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Bilingual newsletter stirs controversy in Quebec

A Quebec language watchdog has launched an investigation into a local newsletter after receiving complaints about its content.

But the fuss has nothing to do with the subject matter published in Chateauguay Magazine, a monthly bilingual newsletter that chronicles the goings-on of the Montreal suburb.

The problem? Too much English.

As CTV News reports, the Office Quebecois de La Langue Francaise has accused the newsletter of violating the Charter of the French language, or Bill 101 — a law that declares English can be used for official correspondence only when in a recognized bilingual city.

Because English-speaking Chateauguay residents comprise just 26 per cent of the population, the city is not considered bilingual.

As such, the office wants to ensure that any city communication with citizens is done entirely in French.

But the organization's hardline stance has angered many residents — including francophones — who happened to like the bilingual newsletter just the way it was.

"It's not pro-English, it's not anti-French; it's pro-bilingual," resident Stacey Tapp told CTV Montreal.

Tapp figured among the dozens of residents who presented city council with a petition on Monday to keep the newsletter bilingual. To date, the group has accumulated 2,000 signatures.

"We feel like if we don't do something about it, we are going to lose it," she added.

Despite public opinion, city hall has to adhere to the guidelines set out by the OQLF, which on its website asserts that "all municipalities must draw up and publish their public texts and documents in French, though they can also provide these communications in both French and English or another language".

"They have a role to play in attaining the objective of the French language, which is to make French the normal and everyday language of work, communication and business," the OQLF's Martin Bergeron told CTV.

On the opposite side of Monday's pro-bilingual gathering stood a handful of Quebec nationalists, who showed up to push for the French language.

"We walk around in Montreal and we no longer recognize our city," Denis Ratte from a group called RRQ (Reseau du Resistance du Quebecois), told reporters. "French just isn't important anymore, anywhere."

Responding to the controversy, Chateauguay mayor Natalie Simon said the municipal government had to follow provincial protocol.

"We have a committee trying to see what exactly is the complaint about and what are we not doing properly. And if we are not doing something properly, how can we correct it," she said.