Canada high court eases French language legislation News
Canada high court eases French language legislation

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Canada [official website] Thursday unanimously upheld Quebec language legislation known as Bill 101 [text], which makes French-speaking parents send their children to francophone schools. Under the bill, parents must have received the majority of their own schooling in English to be able to have their children educated in that language. Eight families had sought to prove that Bill 101 was discriminatory in precluding their children from receiving an education in English. The court found that members of the linguistic majority have no constitutional right to an education in English, the minority language in Quebec. Lawyers for the parents say they will take their fight to the United Nations. Read the Canadian Supreme Court opinion. In a separate ruling, the court did however ease restrictions on immigrants and native-born Canadians who move to Quebec from other provinces to receive an English education. The court ruled Quebec's government must make Bill 101 comply with Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [official website] Section 23, which states children who started school in English or French anywhere in Canada, or whose parents were educated in those languages, can be educated in that language. Bill 101 had precluded English-speakers from other provinces from continuing an English education in Quebec. Read the opinion. CTV has local coverage.