Charter of the French Language
The Charter of the French Language (La
charte de la langue française, in French),
also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, is a law
in the province of Quebec in Canada defining
French, the language of the majority of the
population, as the only official language of
Quebec and framing fundamental language
rights of all Quebecers. It is the central legis-
lative piece in Quebec’s language policy.
Proposed by Camille Laurin, the Minister
of Cultural Development under the first Parti
Québécois government of Premier René
Lévesque, it was passed by the National
Assembly, and granted Royal Assent by Lieu-
tenant Governor Hugues Lapointe on August
26, 1977. The Charter’s provisions expanded
upon the 1974 Official Language Act (Bill
22), which was enacted under Premier
Robert Bourassa’s Liberal government to
make French the sole official language of
Quebec. Prior to 1974, Quebec had no official
language and was subject only to the require-
ments on the use of English and French con-
tained in Article 133 of the British North
America Act, 1867. [1]
Objective
The preamble of the Charter states that the
National Assembly resolved "to make of
French the language of Government and the
Law, as well as the normal and everyday lan-
guage of work, instruction, communication,
commerce and business". It also states that
the National Assembly is to pursue this ob-
jective "in a spirit of fairness and open-
mindedness, respectful of the institutions of
the English-speaking community of Quebec,
and respectful of the ethnic minorities, whose
valuable contribution to the development of
Quebec it readily acknowledges". In addition,
it states that the National Assembly of Que-
bec recognizes "the right of the Amerinds
and the Inuit of Quebec, the first inhabitants
of this land, to preserve and develop their
original language and culture".[2]
Titles
The Charter of the French language consists
of six titles and two schedules.
The nine chapters of Title I, pertaining to
the status of the French language, declare
Fren