Court rules out language law

Press, 20 December 1988, Page 43

Court rules out language law

NZPA-Reuter Toronto A Supreme Court decision striking down Quebec’s French-only sign law will probably revive the decade-old linguistic tensions that once tempted the province to separate from Canada. The ruling provides fuel for the separatist Parti Quebecois (P. 0. which introduced the law in 1977 when in Government to preserve French culture in an English-dominated continent.

The Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that invalidated sections of ‘‘Bill 101” for contravening Quebec’s charter of rights guaranteeing freedom of expression. The ruling means Quebec still can order the use of French in signs, but not by banning the use of all other languages. Quebec’s Liberal Premier, Mr Robert Bourassa, has little choice but to retain some language restrictions in an attempt to keep social peace with a provincial election due next year.

A policy allowing bilingual signs would create a furore among nationalists, rekindle the embers of the independence movement and provide some support for the opposition P.Q.

Several stores bearing English signs were firebombed and spray painted after the lower court rulings. A compromise policy expected to be announced soon will probably not please nationalists opposed to bilingualism or Anglophones opposed to French unilingualism. During a previous term inoffice, Mr Bourassa was the architect in 1974 of a law that designated Quebec a French province in requiring French on all signs, but allowing other languages as well. The weakness of the law was considered the main reason for the Liberals’ defeat by the P.Q. in 1976.