Northern N.B. town declares French as sole official language after review

A New Brunswick municipality is moving forward with French as its only official language, but will offer some services in English after receiving complaints from residents.

Belle-Baie, a newly formed town, launched a review into its language policy after concerns were raised over public notices published only in French.

The majority-francophone community was created on Jan. 1, when Beresford, Petit-Rocher, Nigadoo and Pointe-Verte were merged as part of local governance reform.

On Thursday, the town released a draft of its language policy to the public. It declares French as the official language of Belle-Baie, but notes it will make exceptions for public notices for health and safety issues.

Mayor Daniel Guitard said any resident will still be able to request all services in English.

"We wanted to have the best possible policy showing that we're a French community. But we wanted to be reasonable with our anglophone friends," he said.

The draft policy states that all oral and written communications from the municipality, including public notices, information documents, social media posts and the town's website will be solely in French. It also says the working language of government will be French. Public notices will be bilingual when it concerns health or public safety.

Belle-Baie's residents are 92 per cent francophone, so the town has no obligation to provide bilingual services.

Under New Brunswick's Official Languages Act, only a municipality whose official language minority population reaches at least 20 per cent is required to offer services in both English and French. Cities are also required to provide bilingual services.

'Very unwelcoming'

Before the creation of Belle-Baie, the former Town of Beresford published public notices in both official languages as a courtesy to English-speaking residents. In the 2021 census, 17.5 per cent of Beresford residents reported English as their first language, putting it just short of the 20 per cent threshold. Out of the 650 anglophones, 305 reported knowledge of English only.

Ashley Aube, an anglophone resident of Beresford for 15 years, said people first started raising concerns about French-only notices after a boil-water advisory was posted only in French. She said the warning was for an area adjacent to a daycare for anglophone children.

"It was always in French and English, even the town sign was in French and English," she said of services before the merger. "I don't know why when we became Belle-Baie that all of a sudden it had to become a French community."

Aube, who grew up in Ontario, said she speaks basic French but does not consider herself to be fully bilingual. She's concerned unilingual anglophones will be left out of cultural, recreational and community activities.

"Just assuming that they would understand French, to me, is very unwelcoming," she said.

In February, New Brunswick's Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages confirmed it had received complaints about the language policy in Belle-Baie.

Aube said she understands the desire to protect the French language, but said excluding an entire group of citizens from public notices is not the right approach.

Policy promotes French, mayor says

Guitard said Belle-Baie's transition committee, which was created to work on the amalgamation, decided the new municipality would operate in French given its linguistic composition.

He said after launching a review of the policy, a committee of councillors consulted with experts, politicians and the province's Commissioner of Official Languages.

The municipality is currently serving residents in both official languages at its office and is personally communicating with individual residents in English when requested. Public notices and Facebook posts have only been made in French.

Guitard said anglophone residents will also be able to make presentations before council or ask questions in English. He said places like Belle-Baie are important for the francophone and Acadian linguistic minority community in New Brunswick.

He said his town accepts anglophones with "open arms" and will strive to offer quality services in English when requested. He said the "vast majority" of citizens he consulted with told him it was important to protect the French nature of the community.

"We had to come up with rules to make sure we serve our population, but we promote the French side of our community," he said.

"We're not a bilingual community, we're a French community. But we will provide services to citizens in English if they require it to be in English, in certain circumstances."

Belle-Baie will hear feedback on the draft policy at a public meeting on Tuesday.