Quebec interprets Bill 96 directive amid controversy over French-language presentation to parents

Quebec's education ministry says it is working to clarify guidelines for when officials can speak to the public in a language other than French.

The directives came amid protests by parents of children with special needs who were confused and upset after two ministry officials refused to give reports in English because of the province's language law.

Responding to parents' concerns Tuesday, interim Quebec Liberal Party leader Marc Tanguay said it was another negative consequence of Bill 96, the new law that updated Quebec's French language charter.

During a Zoom presentation last Thursday for English parents only, one official said of the 65 parents in the session: “I want to do it in English, but the law won't let me. We were able to translate. slides, but I don't remember being told that we can verbalize it in English.

Sara Hosseini, whose 14-year-old son, who has autism, attends an English school in Montreal, said in an interview that she was treated “discriminatively” and that she felt “ignored” by the government. He said that many of the terms used were complicated or difficult to understand and that everyone expected the oral part to be in English.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education (MEQ) told CTV News that according to the provisions of the language charter, civil servants are required to use French in an exemplary manner in written and oral communication.

While the PowerPoint slides for the scaling presentation for parents were in English, about 20 minutes of explanations of the various programs for students with special needs were in French, confusing the parents who wrote. Two special education coordinators then answered the questions in English.

The ministry said in an email that exceptions can be made in some cases, and in this case English language slides were an exception.

“A future MEQ directive currently being prepared to clarify practices will clarify the terms and conditions under which employees may use languages ​​other than the official language in such circumstances,” wrote Brian St. Louis, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education. .

CTV News has asked the ministry to determine whether the oral portion of the presentation could be given in English in the future pending the new directive, but has yet to receive a response.

Information 'must be clear': Liberals

Education Minister Bernard Drainville did not comment on the issue Tuesday, but the Liberals' interim leader did. Tanguay criticized the government's language law, saying important information about their children's welfare “must be clear”.

Quebec Liberal Party interim leader Marc Tanguay answers questions from the media on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (CTV News)

“If you have to answer these questions or give a presentation in English, I think you should do it. Because at the end of the day, it's giving our kids very important information,” he said. Press scrum in Quebec City.

“It is the part of the government to say whether the interpretation of the Language Act was correct or not. “Oh, we can't do that because of Bill 96.” If so, add to the list of very bad, bad and negative effects of Bill 96 – one of the many reasons we voted against this bad bill.

Catherine Korakakis, president of the Quebec English Parent Committee Association, was also disappointed with the way the presentation was handled. He said he had been helping to organize it for months and was confident the presentation would be entirely in English, as there had been a previous session for parents of francophone students.

According to him, the ministry should have told the coordinators from the beginning that the presentation was not allowed in English.

“The devil, as they say, is in the details. If PowerPoint is all there is and that's it, and there's no need for more information, why organize events like this? The sad part of it all is that parents don't have access to information, which makes me very sad,” he told CTV. to News.

“It's very frustrating and a lot of parents feel discriminated against and it's hard to deal with. At the end of the day, they still need access to information.”