An Act to promote the French language in Quebec
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Act to promote the French language in Quebec of 1969 (French: Loi pour promouvoir la langue française au Québéc), also known as Bill 63, was a language law passed in the Canadian province of Quebec. The law was passed by the Union Nationale government because of controversy and violence that erupted when the Catholic school board of Saint Leonard, Quebec insisted that children of mostly Italian immirgants be forced to go to French schools.[1]
The law promoted French by:
- requiring that the Education ministry ensure that students graduating from English schools in Quebec have a working knowledge of French;
- French courses be made available to all students enrolled in Quebec schools;
- requiring the Education ministry to make french courses available to all immigrants entering Quebec;
- expanding the mandate of the Office québécois de la langue française.[2]
The law was passed before the resulting Gendron Commission was set up to make recommendations addressing Quebec's language issue. It fell short of the expectations of many citizens (among them many Quebec Nationalists) promoting that French become the common public language of all Quebec residents. The main critic to the law was that it maintained the system whereby all Quebec residents could send their children in schools whose language of instruction was either French or English. The opposition to the law lead to the coalition Mouvement Québec français.
In 1974, the act was superseded by the Official Language Act.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hudon, R. (2007). Bill 63. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on March 3, 2007.
- ^ Government of Quebec (1969). An Act to promote the French language in Quebec. Office québécois de la langue française. Retrieved on March 3, 2007.
