The ''Official Language Act'' of 1974 (french: Loi sur la langue officielle), also known as Bill 22, was an act of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

, commissioned by Premier

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just un ...

, which made French the sole

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. Provincial desire for the ''Official Language Act'' came after the repeal of

Bill 63 Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. It was ultimately supplanted by the ''

Charter of the French Language The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...

'' (also known as Bill 101) in 1977, which imposed French as the only language for advertising and education (with many exceptions).

The legislation was drafted in an attempt to follow the recommendations of the

Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec The Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec was established under the Union Nationale government of Jean-Jacques Bertrand on December 9, 1968. It was commissioned in response to conflicts in th ...

. The act made French the official language in a number of areas: *Language of services (must be primarily offered in French) *Language of commercial signing (the use of French was required) *Language of labour relations and business (businesses wanting to deal with the state had to apply for francization programs) *Language of instruction (English-language public school was restricted to children who had a "sufficient" knowledge of this language) *Language of legislation and justice (priority was given to French texts in case of ambiguity)

Opposition

That English was an official language in Quebec as well was declared on July 19, 1974 by

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

law faculty's most expert counsellors, disputing Bill 22. The testifiers were Dean Frank R. Scott;

John Peters Humphrey John Peters Humphrey (April 30, 1905 – March 14, 1995) was a Canadian legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate. He is most famous as the principal author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Childhood, ...

, the chief planner of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

;

Irwin Cotler Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ (born May 8, 1940) is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal gov ...

; and four additional legal teachers:

Section 1, which provides that French is 'the official language of the province of Quebec,' is misleading in that it suggests that English is not also an official language in Quebec, which it is by virtue of Section 133 of the ''
BNA Act The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of Parliament that were at the core of the constitution of Canada. Most were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and some by the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some ...
'' and the federal '' Official Languages Act''. ... No legislation in the National Assembly proclaiming French the sole official language in the province can affect these bilingual areas protected by the ''BNA Act''.

John Ciaccia John Ciaccia (March 4, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an Italian-born Canadian politician who was provincial cabinet minister from Montreal, Quebec. Ciaccia served as a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1973 to 1998, representing the M ...

and

George Springate George Philip Gregory Springate (May 12, 1938 – November 20, 2019) was a Canadian police officer, lawyer, politician, professional football player, professor, and citizenship judge. Life and career Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Walte ...

were suspended from the Liberal caucus for almost two months in 1974 for voting with the Opposition when the Robert Bourassa government passed Bill 22.

References

External links

Integral text of the Law
(French-English PDF document)

(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Quebec Nationalism Quebec provincial legislation Quebec language policy 1974 in Canadian law 1974 in Quebec Language legislation

Contents

Opposition

See also

References

External links