Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau has an interest in continuing his French lessons: elected officials in Quebec voted unanimously to subject companies under federal jurisdiction to Bill 101.
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The measure was adopted as part of the study of project 96, on the reform of the Charter of the French language, led by Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette.
From now on, air carriers, telecommunications companies, banks and other businesses under federal jurisdiction will no longer be able to avoid the francization process provided for by Bill 101.
“All Quebecers have the right to work in French, in their own language,” commented the minister responsible for the French language shortly following the adoption of the article in question.
Simon Jolin-Barrette ensures that these companies will not have the opportunity to choose to submit to the federal law on official languages, despite a bill from Ottawa that offers them this choice.
“It is the Quebec law that will take precedence in this case. In Quebec, in terms of language rights, Bill 101 applies, assures Mr. Jolin-Barrette. It is part of the specificities of Quebec and, in a federal state with federated entities like Quebec, it is Quebec law that must apply.
His colleague responsible for Canadian Relations, Sonia LeBel, however, recently affirmed that Ginette Petitpas Taylor’s bill would allow companies under federal jurisdiction to evade Bill 101, in favor of the Official Languages Act.
Work in French
The business francization process, which is the responsibility of the Office québécois de la langue française, provides in particular that business leaders must be able to express themselves in French, that it becomes the normal language of work and that internal communications are written in the language of Molière.
A CEO such as Michael Rousseau will therefore have to get into the habit of communicating in French during office hours. “Air Canada will be subject to the francization process, which means that all senior executives must hold meetings in French, must also have a francization process at all levels of the company,” commented Mr. Jolin. – Barrette.
25 or more employees
Early in the evening, parliamentarians also adopted an amendment that will ensure that Bill 101 will now apply to companies with 25 or more employees.
Until now, only businesses with 50 or more employees had to undergo the francization process.
