A group of Montreal lawyers is preparing to file legal action against the Quebec Government in the coming days over French-only election mailouts containing details on how and where to vote. Élections Québec said Tuesday the move was a result of Quebec’s language law, Bill 96, but said it had sought an exemption that would allow it to continue sending documents to voters in English and French. Quebec’s Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, and the Commissioner of the French Language, Benoît Dubreuil, denied the request. Eric Maldoff, one of the lawyers drafting the legal challenge, told CTV News that the move is impeding the right of English-speaking voters to access information needed to exercise their right to vote. “There’s nothing in the law that permits them to do what they’re doing,” Maldoff said. “I don’t think the Charter of the French Language creates an override of the fundamental right to vote, and nothing in the right to vote is subject to or conditioned upon these types of arbitrary conditions being written, particularly when the condition here is with respect to access to information in one of the two official languages of the courts and legislature.” The election documents will include a QR code that English-speaking voters can scan to access information in English, but Maldoff says this is not sufficient. “What the government is doing is saying if you want to get this in English, you have to go through some other hurdles to get access to that,” he said. “Furthermore, the form of access, aside from the impedamment being added of people having to go and do things to exercise their right beyond what other people have to do, people who may not be agile with Electronic devices may find that the QR code does not give them access at all because they don’t know how to use it or can’t see it for any other number of reasons.” The French Language Commissioner told CTV News in an email on Tuesday that while the Charter and its regulations provide for certain exceptions, Élections Québec is subject to the language law. “However, these exceptions do not permit the systematic dissemination of communications in a language other than French,” the statement said. Roberge’s office said in a statement Wednesday that since French is the official language of Quebec, Élections Québec should “fulfill its duty to set an example.” “The protection of the French language depends first and foremost on its vitality—and therefore on its widespread use throughout society,” the statement reads. Roberge wrote that Quebecers eligible for English-language education, as well as members of First Nations, will still be able to receive information in English “upon request.” “This strikes a fair balance that respects the linguistic and democratic rights of these individuals without contravening our objectives of defending our national language or the spirit of the French Language Charter, as amended by our major reform of 2022.” Québec Premier Christine Fréchette said she is in discussions with Élections Québec to determine the next steps. However, the agency said it is too late to change the unilingual French documents it is mailing to voters ahead of the election. This will be the first time in a provincial election that voting information will be available in French only. Maldoff said the lawyers are confident in their case. “This is about the right to vote. This is a very fundamental right. Democracy doesn’t work if you can’t vote, or if you say certain people aren’t qualified to vote or we will put them through obstacles,” Maldoff said. “I think that this is very unacceptable and I think it will be found to be unacceptable to the court.”
