Montreal's 311 has a new message for those who want English service

Ring ring! Calling 311 for the city of Montreal today? Hoping for English service? Not so fast.

If you'd like to speak to someone in French, go right ahead and press 1.

For Option 2, you'll have to listen to a brand-new 40-second message asking you to attest in good faith that you have acquired rights as an English speaker in Quebec under the Charter of the French language.

What does that mean? The message will tell you. 

"In accordance with the Charter of the French Language, we will be pleased to provide service in English if you attest in good faith that you are covered by one of the following exceptions: if you are a person declared eligible to receiving English education; if you are an Indigenous person; if you are a recently arrived immigrant residing in Quebec for less than six months; if you are calling from outside of Quebec or if you corresponded solely in English with the city of Montreal prior to May 13, 2021. If you attest in good faith, please press 2. Otherwise, please press 1."

Major provisions of Quebec's revamped French language law came into effect today, exactly one year after the controversial law received Royal Assent. 

The provisions include one of the laws most debated clauses, requiring employees of most front-facing government agencies to serve clients in French unless those clients have acquired English-language rights, are Indigenous or are new immigrants who arrived in the province within the last six months. 

Someone who has the right to attend English school qualifies for service in English, the law says.

Critics of the law and political experts say the provision will be a crucial test for the policy's implementation in the real world, after more than a year of speculation about how it would affect people's lives — and even social cohesion in the province. 

Viewing an English web page illegally?

"This is where we really start seeing the impact of Bill 96," said Eva Ludvig, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, an opponent of the legislation, on Wednesday. 

Ludvig and several other English-speaking leaders are concerned the burden left on individual government employees could create tensions. 

"Without proper training and supervision, it can lead to conflict at the front line; for instance, either an overzealous employee or a disgruntled customer," Ludvig said. 

Montreal appears to have found a way to avoid placing the responsibility of applying that part of the law on employees with the recorded message, as well as a written message at the top of the English version of its website. 

A blue banner on the English city web page now says: "Who can view this page? This content is intended for the public covered by the exceptions under Bill 96. Find out more."

In other words, you may be viewing this page illegally. More government websites with English versions have posted a similar message, such as the province's government-mandated liquor store, the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ).

Speaking at a news conference about housing in Montreal's Verdun neighbourhood Thursday afternoon, Mayor Valérie Plante said the city was complying with what the provincial government had asked of it in applying Bill 96. 

Plante and other city officials had raised concerns when the bill was being debated in the National Assembly about how it would be expected to apply the law. 

"I'm always preoccupied because I want people to get services that they have the right to receive," the mayor said in English. In French, she said it was clear the city wouldn't be playing a role in policing the law. 

"They asked us to make the mention on the phone and on the website. We're following the rules in that sense," Plante said.

A francophone reporter asked Plante if they had broken the law by consulting the English version of the city website.

"You should ask the government of Quebec that," Plante replied.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University and the director of the school's Institute for the Study of Canada, said in an interview Wednesday that the next six months to one year will be a test run for the law. 

"The effects of Bill 96 on the ground are going to be felt much more directly by more people," Béland said.