‘Non-historic Anglophones’ unable to be served in English at polling stations

Non-historic anglophones in Quebec could face challenges at polling stations during this year’s provincial election, as a new directive requires polling station workers to confirm whether voters are eligible to receive education in English in Quebec or are members of a First Nations or Inuit community if they want to be served in English.

If voters do not meet either criterion, polling station workers must continue the conversation in French.

Geoffrey Chambers, the lead plaintiff in a court challenge seeking to have English included on voting cards, said his group has sent a formal demand letter to Élections Quebec, the attorney general and the premier, arguing the directive is unconstitutional.

“We have sent a mise en demeure letter to Élections Québec and, incidentally, to the Attorney General and the Premier, telling them that what they’re doing, in this instruction is unconstitutional and will compromise the election and calling upon them to reverse their decision,” Chambers said.

“That’ll be in front of them today. If they fail to do so, then we can go to court. Whether or not we can go to court and have a ruling prior to the actual election date, that’s a very complicated question.”

Julie St-Arnaud-Drolet, a spokesperson for Élections Quebec, said the organization is required to follow the Charter of the French Language while remaining neutral during an election.

“Élections Québec has to act in compliance with the Charter of the French Language. Of course, there’s other laws that maybe enter into consideration, but at this point, it’s really the court that will have the last word on it,” she said.

“It’s a political decision, and it’s not the place of Élections Québec to take a position on a political issue. During an election, we really have to stay neutral, impartial in order to organize the election. And that’s why it’s very important for us to not enter into a debate regarding those issues.”

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of TALQ, said the directive could discourage some anglophones from voting.

“It’s a barrier to voting. Some people might not even want to go and vote because of this. And we’ve seen this in the South; we’ve seen this in different countries. To see this in Quebec is very disturbing.”

Andrew Caddell, president of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy, said anglophone voters should assert their right to vote in English.

“What we’re telling people is, say that you are educated in English and don’t allow anybody to deny you the vote because this is a sacred right,” Caddell said.

“In this case, it’s kind of civil disobedience, but we have the right to civil disobedience if the government is going to try to create second-class citizens out of half a million Quebecers who are full citizens.”

Voters had mixed feelings about the directive.

“We should have the right to vote provincially without us being tested on the language,” said Katherine Muller, a Montrealer.

“I have the privilege of being very bilingual, so I can vote. But not everybody has that, particularly if they are new to the country and you want to make sure when people are voting, they really understand what they’re voting for.”

Amel Kerkeni, another Montrealer, said she believes voters should be expected to speak French.

“Sorry, we have to speak French. I mean, I want to migrate to Italy now, Sicily, I have to speak Italian. So it’s everywhere, why not Québec?”

Another Montrealer, Marilyn, said she disagrees with the directive.

“I think we’re hurting a lot of our population if we do that. I think we should all be able to speak both and be courteous. I’m not for that.”

Hosana Oliveira, a Westmount resident originally from Brazil, said she prefers to vote in French.

“For me, I prefer in French, because I did Francization and not English.”

The issue comes as Élections Quebec is also mailing voter reminder cards in both French and English.

A Quebec Superior Court judge previously ruled that a plan to send out French-only reminder cards would infringe on the voting rights of English-speaking Quebecers.

The Quebec government is challenging that ruling, but the appeal is scheduled for Oct. 5, election day.

Chambers said he is disappointed the government is continuing with the appeal.

“I’m very disappointed and a little bit offended by the government not understanding that their case is absolutely without merit and that they should back off. However, I can’t really say I’m surprised; this government always appeals,” he said.

Martin-Laforge said the responsibility should not fall on anglophone groups to repeatedly challenge the government in court.

“Always asking the English-speaking community to challenge for their rights is really not what we would have expected of a government of Quebec,” she said.

St-Arnaud-Drolet said voter reminder cards have not yet been mailed.

“At this point, there was no mailing done for the reminder card. It’s next week after the advance polls. But people can check on Élections Québec right now to see the address of their polling stations on election day or on advance polling right now.”

Advance voting takes place Sunday and Monday. Voters can also cast a ballot at the office of the returning officer until Oct. 1.