In Canada, opposition to Quebec French bill mounts

Canadian indigenous people joined their voices on Monday with Anglophone companies, students and citizens in general opposed to a bill from the government of the Canadian province of Quebec that will impose a greater presence of French in all areas of the society.

This Monday, indigenous mohawkone of the main aboriginal groups in Quebec, were defiant and said they will never apply the future law, known as Bill 96, if approved by the provincial parliament, the so-called National Assembly.

Los mohawk explained in a statement that the project violates the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplesas well as the recommendations of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The controversial draft will impose the generalized use of French in companies with a minimum of 25 workers, and in sectors regulated by federal authorities, such as banks and telecommunications. In addition, will force greater use of French in secondary school and English-speaking students in technical collegesas well as allowing any individual to file lawsuits against companies deemed non-compliant.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), with 20,000 members in Quebec, He has warned that the approval of the initiative will cause serious problems in small and medium-sized companies.

According to the federation’s calculations, it will cost a company with about 50 employees between 9.5 and 24.5 million Canadian dollars (7.3 and 18.8 million US dollars) to comply with the requirements of the bill.

In a report released in October 2021CFIB noted that 65 percent of Quebec SMEs need English to conduct business and described as disastrous the repercussions that the bill will have for this type of firms.

Last May 5, Hundreds of Anglophone students from public technical colleges demonstrated in Quebec to protest against the draft law which will require them to study three courses in French in order to graduate. Meanwhile, the initiative is expected to continue its process in the National Assembly as of Tuesday, with a view to its approval in the Quebec parliament.

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