In the first week of the federal election campaign, the leaders of the major political parties vying to be the next prime minister are weighing in on a sensitive issue close to the hearts of many Quebecers: language.
While it might not be the key issue for Quebec voters in this election — as the country faces threats of annexation from our southern neighbour and a trade war that could devastate the economy — it will certainly be one that many in the province will be paying attention to.
Liberal leader Mark Carney explicitly said on Friday that his government would intervene in any Supreme Court challenge to Quebec’s language, commonly known as Bill 96.
“The Liberal Party is the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and we will always defend the Charter,” he said at a campaign stop at the Port of Montreal on Friday.
“I’ve made clear that we will support the intervention at the Supreme Court and fully respect the language rights.”
On Sunday, a spokesperson for the Liberal campaign provided additional context to Carney’s comments, telling CTV News that his government would intervene because it does not agree with the Quebec government’s preemptive use of the notwithstanding clause in Bill 96.
Political analyst Daniel Béland said Carney vowing to intervene presents a risk in parts of Quebec where the Liberals want to win more seats, but said “I think it’s a calculated risk, because language is not really central to this campaign overall, or culture. The focus is really on the economy, on our relationship with the United States.”
Bill 96, which was adopted in 2022, introduced sweeping reforms to Quebec’s language law, touching everything from health and education to business signage and services for newcomers. It also limits the use of English in courts and some public services, and caps enrollment at English-language CEGEPs.
The language law reform has sparked concern and confusion among minority language groups in the province and is being challenged in the lower courts in Quebec.
A group of private citizens challenging Quebec’s Bill 96 has also called on the federal government to intervene.
Conservatives would not intervene: Poilievre
At a campaign stop in Winnipeg Saturday morning, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was asked by a reporter if his government would step in if Bill 96 reached the Supreme Court.
“We will not be contesting it. Provinces have the right to make their own laws,” he said.
The Conservatives would also promote bilingualism across the country “in all federal services and programs,” he said.
“We need more French speaking right across the country. We want to conserve our languages, our founding two languages, but in particular French, because it is our founding language. And, of course, it is always a fight to maintain it because of the enormous demographic reality in our continent.”
Béland, the director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said he is not surprised that the Liberals and Conservatives are at odds over Bill 96. Poilievre has little to no chance of stealing any seats from the Liberals in Montreal and is betting on trying to secure seats off the island in Quebec’s regions, according to Béland.
“In these areas, Bill 96 is quite popular among francophones,” he told CTV News on Saturday.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau did not say that he would intervene on Bill 96, though the federal government is intervening in the legal challenge of Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, at Canada’s top court.
There were criticisms, even within the Liberal ranks, that the federal Bill C-13, which amended the Official Languages Act, eroded some English-speaking Quebecers’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
While Carney said he believes Ottawa should intervene in a new challenge to Bill 96, he was keen to point out that he “recognizes the need to promote, strengthen and support the French language in Quebec.”
“The Liberals are betting on the fact that this campaign is really about, you know, who’s the best person to deal with Donald Trump and protect our economy,” Béland added.
“And they believe that this issue will — put unintended — trump the other issues and that language might not be that central for francophone voters in that election compared to previous elections.”
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said his government would not intervene in a Bill 96 legal challenge at Canada’s top court, the Journal de Montréal reported on Saturday.
“It’s a law that protects the French language. We think it’s important to protect the French language in Quebec, so we wouldn’t intervene [...]. There is no reason to intervene,” the newspaper quoted him as saying at a campaign stop in Ottawa.
Carney also reacted on Friday to Poilievre’s promise to defund the CBC on Friday, suggesting that doing so would hurt the French-language side of the public broadcaster, Radio-Canada.
“Let me say as well that I understand the importance of reenforcing, promoting, supporting the French language in Quebec and there are many ways we are doing that and it includes being fully committed to not just a viable but a vibrant Radio-Canada which is only possible with reforms,” Carney said.
Carney said that Poilievre’s plan would destroy Radio-Canada in addition to the English CBC.
“The fantasy of Pierre Poilievre that he can divide the baby,” he said. “He is not Solomon. Radio-Canada will not survive under his plan.”
Some Quebec politicians were not pleased with Carney’s comments about Bill 96, particularly those in the Bloc Québécois party. Leader Yves-François Blanchet said, “We need to look at Mark Carney with a more wary eye.”
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who sponsored Bill 96 at the National Assembly, said on X that “once again” the Liberal government is “attacking our language, our values and our identity” by threatening to intervene in a possible legal challenge of the law.
With files from CTV News Montreal’s Daniel J. Rowe
