A group of 23 bilingual municipalities asked a Quebec Superior Court judge on Monday to suspend several portions of the province’s 2022 language reform, arguing that the application of the law will cause them serious and irreparable harm.
Lawyer Julius Grey told the Montreal courtroom that the law contains measures that will have “enormous consequences” for cities that have the right to serve citizens in both English and French. Municipalities without official bilingual status are prohibited from communicating with residents in English.
Meanwhile, a government lawyer said Grey’s arguments are based on fear and have “no legal basis or factual basis.”
Grey said the law could prevent cities from writing contracts in English, would grant the government the ability to withhold federal subsidies to cities that don’t comply, and would give the language watchdog vast powers of search and seizure that exceed those of police.
“The (Quebec language office) can …