INTRODUCTION
On October 9, 2025, the Government of Quebec tabled Bill 1, the Quebec Constitution Act, 2025, and invited public comments. We submitted our comments on November 13.
On February 12, 2026, we presented our submission to the Committee on Institutions of the Assemblée nationale du Québec.
SUMMARY
The presentation focused on several linguistic issues that are ignored by PL-1, notably the decline of French in Quebec and the poor command of French by graduates of the English-language school system.
In my presentation, I recommend:
- not including in the final text the preamble concerning English-language institutions that appears in Bill 1;
- recognizing in the final text a right to be educated in French, including adding the same right in the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and imposing corresponding obligations on the English-language school system to ensure that their graduates acquire a real proficiency in French. and
- designating the individual as the holder of the right to live in French in Bill 1, to harmonize with the text of the equivalent right in the Charter.
FULL TEXT OF THE PRESENTATION
You can find the video of our presentation here and the written text (mainly in french) here.
Marc Ryan
Author