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The prevailing view in Quebecs English-speaking community is that the Trudeau Liberal government has thrown us under the bus with Bill C-13, the federal language law passed Monday in the House of Commons and set for probable Senate approval and royal assent next month.

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A closer examination, I would suggest, shows it was the Conservative Party of Canada that threw us there. And that with C-13, the Liberals pulled us back out.

Many people working on language files within the federal government in 2020, as I was with the Commissioner of Official Languages, could see trouble coming for English and anglophones in Quebec with the election of Erin OToole as Conservative leader.

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OToole wasnt breaking new policy ground; the Bloc Qubcois and New Democratic Party were already in favour of a jurisdiction transfer. What OTooles pledge did mean, though, was that all three opposition parties in the House were now on board. And any opposition member of Parliament could table a private members bill to facilitate the transfer, and the minority Liberal government wouldnt have enough votes to stop it.

Politically, the Liberals had to come up with a response, and it arrived in the form of C-13, tabled in March of last year. This was 10 months after the Quebec government tabled Bill 96 and began to forcefully assert a claim to jurisdiction over the federal private sector in Quebec.

C-13 has two parts to it. Part 1 is a proposed modernization of the OLA. Part 2 proposes a separate affirmative-action law, the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (UFA), that would apply in Quebec as well as outside Quebec in regions with strong local francophone populations.

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If C-13 gets royal assent without Senate changes, the UFA would create a right for consumers to be served in French, and for employees to work in French, without equal legal rights for English. On the other hand, employers would have the option to offer services in English and communicate with employees in English.

Notable, though, is that the provision permitting the use of English was left untouched. And Quebec conceded the federal government has the right to exempt any company from any provision of the UFA with or without conditions.

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French essential; English optional but not prohibited.

Its fine to legally require French on signs but not English, said the court. But English should be an option, so long as French is predominant.

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As for Part 1 of C-13, the modernization of the OLA, three explicit references to the charter have sparked concerns.

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That Jan. 31 vote was close, though. It was defeated by a 6-5 margin in committee. All four Conservatives, now under leader Pierre Poilievre, voted with the Bloc. The one NDP MP Niki Ashton voted with the five Liberals.

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First under OToole and again under Poilievre, the Conservatives showed no hesitation about throwing English and Quebec anglophones under the bus. Under challenging political circumstances, the Liberals with C-13 have made some real gains for French in Quebec and some real protections for English too. They deserve more credit than they are getting.

David Johnston was the federal Commissioner of Official Languages regional representative in Quebec from 2014 to 2022. He previously worked for 33 years for the Montreal Gazette, concluding as editorial-page editor.

See the article here:
Opinion: Who threw Quebec anglos under the bus? Not Trudeau's Liberals - Montreal Gazette