Montreal author relieved after city apologizes for book club rejection

Author Christopher Diraddo is seen at the Blue Met Book festival in Montreal, Friday, May 6, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press)

Montreal author Christopher DiRaddo says though he’s relieved to find out he can go ahead with his book club in public libraries, the debate around Quebec’s language laws is far from over.

“I think that ambiguity still exists in the law, and if something as big as the City of Montreal has trouble interpreting the law in regards to me in my small, little book club, I wonder what it’s going to happen on another level,” he told CTV News on Friday.

“I’ve lived my whole life in in Montreal, and so I’ve seen stuff like this happen before. It can be ridiculous at times.”

The city asked the province for more guidance around language laws after a local library refused to offer DiRaddo space to host his English-language book club earlier this week party due to the language law.

DiRaddo was told Friday he can hold Violet Hour book club meetings at the Père-Ambroise library after all.

The library had initially told DiRaddo he could only host the event if there was simultaneous translation of the English discussions, which DiRaddo said is unrealistic.

The story caused a stir over the last week, and Quebec said the language laws shouldn’t apply to DiRaddo’s book club because it is not offering services on behalf of a public organization.

However, a city employee told the author they were acting “in the spirit of the law.”

‘We don’t want people to feel left out'

Now, the City of Montreal says it wants to give staff a better framework on how to properly interpret the language reform, which restricts the use of English in civil institutions.

“It’s an unfortunate situation and it’s the kind of situation we want to avoid,” it said in a statement.

“Applying the law remains highly complex, given the large number of possible situations that need to be managed. These issues had already been pointed out to Quebec ... What we have here is a manager who, to the best of her knowledge and with goodwill, tried to apply the law.”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante told CJAD 800 it was “a mistake.”

• Listen on CJAD 800 Radio: City reverses controversial book club decision. Mayor Plante calls it a “mistake.”

“We don’t want people to feel left out because of the language they use and services are so important ... We don’t want citizens to pay for that lack of clarity,” she said.

But DiRaddo says some people already feel excluded, and his book club is meant to build bridges between people of all backgrounds and languages, and foster a feeling of belonging.

“This decision doesn’t change that, you know. I think a lot of people in the city still don’t feel like they’re a welcome part of the city, that they belong to the city, that the city is theirs.”

That said, he also was touched to see the community rally behind him, and said it was surprising to have everything settled within five days.

“It’s people that make the culture of the city,” he said. “We’re the ones who make the city a living, breathing, wonderful place to live.”

DiRaddo already has dates set to host his book club in February and March.