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Senator sues government to get official French version of constitution

Quebec Liberal Sen. Serge Joyal is taking the federal and Quebec governments to court to force them to adopt an official French language version of Canada's constitutional documents.

According to a lawsuit the senator has introduced in the Superior Court of Québec late last month, alongside University of Ottawa professor François Larocque, 22 of Canada's constitutional documents only carry the force of law in English.

They say it includes almost the entire Constitution Act of 1867, one of the country's major founding documents.

When Canada repatriated its constitution in 1982, one clause required the government to draft a French version as soon as possible and have it ratified by all of the provinces.

That version was drafted and then-attorney general Kim Campbell filed a final version, but the French version was never adopted.

Canada's constitutional documents have been translated into French.

Language equality

Joyal and Larocque want the court to rule that the French language does not enjoy the equal status it should under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

They want to force the government to enter into constitutional talks to officially adopt the French version.

In a French-language interview, Joyal said they are asking for a basic problem to be addressed.

"What we are asking for is not outrageous. We are simply asking that Canada's basic constitutional law be accessible in both official languages," he said.

He said the political will has never emerged to address this problem, including when he asked the provincial and federal governments for this before the lawsuit, so it is time for the courts to step in.

The federal government has responded to the suit in court, indicating it would challenge the request but also wants to start a process to deal with the issue.

In an email, the federal justice department said it commits to fully respecting both of Canada's official languages.

Attorney General David Lametti, who's running for re-election in the Montreal riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, declined an interview request.

Quebec's Attorney General Sonia Lebel has not responded in court yet and declined to comment to Radio-Canada, citing the ongoing case.

Ongoing fight

Joyal stated that he wants a court order, because it would force the government to finally act.

The government would have to reopen constitutional talks and ensure the French language version is adopted.

His term as a senator will expire in February 2020, when he turns 75, and he said he is prepared to continue this fight after he leaves office.

Joyal, named as a senator by Jean Chrétien in 1997, said he was not suing Justin Trudeau's government for personal or political reasons, but because the issue is important.

"I cannot consult it and I cannot argue it in other languages than in English because it is the only official version," he said in a French-language interview.