Élections Québec has told employees not to speak English. Does that violate Anglos' rights?

Élections Québec has told employees not to speak English. Does that violate Anglos' rights?

PQ leader says Bill 96 is 'red tape and measures that really don't have an impact'

Élections Québec employees have been directed to ask whether a voter has the right to English communication before speaking to them in English during next month's provincial election.

The agency says the directive is to comply with Quebec’s newest language law, Bill 96, which restricts who can receive communications from the government in English.

Their policy — and government resistance to sending out some bilingual election documents — has drawn criticism and consternation from Quebec’s anglophone community.

"The direction to refuse to serve 'non-historic anglophones,' and to harass them at polling stations, is disgraceful," said Andrew Caddell, the president of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy, an anglophone rights group opposed to Bill 96.

An Élections Québec spokesperson told CBC in an email that the policy to question English-speaking voters to determine if they can be addressed in English was not their decision.

"We are applying what elected officials have decided and written into the charter [of the French language]," the spokesperson said in an email.

Here’s what to expect as an anglophone when casting your ballot in Quebec’s election

The Élections Québec policy, which was communicated to its employees, directs them to speak to voters in French. If a voter addresses them — or asks to be addressed — in English, the policy says the employee must ask them either "Have you been declared eligible to get an education in English?" or "Are you a member of a Native community?"

The spokesperson said the employees will ask for no further proof if a voter responds in the affirmative. But if they say "no" to both questions, the employee must continue to speak to them in French only — and can only repeat things in French, slowly, if the person doesn’t understand.

Caddell said the policy violates Anglo Quebecers’ fundamental rights.

A judge has already determined that Élections Québec’s earlier decision to apply Bill 96 by sending out election information documents solely in French constituted a violation of those rights. Élections Québec was ordered to send out reminder documents in both official languages.

Judge orders Élections Québec to prepare voter reminder cards in French and English

But, in another move criticized by Anglo leaders, the government confirmed on Friday that it would contest that decision. The court date for the appeal will be Oct. 5, election day, which means the bilingual documents will still be sent out — for this election cycle, at least.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said if his party takes power, they would not use their resources to contest the bilingual elections documents decision in court.

To him, it was an example of how the incumbent Coalition Avenir Québec party, led by Christine Fréchette, has failed to meaningfully help French in Quebec, choosing to pass Bill 96 and focus on "red tape and measures that really don’t have an impact."

"I don't think we'll use resources and time on this one. If the pamphlet is in English, it's a fundamental right to go and vote, so I don't see the point," he said.

"The civil code is in both languages because it's a fundamental right. I think it’s the same for voting."

Matthew Lapierre is a journalist at CBC Montreal. He previously worked for the Montreal Gazette and the Globe and Mail. He can be reached at matthew.lapierre@cbc.ca and at mlapierre.07 on Signal.