A new Elections Quebec directive telling poll workers to greet voters in French and switch to English only under certain circumstances is drawing criticism from English-language advocacy groups and raising fresh questions about language rights ahead of Quebec’s Oct. 5 election.
The controversy comes as Elections Quebec prepares to open advance polling stations this weekend and days after a court ordered the agency to send voter reminder cards in both French and English.
Elections Quebec confirmed it has sent out the bilingual voter cards, but Quebecers are not expected to receive them until next week.
Geoffrey Chambers, the lead plaintiff in the court challenge that resulted in the ruling, said he was pleased with the judgment but disappointed the issue was not addressed earlier.
“I am very happy we got the judgement and the judgement is very clear,” Chambers said. “I’m sad that we didn’t know this early enough to get to the judge early enough to actually get documents out.”
Chambers said he remains concerned about a directive sent to election workers regarding interactions with English-speaking voters.
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Under the directive, poll workers must greet voters in French. They may continue in English if a voter states they are a historic anglophone or Indigenous.
Chambers argued the rules create unnecessary barriers for English-speaking voters.
“The set of instructions create an unquestionably additional hurdle and barrier that will not play out exactly the same way in every interaction across thousands of people in hundreds of ridings,” he said.
The directive provides sample questions poll workers can ask voters, including whether they have been declared eligible for English-language education or whether they are a member of an Indigenous community.
If a voter answers yes, the worker may continue communicating in English.
Elections Quebec told Global News it will not require proof from voters and will rely solely on a person’s statement.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network, known as QCGN, questioned what the directive could mean for the future accessibility of elections for English-speaking Quebecers.
“That is not OK,” she said. “Just the threat of it.”
Martin-Laforge said she fears English-speaking Quebecers may be forced to repeatedly challenge measures affecting their rights.
“Will the English-speaking community have to litigate every single aspect of the electoral process for the director general of elections to respect our rights?” she said.
Elections Quebec says it is applying the provisions for the first time because, before Bill 96 was adopted, the agency was not subject to the same requirements.
The agency had sought an exemption from the legislation, but the Coalition Avenir Québec government denied the request.
Reaction among voters interviewed by Global News was mixed.
One English-speaking voter called the directive “ridiculous” and “petty,” while another described it as “an immense disrespect for anglophones in Quebec.”
A French-speaking voter said she was tired of hearing concerns that the French language is under threat in Quebec.
The issue has emerged less than two weeks before Quebecers head to the polls in the provincial election.
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