An Act to promote the French language in Québec

{{Short description|1969 law}} {{italictitle}} {{Use Canadian English|date=February 2023}} '''Bill 63''', formally the "Law to promote the French language in Quebec" ({{Langx|fr|Loi pour promouvoir la langue française au Québec}}), was a language law passed in 1969 in Quebec, Canada.<ref name="Levine1991">Marc Levine. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1CwhnBqgSpwC&pg=PA79 The Reconquest Of Montreal: Language Policy and Social Change in a Bilingual City]''. Temple University Press; 7 August 1991. {{ISBN|978-0-87722-899-8}}. p. 79–.</ref>

==Background== In the 1960s, the Government of Quebec commissioned a report about the state of the French language in the province. The report showed that in some areas of the province, residents who spoke only French had difficulty finding employment and doing everyday business.<ref name="FougèresMacLeod2018">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0ERMDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA441 Montreal: The History of a North American City]''. MQUP; 6 April 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-7735-5269-2}}. p. 1–.</ref> As a result, plans were begun to form a committee, called the Gendron Commission, to make recommendations for promoting the use of French in Quebec.

When the Catholic school board of Saint Leonard, Quebec, insisted that children of immigrants, mostly Italians, be required to go to French schools, controversy and violence erupted. In response, the Union Nationale government of Jean-Jacques Bertrand passed Bill 63<ref>{{cite web |first=R. |last=Hudon |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-63/ |title= Bill 63|year=2007 |accessdate=2007-03-03 |publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> without waiting for the Gendron Commission's report.

==Details== Section 2 of the bill allowed all residents of Quebec an English-language education for anyone desiring it for their children. That right was known as "freedom of choice."<ref name="Boberg2010">Charles Boberg. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=uW2rM_6I3gMC&pg=PA8 The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative Analysis]''. Cambridge University Press; 26 August 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-139-49144-0}}. p. 8–.</ref><ref name="Mallea1984">John Mallea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8no897R1FXcC&pg=PA170 Cultural Diversity and Canadian Education: Issues and Innovations]''. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 15 April 1984. {{ISBN|978-0-88629-007-8}}. p. 170–.</ref>

The law also promoted the French language:

*The Ministry of Education was to ensure that students graduating from English schools in Quebec had a working knowledge of French. *French courses were to be available to all students enrolled in Quebec schools.<ref name="Fishman1991">Joshua A. Fishman. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ah1QwYzi3c4C&pg=PA303 Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages]''. Multilingual Matters; 1 January 1991. {{ISBN|978-1-85359-121-1}}. p. 303–.</ref> *The Ministry of Education was to make French courses available to all immigrants entering Quebec. *The mandate of the Office québécois de la langue française was extended.<ref>{{cite web|author=Government of Quebec |url=http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/reperes/Loi_63.pdf |title=An Act to promote the French language in Quebec |year=1969 |accessdate=2007-03-03 |publisher=Office québécois de la langue française |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025105812/http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/reperes/loi_63.pdf |archivedate=2005-10-25}}</ref>

==Aftermath== Bill 63 fell short of the expectations of many francophones, such as many Quebec nationalists, who expected that French would become the common public language of all Quebec residents. Their main criticism of the law was that it allowed all Quebec residents to send their children to either English or French schools.<ref name="Mills2010">Sean Mills. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wj3npz9WpvoC&pg=PT172 The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism in Sixties Montreal]''. MQUP; 26 March 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-7735-8349-8}}. p. 172–.</ref> Opposition to the law led to the coalition Mouvement Québec français.<ref name="FougèresMacLeod2018">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0ERMDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA441 Montreal: The History of a North American City]''. MQUP; 6 April 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-7735-5269-2}}. p. 1–.</ref>

In 1974, the Liberal government of Robert Bourassa superseded the act by the ''Official Language Act''.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Act to promote the French language in Québec}} Category:Quebec provincial legislation Category:Quebec language policy Category:French language in Quebec Category:Canadian language legislation Category:1969 in Quebec Category:1969 in Canadian law