Famous Cases.

• Date: 01 November 2019
• Author: Bowal, Peter

Charter of the French Language: Quebec v Blaikie

A recent LawNow article outlined the constitutional history and framework of bilingualism in Canada. In this article, we focus on Quebec's 1977 Charter of the French Language, popularly known as Bill 101.

This legislation raised the question of whether a provincial government could broadly regulate language across its jurisdiction, namely to mandate one official language. Here we describe the decision in Quebec (AG) v Blaikie (No 1), the first of several court decisions that addressed whether Bill 101 aligned with Canada's Constitution Act, 1867.

Background

In the decades leading up to the 1970s, the relationship between Quebec's French and English-speaking communities became more and more strained. When the Parti Québécois won in 1976, the long-standing language conflict reached a tense and pivotal point. Under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque, the new provincial government was determined to make Quebec a sovereign state. Bill 101 was a crucial first step towards this goal. In 1977, Bill 101 declared French to be the official language of Quebec and restricted the use of English in the public sector (courts, civil service and schools) as well as the private sector (shops and workplaces).

Legal Concerns and Arguments

In 1979, three Quebec lawyers--Peter Blaikie, Roland Durand and Yoine Goldstein --challenged the part...