Judge Sylvain Lussier delivered a significant ruling on Wednesday morning in a lawsuit aiming to compel Élections Québec to send out bilingual voting materials. The injunction granted by Lussier requires that voting reminders be sent in both French and English. However, the ruling does not mandate the resend of voting cards in English due to cost constraints and timing issues.
The decision instructs the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec to prepare and mail the reminder cards, which include candidate lists and polling station details, in both languages as per the Election Act. Additionally, the ruling suspends a specific section of the Charter of the French Language temporarily to facilitate the mailing of informational documents during an election.
Notably, the court did not order the mailing of English versions of registration notices and the voter’s guide, citing feasibility and cost concerns. The legal challenge arose after Élections Québec announced its decision to only provide documents in French to comply with Bill 96, following a denial of their exemption request by Quebec’s French-language commissioner.
The Task Force on Linguistic Policy, along with its president Andrew Caddell, praised the ruling as a message to Quebec’s officials to recognize the rights of English-speaking Quebecers. Caddell emphasized the importance of ensuring equal access to voting information for vulnerable populations who may not be proficient in both languages.
