Key takeaways:
- English speakers say the rule will harm them and limit access to services in their language.
- Protesters took the roads of downtown Montreal on Saturday to take part in a protest against Bill 96.
The roads of downtown Montreal were flooded with protesters on Saturday as many assembled against Bill 96, the Quebec government’s proposed rule to reform its Charter of the French language.
Managed by groups representing the region’s English-speaking community, the rally aimed to send a powerful statement to the majority government that the legislation was inappropriate.
“We’re telling Premier [François] Legault and his CAQ government [that] we’re Quebecers,” stated Marlene Jennings, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network.
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“We love and support French; we want to see it saved and promoted, not on our backs, not our fundamental freedoms.”
Tabled a year ago, Bill 96 is in the final phases of passing and is anticipated to come to a vote in the National Assembly later this month.
It would make some changes to the 1977 Charter of the French Language, also known as Bill 101, by supporting the status of the French in “all spheres of society.”
Source – cbc.ca
