Appointment of Benoît Dubreuil shows government is serious about the precarious situation of French in Quebec, Jean-François Roberge said.
QUEBEC — The National Assembly has named Quebec’s first Commissioner of the French language.
Continuing to enact elements of Bill 96, the government’s overhaul of the French Language Charter, MNAs Wednesday voted in favour of naming Benoît Dubreuil to the post. His term is seven years. He starts the job March 1.
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The vote followed several months of negotiations and manoeuvring by the various parties. Premier François Legault, who pitched Dubreuil’s candidacy, failed to get him named before Christmas when Québec solidaire announced it had doubts he was the right person.
They said his views on immigration were not those of QS. Dubreuil is the co-author along with Guillaume Marois of a 2011 book, Le remède imaginaire — Pourquoi l’immigration ne sauvera pas le Québec.
The nomination required a two-thirds vote of MNAs.
QS changed its view last Thursday. QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois announced that, after having met Dubreuil in person, they decided he was the right person for the job.
But on Friday, Quebec’s Liberals decided they did not want Dubreuil. Interim Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay said the Liberals and Dubreuil had divergent visions.
Even if the Coalition Avenir Québec government had enough seats in the legislature to put Dubreuil in place on its own, it preferred to get the support of at least one opposition party given the independent nature of the job. The CAQ got the support of QS and the Parti Québécois opposition parties and that of former Liberal, now independent MNA, Marie-Claude Nichols.
The final vote was 95 in favour, 17 (all Liberals) against.
The Liberals language critic, Madwa-Bika Cadet, however, criticized the decision. She said Dubreuil was named “despite his questionable writings on immigrants’ mastery of the French language.”
Cadet also said the Liberals were “dumbfounded,” to see QS vote along with the CAQ Wednesday on a motion stating the language spoken at home by Quebecers is a “relevant indicator” for measuring the vitality of the French language. Dubreuil uses the indicator as part of the scientific basis of his well-known book.
“The Quebec Liberal Party believes that the use of French in the public sphere is in fact the leading indicator of the vitality of the French language in Quebec,” Cadet said. “It is unfair to send immigrants the message that unless they give up speaking their mother tongues in their own homes, they are contributing to undermining French in Quebec.”
The Liberals says Dubreuil in his book also calls into question the sense of belonging of immigrants which is also hurtful.
“He has questioned the political and democratic behaviour of immigrant persons,” the Liberals said in an earlier statement in announcing they could not support his candidacy.
But Jean-François Roberge, the minister responsible for the French language, welcomed the appointment of Dubreuil.
“It’s an excellent appointment,” Roberge said in a statement. “The French language commissioner will play the role of a guardian of the sustainability of language in Quebec. He will supervise the evolution of the linguistic situation on our territory.”
He said Dubreuil will have all the “necessary latitude to conduct the verifications and investigations he judges useful,” on top of making recommendations to the government and the minister.
“It’s another act taken by the government showing it is serious about taking action on the precarious situation of the future French in Quebec.”
C'est fait! L'@AssnatQc a nommé le tout premier commissaire à la langue française.
— Jean-F. Roberge (@jfrobergeQc) February 8, 2023
Ce geste démontre le sérieux que le gouvernement accorde à la situation précaire et à l’avenir du français au Québec.
Je félicite M. Benoit Dubreuil et j’ai hâte de le voir à l’œuvre. #polqc
It is the CAQ government’s latest language move in its bid to shore up French. At a party caucus meeting in Laval two weeks ago, Roberge announced the creation of an action group on the future of French.
Included in Bill 96, the French language commissioner is to act as an independent watchdog. The commissioner has the job of “monitoring the progression of the language situation in Quebec,” with a focus on the learning of French by new arrivals.
Dubreuil has the power to investigate complaints and can intervene legally for the defence of French.
A philosopher and author, Dubreuil holds a PhD from l’Université libre de Bruxelles. He currently works as the regional director general of operations of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which advises the government on climate change.
He has also worked as director of strategic services and intergovernmental affairs at Indigenous Services Canada and as a manager at the Ministry of Defence.
He is fluent in French, English and German.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, Dubreuil, 44, said he is looking forward to the challenge of creating what is an entirely new role in Quebec society.
“I accept this new challenge bolstered by the experience I have acquired in the last 20 years in the university world and working for the governments of Quebec and Canada,” he said. “Those who know me know that I am bringing my passion for the French language, that I have taken to heart since forever the defence and the flourishing (of the language) in North America.
“I will now have the honour of devoting all my energy to this cause.”
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Timeline: When various parts of Quebec's Bill 96 will get implemented
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CAQ government creates action group on future of French in Quebec
