Brent Tyler ... We are challenging the provisions of the Charter of the French Language that impose the markedly predominant or joint use of French in commercial communications on the grounds that they infringe the right to freedom of expression and the right to equality, specifically the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of language. In a challenge to the constitutional validity of legislation, once a citizen has proven the infringement of a guaranteed right, the government must prove that the infringement is reasonable and justified in a free and democratic society. At the heart of the debate is the issue of the vulnerability of the French language in Quebec. Our expert Calvin Veltman testified to the effect that the only negative trend regarding French is the decline in the relative weight of francophones expressed as a percentage of the total population of the island of Montreal. All other trends are either neutral or favourable to French. A finding of vulnerability based solely on the negative trend on the island of Montreal is bogus for a number of reasons. Firstly, in terms of absolute numbers, the francophone population of the island Montreal will continue to increase notwithstanding the decline in relative weight. Secondly, the decline in relative weight on the island is due to two factors: the tendency of young francophones to move to the suburbs and the choice of most immigrants to settle on the island. Thirdly, according to the science of demolinguistics, the island of Montreal is a geographical construct. The proper unit of analysis is the metropolitan region of Montreal, where all trends are positive in favour of French. Our expert also testified that there is no rational connection between the language of signs and Web sites on the one hand and the demographic factors relating to the vulnerability or vitality of a language, such as birth rate, death rate, internal migration, immigration and linguistic transfers, on the other hand. People do not procreate, die, move or decide to speak another language because of the influence of the language of signs or Web sites. Thus, even if the vulnerability of French is assumed, any legislative manipulation of the visage linguistique of the province infringes rights for no discernible purpose and cannot be saved. Please spread the word that this important judgment is coming down.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 22:54:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015