Bill 101 is fine as is, Quebec culture minister says

There is no need to reinforce Quebec's language law, known as Bill 101, said the province's culture minister despite reports that several Montreal businesses are willing to hire unilingual anglophones.

An undercover investigation by the Journal de Montral this week revealed several stores and businesses in downtown Montreal were ready to hire a reporter posing as a unilingual anglophone looking for work.

According to published reports in the newspaper, the reporter was offered jobs in different stores and businesses even though she claimed she couldn't speak French.

The newspaper investigation, which took up several pages, prompted Parti Qubcois Leader Pauline Marois to call for amendments to Bill 101 to create stricter language rules for businesses.

Marois proposed that businesses with more than 10 employees be required to obtain French certificates to guarantee workers can serve customers in the language.

French certificatesaregranted by the provincewhen a company shows it can function in French and address its employees in French.

She also suggested that businesses with more than 25 employees be required to create French committees to oversee workplace language issues.

The current law requires businesses with more than 50 workers to have French certification, and that companies with more than 100 employees have French committees.

Those rules work fine and Marois's proposals would create a bureaucratic nightmare, said Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre. About 80 per cent of Quebec's 240,000 businesses have fewer than 10 employees, she said on Tuesday.

It would be more effective to draw companies' attention to the importance of providing services in French, especially in Montreal, given the city's francophone character, she said.

"Consumers also play a role in this," St-Pierre said. "You shouldn't hesitate to complain to the Office [de la langue franaise] if you don't get proper services in French."

A survey conducted by the Office last year revealed that 90 per cent of businesses polled offered services in French, St-Pierre said.