False advertising: CAQ apologizes for ads claiming Bill 96 has been passed

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government is apologizing to the National Assembly for an error made it said it made "in good faith."

The CAQ recently launched a major advertising campaign touting its record over the past four years in preparation for the next election campaign.

It congratulates itself on having adopted Bill 96 on the French language, when in fact it has not yet been passed, argued Christine Labrie, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, on Thursday. 

She read excerpts from the advertisement in the Blue Room, which said that the adoption of Bill 96 is the "strongest gesture for the French language since the adoption of Bill 101 in 1977."

The CAQ also congratulated itself for having enshrined in the Constitution the fact that Quebec is a nation and that its official language is French, even though this has not been done.

"You can't assume a bill is a law. This is a lack of respect for the legislative process," Labrie complained to National Assembly President François Paradis.

To falsely suggest that a bill is law in advertisements could even constitute contempt of Parliament, according to case law, she added.

Labrie called for greater deference to the National Assembly and its members.

She said Quebecers should not be given the impression that a proposed measure is a fait accompli and that members of parliament have no role to play.

Government House Leader and Minister responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, then rose to formally apologize to the Assembly.

"It was an honest mistake. It should not have happened, so we apologize to the National Assembly, Mr. President, and we will see to it that this situation does not happen again in the future," he said.

He added that the ads would be corrected.

President Paradis closed the debate by saying that he "takes note" of the apology made by the government leader.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 12, 2022.