Summary#
Bill 61, the French Language Services in MPP Constituency Offices Act, 2018, would amend Ontario’s French Language Services Act. Its stated goal is to apply the Act’s French-language service rules to MPP constituency offices.
- The bill would include constituency offices in the definition of places that provide a “service,” including communications made for that service.
- A person would have the same right to communicate in French with, and receive available services in French from, a constituency office that is located in or serves an area designated in the Act’s Schedule.
- Those offices’ duties would be subject to limits that are reasonable and necessary in the circumstances, but only if all reasonable measures and plans for compliance have been taken or made.
What it means for you#
- People using a qualifying MPP constituency office: The bill would give you a right under the Act to communicate in French with that office and receive its available services in French. This would apply only where the office is located in or serves a designated area.
- People outside those areas: The bill would not extend that right to every MPP constituency office in Ontario.
- MPP constituency offices: They would become subject to these duties and to the bill’s conditional limit on those duties. The bill does not set out a process for requesting service or handling a request that cannot be met.
- Current law: The bill amends the French Language Services Act, but that Act was not supplied, so I could not verify the full current rules or how the amendments would interact with them.
Money#
No cost information is in the available material.
- The bill would impose duties on qualifying constituency offices, but gives no estimate of staffing or other costs.
- It does not set a budget, staff level, or reimbursement for the offices.
What is unclear#
- The bill does not define what counts as an office that “serves” a designated area.
- It does not explain how an office would decide what services are available in French, or how people could raise a concern about service.
- The terms “reasonable and necessary” and “all reasonable measures and plans” are not explained in the bill.
- The text says the Act would come into force on June 8, 2018, but the supplied material does not establish whether the bill became law.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to extend an existing French-language service right to MPP constituency offices in designated areas.
- Including communications in the definition of “service” could make clear that the right applies to more than an office’s other procedures.
- The conditional limit recognizes that circumstances may affect compliance, while requiring reasonable steps and plans first.
Case against#
- The bill does not explain how an office should provide the service or what steps count as reasonable. That could leave people and offices uncertain about the duty.
- A possible trade-off is that offices may need to arrange staff or other resources to meet the duty, but the bill provides no cost estimate or funding.
- Because the duty is limited to offices located in or serving designated areas, the bill would not provide the same right through every constituency office.