'Making monsters of each other': Businesses fear impact of Quebec language law
BNN Bloomberg
As Quebec’s contentious language law heads closer to adoption, the province’s business community is growing increasingly anxious about what it could mean for their bottom line.
Known as Bill 96, the legislation would impose tougher language requirements on small businesses and companies in federally regulated industries, such as banking and telecommunications, as well as governments and schools. The bill is expected to pass before the legislature breaks for the summer.
On top of strengthening 1977's Charter of the French Language — the province's signature language law usually known as Bill 101 — the legislation would apply to tens of thousands of previously exempt businesses.
If it passed, companies with 25 employees or more would be subject to “francization” — government certification that use of French is generalized in the workplace — down from 50 currently. The bill also assigns new powers to the French-language watchdog and sets tighter language rules for professional orders.
