There's A Proposal To Create A New Montreal OQLF Office To Combat 'The Decline Of French'

“The OQLF is an essential organization essential for the promotion of French."
Proposed New OQLF Office Would Support French In Montreal
Émilie Nadeau via Simon Jolin-Barette | Twitter rubaghazalqs | Instagram
Staff Writer

Québec Solidaire (QS) is calling on the CAQ's Simon Jolin-Barette, minister of the French language, to take action and "put in place a specific plan to redress the situation of French in Montreal."

The QS news release goes on to suggest that Jolin-Barette should look into "the establishment of a special office of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) in Montreal to fight against the decline of French in the metropolis."

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"We have known for years that French is declining in the Montreal region, but that our governments are not taking the big steps to tackle the problem," said Ruba Ghazal, the Québec Solidarie MNA for Mercier.

For Ghazal, a new OQLF office in Montreal would serve "to identify the priority sectors where it is necessary to intervene to upgrade French, to offer expertise in francization, to publicize the grants offered by the OQLF, but also to support businesses in their efforts to promote French in the workplace."

"The OQLF is there to support businesses and give them the right tools to promote the use of French in their work environment [...] Punishing is not the solution to promote French: what we want is for entrepreneurs to come and ask the OQLF for support," said Ghazal. 

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  • Teddy Elliot
  • Teddy Elliot
    Teddy Elliot was a Staff Writer for MTL Blog. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec and has a B.A. in Literature. Teddy has been a journalist for three years and was once an English teacher. His creative work has appeared in The Blasted Tree and Parenthetical Magazine. When he's not chasing scoops, Teddy can be found cheering on Aston Villa and listening to 80s power ballads. He was shortlisted for a Digital Publishing Award in 2021.

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