Advertisement

Quebec’s Bill 101 language law turns 40

Posters celebrating Bill 101's 40 years, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. Karol Dahl/Global News

A group that defends the French language is urging the Quebec government to do more to enforce Bill 101 as the 40th anniversary of the landmark language law approaches.

READ MORE: What is Bill 101?

Partenaires pour un Québec français says the government is failing in its mission to adequately defend the language.

Its members, who include prominent labour leaders as well as the head of the main artists’ union, says not enough is being done to ensure the law is being applied in its entirety.

READ MORE: French students won’t attend English schools, say Young Liberals of Quebec

The bill was adopted on Aug. 26, 1977, by René Lévesque’s Parti Québécois government, which had swept to power the previous November.

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH BELOW: Language debate in Quebec

It forces immigrants to attend French-language school and places limits on the use of languages other than French on commercial signs.

Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.

READ MORE: PQ pushing Liberals to reopen Bill 101, insists on French descriptors for English stores

The legislation is widely cited as a major reason so many English-speaking Quebecers left the province in the latter half of the 1970s.

Sponsored content

AdChoices