Refugees in Quebec will have to learn French within 6 months

The Quebec government is moving ahead with a controversial part of its proposed language bill, which will require all government officials to communicate with new immigrants exclusively in French, six months after their arrivalwith no exceptions for refugees and asylum seekers.

Thearticle of Bill 96, which was introduced at the National Assembly last May, was recently approvedby the legislative committee studyingthe bill, amid criticism from opposition Liberal and Qubec Solidaire MNAs. The bill is expected to become law this spring but still faces detailed study in committee.

Some organizations, opposition members and even the union representing public servants tried to persuade the government to soften the rule, to no avail.

"Fornewly arriving immigrants, the basic principle of the law is clear: as of Day 1, it's exclusively in French," said Simon Jolin-Barrette, justice minister and minister responsible for the French language.

There are exemptions in the law, which allowcommunication in a language other than French,"where health, public safety or the principles of natural justice so require" such as gettinghealth care.

As well, the bill allows for a six-month grace period for "particular situations that require the use of a language other than French with new immigrants" according tolisabeth Gosselin, spokesperson for Jolin-Barrette.

The bill says after that six-month period has lapsed, communication must be in French.

"Currently, the government communicates with immigrants who have requested it, sometimes for years, or for their whole lifetime, in a language other than French, which does not foster integration," Gosselin said.

Learning French in 6 months

Community organizations working with newly arrived immigrants have been calling on the government to extend the six-month grace period.

"We all agree that the government cannot respond to immigrants in every language. But we have to give them time to learn French," saidlodie Combes, member of theTable de concertation des organismes au service des personnes rfugies et immigrantes(TCRI), a working group that represents community organizations working with immigrants.

Combes believes that the bill may actually hinder the integration of immigrants, by making it more difficult for them to getgovernment services.

"It's as if we're telling them to retreat into their lingustic minority, that the government is not there for them, because they aren't francophone enough," she said.

Garine Papazian-Zohrabian, an associate professor in educational psychology at the Universit de Montral who researches French-language training forimmigrants, says the six-month hard cap will be most harmful for refugees and asylum seekers, who are arriving in a vulnerable state.

"Members of this population are already disoriented, arriving in Quebec. They can been burdened by a difficult past and face cultural challenges.They're not ready to learn a new language, like French, right after their arrival," said Papazian-Zohrabian.

"You might as well say that we don't accept refugees or immigrants, rather than place so many obstacles in front of them," she added.

Opposition slams 'excessive'measures in bill

The union representing 40,000 Quebec civil servants, theSyndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Qubec (SFPQ), is also in favour of extending the six-month grace period.

In its submission to the committee examining the bill, the union suggested the delay could be extended to two years, to allow new immigrants more time to adapt.

Ruba Ghazal, Qubec Solidaire MNA for the Mercier riding in Montreal, proposed a grace period of three years, saying that Jolin-Barrette is "totally disconnected from the reality of newly arrived immigrants."

"The minister makes no distinction between a refugee and an economic class immigrant," she said. "These people need more kindness and understanding."

Jolin-Barrette dismissed the ideaof extending the grace period, saying six months was a "reasonable" period.

Ghazal said while the bill takes a harsh stand with newly arrived immigrants, it contains a clause that allows the government to continue to communicate in languages other than Frenchwith people who immigrated to Quebec in the past.

"There are a lot of incoherences," she said.

Gatan Barrette, Liberal MNA forLa Pinire,useda baseball metaphor to describe the position in which the government isputtingnewly arrived immigrants.

"When they arrive, they'll already have two balls and two strikes against them," Barrette said. "We're not giving them a chance to succeed."

Barrette said while his party is in favour of measures to improve the use of French, he called Jolin-Barrette's attitude "unpleasant" and said the government should take into account that many people arriving in the province have lived through "traumatic situations."

Barrette also cited long wait times forFrench-language training as an additional barrier.

"In the Montreal region, the delayis maybe two months," he said. "That leaves immigrants with only four months to learn French."