| Office québécois de la langue française |
|
|---|---|
| The OQLF's main office, located in the old building of the École des Beaux-Arts on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal. | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | March 24, 1961 |
| Jurisdiction | Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine du Québec |
| Headquarters | 125, rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, Quebec |
| Annual budget | $19.0 million CAD (2007-2008)[1] |
| Minister responsible | Christine St-Pierre |
| Agency executive | Louise Marchand, CEO |
| Child agency | Commission de toponymie du Québec |
| Website | |
| [1] | |
The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) (English: Quebec Board of the French Language) is a public organization established on March 24, 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage. Attached to the Quebec ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities, its initial mission, defined in its report of April 1, 1964 was "to align on international French, promote good Canadianisms and fight Anglicisms, [...] work on the normalization of the language in Québec and support State intervention to carry out a global language policy that would consider notably the importance of socio-economic motivations in making French the priority language in Québec."[2]
Its mandate was enlarged by the 1977 Charter of the French Language, which also established two other organizations: the Commission de toponymie (Commission of Toponymy) and the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (Superior Council of the French Language).
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The Office was originally named Office de la langue française (OLF), and is still occasionally referred to as such. The OLF was renamed OQLF pursuant to the adoption of Bill 104 by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 12, 2003, which also merged the OLF with the Commission de protection de la langue française (Commission of protection of the French language) and part of the Conseil supérieur de la langue française.
The creation of a "Board of the French language" was one of the recommendations of the Tremblay Royal Commission of Inquiry on Constitutional Problems which published its five-volume report in 1956.[2] Such an institution was part of the list of 46 vows formulated by the Second Congress on the French Language in Canada held in Quebec City in 1937.
Sections 159 to 164 of the Québec Charter of the French Language defines the mission and powers of the commission.:[3]
In 2004, the organization had a yearly budget of $17.8 million. In 2005-2006, the budget rose to $18.5 million[4] and in 2007-2008 to $19.0 million.[1]
In March 2011, the OQLF's eight members, appointed by the government for a maximum of five years, were:[5]
Following its mandates, the OQLF offers the following services to the population of Quebec:[6]
Many distinctions are given by the OQLF to reward persons and organizations contributing to keeping French alive. They are given as part of the Grand gala des Mérites du français which occurs each year, usually in March during the FrancoFête.
The OQLF rewards outstanding francization efforts by persons and organizations. For over 20 years, it has been awarding the Mérites du français au travail et dans le commerce (French Merits at work and in commerce).[7]
Since 1998, it awards the Mérites du français dans les technologies de l’information (French Merits in information technologies).[8]
Since 1999, in collabration with the Union des artistes (UDA), the Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ) and the Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC), the OQLF awards the Mérites du français dans la culture (French Merits in culture).
Since 1999, supplanting the former Mérite de la langue française (French language Merit), it awards the Prix Camille-Laurin to underline a person's effort in promoting the usefulness of quality of French in his/her social milieu.
Since 2005, in collaboration with the Association Québec-France and the Mouvement national des Québécoises et des Québécois, it awards the Prix littéraire Québec-France/Marie-Claire-Blais to a French writer for his or her first work.
In collaboration with Québec Ministry of Immigration, it awards the Mérites en francisation des nouveaux arrivants (Merits in Francization of new immigrants). One is for a "non-francophone immigrant person", another for a "person working in the field on francization of immigrants", a "Community of institutional partner of francization", and a "business".[9]
The president of the OQLF presides the Jury of the Dictée des Amériques (Dictée of the Americas), an international competition of French spelling created by Télé-Québec in 1994.[10]
Quebec citizens who believe their right as consumers "to be informed and served in French"[11] is not being respected can file a complaint to the OQLF which is responsible for processing these complaints.
Contrary to a common misrepresentation, the Office does not process anonymous complaints. As per Section 168 of the Charter, the complaint must be written and contain the identity of the complainant.[12] The Office does however ensure privacy of information as per the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information. Also, the OQLF does not have the power to send an agent unless it has received a complaint. Doing so would require a vote by the members of the OQLF.
The statistics compiled by the OQLF for 2005–2006 reveal that some 1306 complainants filed 3652 complaints. 1078 (29.5%) complaints were from the region of Montreal, 883 (24.2%) from the region of Outaouais, 386 (10.6%) from Montérégie.[13]
Breaching of Section 51, the language of products (labelling, packaging, instructions manuals, directions, warranty certificates) (article 51) amounted to 43.0% of the total. 13.8% were for breaches of Section 52, language of catalogues, pamphlets, business directories, and 9.6% were for breaches of Sections 2 and 5, the language of service.[13]
Between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006, the OQLF closed 2899 complaints. There were 797 resolved cases, 523 unfounded complaints, 430 where the product was ultimately retracted from the market, 199 complaints found to be out of order, 183 cases of translated products. For the year 2006, there were 127 infractions ranging from $250 to $5000.[14]
The OQLF was created to promote the everyday use of the French language in Quebec. The OQLF is also one of the most visible manifestations of Quebec's tense linguistic situation and language laws, which, prior to 1988, was responsible for enforcing a regulation whereby French was the only language authorized on outdoor commercial signage.
The term "language police" was possibly first used by the American television show 60 Minutes,[15] which ran an investigative report on Quebec language laws. Legally, the organization has no police power, although they may impose fines or, in extraordinary situations, shut down businesses. In the majority of the cases, the office will convince businesses that it is in their own financial interests to respect the francophone customers, as they constitute roughly 80% of the province's population.[16]
However, there have been cases where businesses have been fined and even shut down for violating these laws. According to the statistics of the OQLF, 95% of all complaints by citizens which are judged to be valid are resolved without resorting to legal sanction. In an average year, the OQLF receives between 3000 and 4000 complaints from citizens. Forty to fifty percent of these complaints have to do with commercial products for which there is no available French manual or packaging, 25% have to do with signage in stores, 10% with websites and 5% with the language of service.[17]
Originally, Bill 101 required that all commercial signage be in French and no other language. In 1988 Ford v. Quebec the Supreme Court of Canada ruled this was unconstitutional. After massive protests in support of the legislation, the Bourassa Government invoked section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, allowing the laws to remain static for a period of five years, after which they would be reviewed. In 1993, the United Nations ruled that it was outside of the government's jurisdiction to limit freedom of expression in this particular way. Also in 1993, but not due to the UN ruling, Quebec reviewed the law and modified its language regulations to require that French be markedly predominant on exterior business signs, as suggested by the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the case of Ford v. Quebec.