taking the liberty of looking outside the strict framework of a Canadian Heritage action plan, and making comments of a constitutional nature.
In the long term, I believe it would be wise to plan to amend Article 59 of the 1982 Constitution so that Article 23 of the Charter (which enshrines the English school system in Quebec in the Charter) ceases to apply to Quebec; and to amend Article 133 of the 1867 Constitution so that it ceases to apply to Quebec.
RECOMMENDATION 21:
a) Sections 23 and 59 were adopted without Quebec's consent. Under the current section 59, section 23 of the Charter applies only partially to Quebec. This is a major recognition that linguistic symmetry has its limits. Since 1982, French has been in decline, and it is time to complete this legislative work and amend the current section 59 so that section 23 of the Charter ceases to apply entirely to Quebec. Section 23 is a major obstacle to Quebec's ability to require non-Francophones not only to learn but to acquire genuine mastery of French.
RECOMMENDATION 22:
b) At Confederation in 1867, section 133 was imposed, but only in Quebec. Notably, to this day it still does not apply to Ontario. The same should be true for Quebec. This would put an end to situations where one of Quebec's greatest civil law scholars was cavalierly overruled by the Supreme Court as follows:
This argument was rejected by Baudouin J.A. in the judgment under appeal, partly on the basis that the English version of the Civil Code is [translation] “merely a translation of the original French version” (p. 1327). With respect, although what he stated is unfortunately true, it cannot be used to reject the argument made by the appellant. Section 7 of the Charter of the French language, R.S.Q., c. C-11, provides that the French and English versions of Quebec statutes “are equally authoritative”. This is in accordance with s. 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867 which requires that the statutes of the legislature of Quebec be enacted in both official languages and that both versions be equally authoritative and have the same status (see: Attorney General of Quebec v. Blaikie, [1979] 2 S.C.R. 1016; Reference re Manitoba Language Rights, [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721). Doré vs Verdun .
CONCLUSION
For me and most of the experts consulted by the Standing committee on Official Languages, the decline of French in Canada and Quebec has become undeniable. Unfortunately, many Anglophone groups in Quebec, while not denying it, refuse to acknowledge it, let alone accept the need for real measures to counteract it.
The federal government bears some responsibility for this position held by many Anglophone groups.
The refusal of many Anglophone groups also explains, at least in part, in my opinion, why, according to polls, a majority of Anglophones in Quebec still do not recognize the urgency of the situation and oppose measures to promote French, even measures like the language of work adopted 50 years ago.
It is urgent to protect the French language in Quebec. By mother tongue: Francophone: yes 85% Non-French: yes 33%
Imposing French as the working language: 82% French speakers, 32% non-French speakers.
Promoting French as the working language is discriminatory towards linguistic minorities in Quebec: By mother tongue: French speakers 18%, non-French speakers 65%.
Concerned about the situation of French: French speakers 72%, non-French speakers 39%.
Source: LANGUE DE TRAVAIL ET SITUATION DU FRANÇAIS. Sondage de Léger marketing parrainé par la Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, 2021.
In this context, this submission makes a number of recommendations that risk disrupting the status quo, particularly the opinions of many Anglophone groups in Quebec. But I ask you: how else do you plan to correct the decline of French?
I would be pleased to participate in person in the sessions taking place across the country this fall to present my submission and answer your questions.
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Marc Ryan
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BMQC Bonjour Merci Québec
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