Business circles welcome the general objectives of the Legault government’s Bill 101 reform project, but there is a fear of a possible slippage in its implementation. The proper work of businesses, linguistic peace and Quebec’s image abroad are at stake.

“We support the government’s desire to strengthen French’s position as a common language in Quebec and Montreal, but its project includes a number of elements whose value will be known,” he was interviewed by telephone on Thursday. . ” Obligation Michel Leblanc, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM). In short, we reacted in a relatively positive way, but with concerns. “

If the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ) agrees with the idea of ​​reducing the range from 50 to 25 employees, of which a company must submit a mandatory fracification process, it urges the government to ensure that its There is no result of an increased bureaucratic burden on SMEs to which this increase will apply.

While the bill provides for a three-year transition period, it is difficult for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) to see how all this will not increase costs and red tape for small business executives who needed immediate mobilization. No wonder 56% of Quebec SMEs (and 60% of Montreal SMEs) opposed lowering the threshold of the law in a poll in March, says François Vincent, Quebec’s vice president at the CFIB, who now takes Quebec out. To go is the impact analysis on the regulatory burden without delay. We will see, he believes, that a “more surgical” approach based on support will actually be more effective with related companies and less harmful to all others “who already operate entirely in French”.

Kafka

It is also feared that companies will find themselves spending less time and energy to ensure a normal work environment in French when they feel they need employees who are fluent in English. “As drafted, restrictions placed on companies regarding knowledge of other languages ​​limit the possibilities of hiring, growth and development” In the Quebec economy that seeks to be more and more open to the world, the president and The CEO was removed from the Quebec Employers’ Council, Carl Blackburn. The CPQ also fears “judicialization of complaints”, which will be more complex and will lead to improvement in management and troubles.

If he says that he is in favor of establishing a more effective control mechanism, Michel Leblanc is particularly concerned with this call for complaints and condemnations from employees and customers of companies. “We should avoid creating a kafkaze world of work where everyone can work as linguistic control officers. This risk is not only detrimental to “linguistic peace”, he also argues for the international image of Quebec.

Towards this end, Stephen Paquet tries to be convinced. “We obviously like to have a good press abroad, but in general, international investors understand the French-language occupied space in Quebec,” Obligation CEO of Montreal International.

This predominance of the French has not only prevented their total investment to more than double in six years, but has grown in the Montreal region from 1 billion in 2015 to 2.2 billion last year, he argues, but two of the top three The original investors of the countries were in fine English, 40% from the United States and 15% from the United Kingdom. What attracts these foreign companies to Quebec, he says, is first and foremost access to a pool of qualified labor, a competitive cost structure, access to international markets and “laws that are clear”.

Good score

Representatives of the business community on Thursday not only shared similar apprehensions about the Legault government’s reform project, they also recognized similar successes. This is particularly the case with the creation of a single government negotiator (Française Quebec) and offering a francisation program in trade.

The idea is so good to FCCQ’s CEO, Charles Millard, that he wants to see it, which exacerbates the more common problem of functional illiteracy, affecting about half of adults in Quebec. “If we want to recognize the importance of French well, then we must recognize that the real challenge lies not only in formulation, but also in literacy. “