Office québécois de la langue française

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The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) (Quebec Office of the French language) was established on March 24, 1961 along with the Quebec ministry of Cultural affairs. 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 (Higher Council of the French Language).

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History

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 Quebec National Assembly 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. In 2004, the organisation had a yearly budget of $17.8 million.

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Mandate

This governmental institution has the following mandate:

  • To define and apply Quebec's policy pertaining to linguistic officialization, terminology and francization of public administration and businesses;
  • To provide support so that French is the usual and normal language of work, communications, trade and businesses in the Administration and companies;
  • To help to define and elaborate the francization programs of the law and to follow the application of it;
  • To supervise the evolution of the linguistic situation in Quebec and submit a report on it every five years to the minister;
  • To ensure the respect of the Charter of the French language, acting on its own initiative or following the reception of complaints;
  • To establish the research programs necessary to the application of the law and to carry out or have carried out the studies needed by these programs.
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Powers

In order to carry out these responsibilities, the office has the powers to:

  • Take the appropriate measures to insure the promotion of French.
  • Assist and inform the Administration, the businesses, individuals and groups concerning the correction and enrichment of the French language.
  • Receive observations and suggestions on the quality of the language as on the difficulties of application of this law, and to submit a report to the minister on it.
  • Fine business firms that only use English language in instructions, business signs, and advertisements in Quebec.
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Services

Following its mandates, the OQLF offers the following services to the population of Quebec:

  • Terminological and linguistic opinions;
  • Online linguistic resources such as the Grand dictionnaire terminologique and the Banque de dépannage linguistique;
  • Francization counselling
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Negative perception

The OQLF was created by the sovereigntist Parti Québécois government as a way to promote the normal use of the French language in Quebec (the only North American jurisdiction with a francophone majority). The OQLF is also one of the most visible manifestation's of Quebec's tense linguistic situation and language laws, which have, at times, been extremely oppressive toward the province's anglophones (at one point, all but banning English in all commercial and government activity. Those laws were later relaxed).

There is a lot of animosity towards the OQLF from English Canadians, and specifically Anglo-Quebeckers, many of whom feel strongly that, as citizens of Canada they are being discriminated against in their own country.

The OQLF is sometimes referred to as "The Tongue Troopers" among English-speaking Canadians. The term "Language Police" was first popularized by the American show 60 Minutes, which ran an investigative report on Quebec language laws. Legally, the organization has no police power, although they may impose fines or 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 majority of the customers (who speak French). Generally, businesses opt to cater to francophone customers, as they constitute roughly 80% of the province's population.

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.

Quebec's language policy is often viewed as a product of xenophobic tendency of rural quebecers and is also accused of its discriminating intention. In 1993 the United Nations Human Rights Committee agreed that Quebec's language policy is a discriminating language policy. The language policy is also unconstitutional to Canadian constitution, which defined an individual's right to choose which language to use.

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Today

Originally, Bill 101 required that all commercial signage be in French and no other language. A 1988 court ruling determined this was unconstitutional. After massive protests in support of the legislation, the Bourassa Government invoked the Notwithstanding Clause, allowing the laws to remain static for a period of 5 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 Forget v. Quebec.

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See also

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External links

fr:Office québécois de la langue française

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