this body in turn makes recommendations to the minister of health and social services, such as: ensuring informed consent forms are widely available in english; suggesting that anglophone residents be grouped together in french long-term care homes; or demanding that public health guidelines about covid-19 be distributed in english.
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but christopher skeete , premier françois legault’s parliamentary secretary for anglophone affairs, said the changes are aimed at making the committee more representative. for instance, laval, montérégie and the eastern townships will given more space, and members of indigenous communities will be added. the changes will also loop in the secretariat for relations with english-speaking quebecers, a body within the government responsible for anglophone affairs.
quebec’s anglophone community is already rattled over bill 96, the government’s legislation to strengthen protection for the french language. despite reassurances from legault that anglophones will not lose their rights or services, the proposed law would nevertheless put new limits on the use of english in the workplace, justice system and education.
what’s more, bill 96 seeks to unilaterally amend the constitution so that french is recognized as the sole language of the quebec nation, potentially making anglophones and other minority groups second-class citizens. it would make the charter of the french language the most important piece of legislation, taking precedence over the quebec and canadian charters of rights. the sweeping language law is also shielded from court challenges through the use of the notwithstanding clause .
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in many ways, this is arcane, bureaucratic stuff. and perhaps the government is counting on citizen apathy as it centralizes power and blunts constructive criticism. the qcgn has expressed its disappointment to health minister christian dubé. but now it’s trying to sound the alarm among members of the public .
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