Respecting the Charter of the French language

General guidelines
On a day-to-day basis
Document intended for the media

Communications Department
27/11/2012

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012 Foreword

Following a complaint filed with the Office qubcois de la langue franaise at the beginning of 2012 and other requests made by the OQLF over the years, Council has agreed to implement corrective actions to make the municipal administration compliant with the Charter of the French language. On December 10, 2012, the Town will begin progressively meeting its obligations under the Charter after almost 20 years of bilingualism. Ville de Saint-Lazare is an officially unilingual French-speaking town and priority must be given to the French language in all its activities. Ville de Saint-Lazare is a Qubec public administration and because of its many activities, the size of its staff and its purchasing power, it must set an example in the affirmation of the primacy of French and meet the obligations imposed by the Charter of the French language. This document is intended to provide general rules for the application of the Charter.

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Schedule for the progressive return to the predominant use of French

2012 Tuesday December 4 Wednesday December 5 Monday December 10

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012

Adoption of the resolution for the implementation of the Towns corrective actions to meet its obligations under the Charter of the French language The Town will issue a bilingual announcement/newsletter on the return to French and the availability of information in English. All documents will be sent or produced as shown in the Communication with Residents chart EXCEPT FOR the March issue of Liaisons the summer issue of the Residents Guide the property tax bill

2013 [A]. Last bilingual issues of the Residents Guide and Liaisons 1. The cover page of Liaisons will address the topic; 2. the Town will inform residents that, beginning in June, these publications will be sent by mail in French only; 3. information will be provided on their availability on the website and on paper in the following locations beginning in June 2013: a. Town Hall b. Community Centre c. Professional Complex. [B]. Last bilingual property tax bills 1. The tax bill will be sent out with a note informing residents that the subsequent tax bills will be sent in French only and that the bilingual form will be available on the Towns website: a. the complementary tax bill b. the real estate transfer tax bill c. receipts d. payment in cash e. reminders f. the 2014 annual tax bill Employees will apply all guidelines. One year to adjust Transition completed

Mid-February

March 2014

Communications with Qubec businesses

Established in Qubec
In French only
ATTENTION: Invitations to a press conference

Press kits (content) In French ONLY Newspapers are businesses established in Qubec. However, journalists will have access to the English version of the press releases on the Towns website.

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Communications with residents

In person

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012

Personal greeting message
vocal

In French and in English on a different media

By phone At the counter Greeting in French May speak English Automated absence message In French only Including the following automated messages of acknowledgement: website, e-mails, on-line requests, etc.

Acknowledgements

In French only

Municipal publications, forms and public notices (anonymous*) 8 pages or less

Ex.: door hangers, forms, tree cutting, emptying of septic tanks, public notices, pens, offence notices, banners etc. General rule: Printed in French only English version: accessible from the French document on the Towns website Canada Post: in French only Location: o none Note on the French document The English translation is accessible from the original French document on the Towns website.

Over 8 pages or of high interest

Ex.: Liaisons, Residents Guide, waste collection calendar, day camps, specialised camps, school break, etc.

General rule: Printed in French English version: separate printing of half the number of copies Canada Post: in French only Locations: o Community Centre o Town Hall o Professional Complex o Municipal garage (waste collection schedule only) Note on the French document: The English translation is accessible from the original French document on the Towns website and a printed version is available at the following drop-off locations: Town Hall (1960 Chemin Sainte-Anglique), Community Centre (1301 Rue du Bois), Professional Complex (1967 Chemin Sainte-Anglique).

* exception: this includes the tax bill even if personalised.

documents of high interest or those that, because of their inaccessibility or unavailability in paper format, are likely to generate a high volume of requests for information and increase the staffs workload

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Communications with residents (continued)

In French and in English on a different media
Electronic media and social media (anonymous mailings) Ex.: announcements, newsletters, invitations to residents, highlights General rule: Sent in French only English version: available only on the Towns website Note on the French document (with the exception of a Facebook status) The English translation is accessible from the original French document on the Towns website.

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012

Daily conversations and electronic communication

Official correspondence

Ex.: comments, questions, information requests by email, on Facebook, etc. General rule: In French if the employee is unable to answer in English or in the language of the user. The Frenchspeaking employee will try to get help from a collegue or have someone call the person back or write. Facebook : If the answer is given in English, it must also be given in French for the benefit of all.

Ex.: targeted letter or mailing, personalised invitations General rule: By mail or e-mail: st 1 answer in French marked Upon request, an English translation of the original French document will be made available within 5 to 10 working days depending on the deadlines of the concerned department, the complexity of the document, etc. English version requested? By e-mail: The translation is e-mailed: st - with the 1 answer in French The English version is included as an attachment in Word Document form, without a heading, without a signature and marked This is a translation of the original French document or This is the abridged version (or summary) of the original French document. By mail: The translation is sent by mail: st - with the 1 answer in French The English version is a printed separate Word document, without a heading, without a signature and marked This is a translation of the original French document or This is the abridged version (or summary) of the original French document.

Facebook: Statuses in French only If the status involves the addition of a link to the Towns website, the English version can be accessed by clicking on the French text.

Speeches Conferences, presentations In French There may be exceptions depending on the circumstances.

Threat to life On public notices with the French text twice as large as the English Message from the massive automated calling system (in both languages with precedence given to French)

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Canada Post
Situation

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012

French document No English document sent out by mail. 36.5% of 6,900 households = 2,500 potential English-speaking households We do it for one, we cannot justify not doing it for the others. Imagine:

Request for the English version by mail

General rule

Person with impaired mobility entered on the Fire Departments list only

60 different types of documents x 2,500 personalised envelopes @ $0.65 each = $97,500 Liaisons = 2,500 x $2.50/copy x 4 issues = $25,000 Guide = 2,500 x $2/copy x 2 issues = $10,000 $132, 500 in annual postage costs Plus printing costs and extra personnel for handling individual requests On request only The person must request it each time No annual automatic mailing list To be on the list, the person must fill out the form
http://www.ville.saint-lazare.qc.ca/securitepersonne

No Internet? Or email?

The Town may print an in-house version of a document of 8 pages or less and ask the person to pick it up at the front counter at Town Hall during regular office hours or send a PDF of the document to the persons office e-mail address.

Choice and predominance of the language

No document can allow the choice of the language. No automatic mailing list in a language other than French (not even for persons with impaired mobility). A new request must be made each time. The documents written in French must be: o available in twice the number of copies o displayed prominently (on display racks).

Important messages
English version: the Town still provides the same documents it used to provide in English but it does so in a different and distinct format. The council meeting minutes and the Towns by-laws (except in abridged form) and job openings have never been translated. The Town cannot translate administrative documents. Page 6

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Printing of the English version: since they are relatively easy to consult on-line, the Town does not print an English version of documents of 8 pages or less. This approach is more ecological and more economical for our taxpayers. Respecting the law: just like residents are asked to obey the Towns by-laws, the Town and its representatives and elected officials must comply with the Charter. Separate mailing of the English version when requested: o The Town is not allowed to mail an anonymous English document. o The Town has chosen to continue mailing its original French publications to all households so that all residents have at least one copy delivered directly to their home and so that they dont all have to go out to pick up their copy. Furthermore, the Town does not want to systematically penalize the whole population including the 4,400 French-speaking homeowners. o For financial and ecological reasons and because of a lack of resources, the Town will not send English documents by mail, even when requested. Imagine: 60 different types of documents x 2,500 potential English-speaking households @ $0.65/copy = $97,500 in annual postage costs Liaisons $2.50/copy x 2,500 households x 4 issues = $25,000 annually Guide $2/copy x 2,500 households x 2 issues = $10,000 annually And additional printing costs for each separate publication plus extra personnel for handling individual requests The tax bill: the bilingual version is produced by an independent firm (PG Solutions). The bilingual generic form is available on the website only. No bilingual version of the tax bill will be sent by mail even if requested (2,500 separate requests?). Bilingual status: the Town did not reach the number needed to request official bilingual status

Respecting the Charter of the French language 2012

in the latest Statistics Canada census done in 2011 (published on October 24, 2012); Council waited until that date to make a decision.
.

Census: English 36.5% (7,045 residents); French 53.3% (10,290 residents); allophones 7.3% (1,405 residents). Under the Law, the allophone percentage cannot be added to that of English speakers to obtain bilingual status. In any case, doing so would only bring the total to 43.8% and not to the magic 50%!

Preserving the environment and maintaining the tax rate: systematically printing an English version of all publications would be neither ecological nor economical.
Exceptions: upon request, an English translation may be sent to a person with impaired mobility as long as that person is entered on the Fire Departments list of persons with impaired mobility. For documents 8 pages or less (not usually printed) : o For people who do not have Internet, a PDF copy may be sent to their office e-mail. o For people without e-mail and Internet, a in-house copy will be printed for them, which they will be able to pick-up at a municipal counter.

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