MONT-SAINT-GREGOIRE, Que. –
Coalition Avenir Quebec leader Francois Legault remained unfazed Wednesday amid renewed criticism of his language law reform from business leaders who say the legislation will make it harder to recruit talent and cause huge damage to the economy.
On Day 4 of the Quebec election campaign, the CAQ leader said the government must balance economic growth with the protection of Quebec’s language and culture.
“I think (it’s) a balanced bill and it’s important to have a balanced bill; it’s important to protect the French language, and French will always be vulnerable in North America,” Legault told reporters Wednesday during a campaign stop in Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Que., southeast of Montreal.
Nearly 160 CEOs and other senior executives of Quebec companies have signed an open letter calling for the implementation of Bill 96 to be suspended. The letter, published by the Council of Canadian Innovators, said the law “imposes an unrealistic deadline” on new immigrants to learn French and creates an additional regulatory burden on small companies.
Pierre-Philippe Lorty of the Council of Canadian Innovators said the law could prompt people interested in Quebec to look for work in other parts of the country at a time when the province is already facing a shortage of tech workers.
Bill 96, he said, risks fast-growing tech companies slowing investment, expanding offices in other provinces or hiring remote workers. “I don’t think it’s in Quebec’s favor if we only hire outside and we don’t have a human presence in Quebec to deal with the new challenges that we have, so it could potentially cause enormous damage,” he said in an interview Wednesday .
The law, passed by the Lego government in late May, extends some provisions of Quebec’s language charter to businesses with 25 or more employees. These provisions only apply to businesses with 50 or more employees. The bill also requires new immigrants to communicate with the government exclusively in French after they have been in the province for six months.
Lego said most governments provide information to newcomers in the local language, adding that immigrants can get help with translation if they need it.
For businesses, Lego said, there will be a three-year transition period. “They will have time to adjust,” he added. “It is important to have both goals: yes, to create wealth, but yes, also to protect the French language.”
First published in June with 37 signatures, the letter from the Council of Canadian Innovators has since been signed by 122 more executives. The signatories are Louis Tetu, CEO of Quebec City-based software company Coveo, which employs more than 700 people; Eric Boyko, CEO of Stingray, which owns several music television channels and more than 100 radio stations; and Antoine Amiel, CEO of eyewear retailer New Look.
Lortie said the executives support the goal of promoting the French language and want to work with the government on language training programs.
Dominic Samson, vice president of external affairs at financial data company Flinks, whose CEO signed the letter, said the bill is a “huge hurdle” for recruiting.
“Montreal is competing globally for talent, for investors, for everything,” he said in an interview Wednesday, adding that Bill 96 is “isolationist.”
Samson said his company, which employs about 200 people, has 35 open positions, adding that knowledge of software languages is more important than what languages applicants speak. Because the company is already subject to Quebec’s existing language law and is largely francophone, Samson said the additional compliance requirements will not be material for Flinks. He said he worries, however, about the effect it will have on smaller companies.
During the stop in Mont-St-Gregoire, Legault promised to limit increases in government water rates, kindergarten fees and university tuition to three percent a year. The town is in the Iberville constituency, which the party won in 2018 but then lost after its member joined the Conservatives.
Claire Samson, who was expelled from the CAQ in June 2021 after it was revealed she had donated $100 to the Conservatives under the leadership of Eric Duheim, gave the Conservatives their only seat in the legislature.
Meanwhile, the Parti Quebecois on Wednesday pledged to help Quebecers fight inflation with a temporary and targeted bonus of $1,200 for people making less than $50,000 and $750 for people making between $50,000 and $80,000 dollar.
The centre-left Solidarité Quebec pledged an additional $5.3 billion for public transit projects in the Quebec City area, while Liberal leader Dominique Anglade during a stop in Saint-Agapit, Quebec, south of Quebec City, encouraged people who say they were sexually assaulted by Win Butler, frontman of the Montreal-based band Arcade Fire, to file formal complaints.
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 31, 2022.
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