Eltern hatten schließlich das Recht, eine Präsentation auf Englisch zu erhalten: Bildungsministerium von Quebec

> English-speaking parents of children with learning difficulties who were denied an English information session last week were entitled to have the presentation in a language other than French, Quebec’s Education Ministry says. … a spokesperson for the Education Ministry said in an email to CBC News that in exceptional situations, the Charter of the French Language allows government officials to communicate in a language other than French — Quebec’s official language. Calling the incident “a mistake,” Education Minister Bernard Drainville told reporters Thursday that presentation should have been delivered in English. “The rules were misunderstood,” he said.

Better late than never. The Minister gives permission for these education ministry employees to speak English on the job two days after the English seminar.

But the law or rules weren’t misunderstood. They were understood quite well. The law absolutely forbids government employees from speaking English unless they check that all the people they speak to (there were 48 at this meeting) are eligeable to get service in English. They’d be breaking the law if they didn’t have proof that everyone at the seminar were one of the following:

– Persons who communicated solely in English with the civil administration prior to May 13, 2021
– Persons declared eligible to receive instruction in English
– The Indigenous peoples
– Immigrants (for the first six months following their arrival)
– outside Québec https://www.quebec.ca/en/government/policies-orientations/french-language/modernization-charter-french-language#c214022

It’s not practical for government employees to do that, so they needed direct approval from Education Minister Drainville to give the presentation in English. Only the provincial Cabinet Ministers can make exceptions that are not written into the law.

Below are the pertinent sections of the law:

> 13.1. The civil administration shall, in an exemplary manner, use the French language … In the same manner, the civil administration shall take the means necessary to make sure it fulfils the obligations incumbent on it under this Act …

> 13.2. For the purposes of section 13.1, an agency of the civil administration uses the French language in an exemplary manner if, in all its activities … it uses exclusively that language in its oral communications, except a) in the sole cases where, under the provisions of this division, it has the option to use a language other than French when writing;(b) in a case where, following a person’s oral request to be addressed by the agency in a language other than French, the agency wishes to obtain from the person the information necessary to determine whether it has, under this division, the option to communicate with the person in that other language; https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/c-11

> 16 …. The Government may, however, determine by regulation the cases, conditions or circumstances in which another language may be used in addition to the official language.