DCHP-3

Charter of the French Language

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — Law, French relations

a 1977 Quebec law that defines French as the sole official language in the province. Also known as Bill 101.

Type: 1. Origin — When passed by the Quebec provincial government, Bill 101 became the Charter of the French Language, which has been amended, as a result of legal challenges (see the quotations), a number of times. See the Word Story under Bill 101 for details.
See also the Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Bill 101", "Bill 101 Case", "Bill 178", and "Québec Language Policy".

Quotations

1977
Children of English-speaking parents moving to Quebec after the passing of the Charter of the French Language will still be unable to attend English-language publicly supported schools under a revised language law given first reading in the National Assembly yesterday.
1977
The Part Quebecois Government's Charter on the French Language in Quebec was introduced in the National Assembly yesterday.
1983
Like the bloody ghost of murdered Banquo at Macbeth's feast, the English language reappears, spoiling the peace of the Quebec Government, refusing to lie buried. English, formally sanctioned as an official language of the Quebec Legislature and courts by Section 133 of the Constitution, was officially killed by Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language. But that section of the bill was found unconstitutional in the courts of Quebec and, ultimately, in the Supreme Court of Canada.
1988
In its unanimous decision, the high court ruled the Quebec legislature violated the province's human rights charter by prohibiting signs in languages other than French when it adopted Bill 101 - the Charter of the French Language.
1993
The Charter of the French Language, better known as Law 101, won effusive praise from some quarters and outraged derision from others. It reaffirmed and strengthened the educational provisions of Bill 22, but where it raised the most controversy was in banning the use of languages other than French on almost all commercial signs.
1998
Quebec's Charter of the French Language was created by the Parti Quebecois 22 years ago as the legal framework to protect the French language in Quebec. Under its rules, the Quebec government provides funding for English-language schools, but only for children who have at least one parent who was educated in English, within Canada. Everyone else must go to school in French.
2003
The language of signs has been a matter of controversy in Quebec since the Parti Quebecois government of the time set up the Charter of the French Language in 1977.
2008
This case revolves around Bill 104, Quebec legislation in effect since 2002. This law added further restrictions to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, eliminating the right of parents to gain access to English schools for their children by first enrolling them in private, unsubsidized English schools.
2013
Under the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101), the English language was not (and is still not) seen by policy-makers as a factor leading to discrimination in employment in the same way that race, sex or mother tongue other than English or French have historically been perceived and acknowledged.

References