Quebec’s Court of Appeal on Monday denied the government’s request to appeal a judgment ordering Élections Québec to send bilingual voter reminder cards in English and French ahead of the general election. Justice Sylvain Lussier suspended the Charter of the French Language on Sept. 16 for 10 days, then again, several days later, until the Quebec election on Oct. 5, to allow the independent electoral agency to send bilingual voter reminder cards to electors. The Quebec government sought to appeal these two judgments, but Justice Patrick Healy denied its request. In the judgment obtained by CTV News, Healy wrote that the court generally will not interfere with a judge’s temporary decision unless there are exceptional circumstances. The judgment states that a serious legal issue, a weakness in the original decision, irreparable harm, or the balance of convenience favouring a change to or suspension of the order could justify an appeal. “The Court rarely grants leave to appeal in a case such as this one,” the judgment reads. “It is well established that a motion for leave to appeal a judgment ordering a stay is granted only in exceptional circumstances, just as is the case for a judgment ordering a protective order or a provisional injunction.” The judgment also noted that the urgent judgments were set to expire on Oct.5, meaning the appeal would become moot. A lawsuit was filed in early September after Élections Québec sent French-only voter mailouts with details on where and how to vote because of Quebec language law, Bill 96. The agency said it sought an exemption from the Minister of the French Language and the Commissioner of the French Language but was denied. The judgments did not apply to two other documents included in the election mailouts: the registration notice and voter guide. Lussier said it would be unrealistic and costly to order Élections Québec to send all three documents in English and French.
