Quebec clarifying Bill 96 directives amid uproar over French-only presentation for parents
CTV
Quebec's education ministry says it is working on clarifying directives on when officials can communicate with the public in a language other than French.
Quebec's education ministry says it is working on clarifying directives on when officials can communicate with the public in a language other than French.
The directives come amid an uproar from parents of special needs children who were left confused and upset because two ministry officials refused to deliver a presentation in English due to the province's language law.
Reacting to the parents' concerns on Tuesday, Interim Quebec Liberal Party leader Marc Tanguay said this was yet another negative consequence of Bill 96, the new law that revamped Quebec's Charter of the French language.
During a Zoom presentation last Thursday organized exclusively for English parents, one of the officials told about 65 parents participating in the session that, "I would like to do it in English, but the law will not allow me to. We were able to translate the slides but I don't recall being told that we could verbalize it in English. It doesn't bring me pleasure to do this but we aren't allowed to give the presentation in English."
Sara Hossaini, whose 14-year-old son with autism attends an English school in Montreal, said in an interview that the way she was treated was "discriminatory" and that she felt "ignored" by the government. She said many of the terms used were complex or difficult to understand and that everyone was expecting the oral part to be in English.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education (MEQ) told CTV News that under provisions of the language charter, government officials have a duty to use French in an exemplary manner in written and oral communications.
While the PowerPoint slides of the Zoom presentation for the parents were in English, the approximately 20-minute explanation of the various programs available for special needs students was all in French, which led to confusion for the parents who signed up. The two special education coordinators later answered questions in English.
