A Quebec civil court judge has ruled that Ãlections Québec’s decision to send voting information documents only in French would violate the voting rights of English-speaking individuals in the province. Judge Sylvain Lussier has ordered Ãlections Québec to prepare election reminder cards in both English and French, in a judgment issued on Wednesday.
The agency had initially announced that it would only mail French-language documents for the upcoming general election to comply with Quebec’s language laws. However, Judge Lussier stated that informing English-speaking voters in their language does not restrict the status of French.
The court was requested to grant a provisional interlocutory injunction to exempt Ãlections Québec from a section of Quebec’s Charter of the French Language, which designates French as the sole communication language for public institutions. Judge Lussier partially accepted the injunction for a 10-day period.
The plaintiff in the case, Geoffrey Chambers, a former president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, argued against the French-only communication policy. The court acknowledged the logistical challenges of producing English versions of all election documents at this stage but mandated Ãlections Québec to prepare and mail the reminder cards in English.
The reminder cards will contain information about candidates in the voter’s riding and details on voting locations and times. While the court’s ruling only covers the preparation of reminder cards, a separate legal process will be required to mandate the mailing of these documents, as the 10-day injunction period does not align with the mailing schedule.
Judge Lussier emphasized the importance of providing comprehensible information to anglophone seniors to ensure their right to vote is not compromised, citing a recent election incident in Terrebonne as an example. The judgment questioned whether the English-speaking community should be urgently deprived of receiving election information in English.
In response to the controversy, Premier Christine Fréchette stated that English-speaking voters could access necessary information online and that their rights were being respected. However, the court expressed doubts about the adequacy of these alternatives for all Anglophones in Quebec to access essential voting information.
Ãlections Québec previously noted that voters falling under exemptions in the Charter of the French Language could access information in English through the agency’s website or by contacting them.
