Business leaders slam Bill 14

Business leaders say Bill 14 is a step in the wrong direction, both when it comes to promoting the French language and promoting industry in Quebec. Max Harrold with the latest on the hearings.

Business leaders say Bill 14 is a step in the wrong direction, both when it comes to promoting the French language and promoting industry in Quebec.

At hearings on the changes to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, the Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters Association said a provision in the bill would make businesses with as few as 26 full-time employees to acquire Certificates of Francization would be needless red tape.

Simon Provost said the bilingual nature of Quebec, especially in Montreal, was seen as a worldwide asset that should be encouraged and in a global marketplace, additional measures restricting the ability of employers to hire people with skill in multiple languages made no sense at all.

"Do we need English, do we need Spanish, do we need another language?" said Provost. "In the future we don't know, we have to prove it, we have to re-prove it, so that's a lot of fiscal burden."

Provost said that when you get right down to it, the ability of people to be bilingual would not have deleterious effect on the French language in Quebec.

For gift shop owner Toni Cochrane, who employs 10 people at her shop in Pointe-Claire Village, she said having bilingual staff is simply a courtesy.

“I need, out of courtesy and respect, to be able to greet my client in both languages,” she said.

Provost criticized the Parti Quebecois's decision to scale back proposed Grade 6 half-year English-language immersion saying Quebecers -- of all ethnic backgrounds -- should be getting more practice using their non-mother tongue.

Parti Quebecois Language Minister Diane De Courcy insisted fear has no place in the language debate, yet both fans and foes of Bill 14 said there is a very real fear of what’s to come.

Businesses, some say, are already changing strategy because of language laws.

“We've seen that there's a massive extension and expansion going on just on the borders here of Quebec because people are afraid to set foot here in Quebec,” said Richard Yufe of Canadian Rights in Quebec.

Former Equality Party MNA Robert Libman said Bill 14 poses a risk to social peace.

“I think it would create tremendous division in Quebec society,” he said. “I think it would be very hurtful for Quebec.”

New powers of search and seizure under Bill 14 are also scary, said Suburban editor Beryl Wajsman.

“This bill will deconstruct Quebec law and deconstruct Quebec civil liberties,” he said.

Lawyer Julius Grey contends Bill 101 has gained Quebecers' acceptance as a fundamental la, . but Bill 14, he believes, goes too far.

“I've adopted the slogan that the nationalist side had in the 90s: ‘Ne touchez pas a la loi 101.’ It's fine. It doesn't take a change every four years,” he said.