The Bloc Québécois says an administrative agreement between Ottawa and Quebec is needed to ensure their compromise on protecting French is respected, particularly by the banks.

"Let's get the banks on the hook," Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet wrote in an open letter released Tuesday in which he calls for a "sustained watch" on the behaviour of "resistant companies" to ensure they recognize "the inalienable right to work in French in Quebec."

Blanchet says he "doubts the real effectiveness" of what the two levels of government have agreed to, especially since it "validates a strange practice" of giving businesses a choice between two laws, in this case, the Official Languages Act and Quebec's Charter of the French Language, and allowing them to "take the one they prefer."

On Friday, the Trudeau government announced at the end of clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-13, which modernizes the Official Languages Act, that it was introducing to implement a series of amendments that reflect its arrangement with the Quebec government. They were all adopted unanimously.

Thus, private companies under federal jurisdiction in Quebec will not be forced to comply with Quebec's Charter of the French Language, but that would be just the same, or close to it, if C-13 is adopted, it was explained.

As for the banks, all of those that had to register with the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) have done so, a spokesperson for the institution said.

The banks are CIBC, HSBC, Laurentian, BMO, National, Royal, Scotia and TD.

In recent weeks, Air Canada and Canadian National Railway (CN) announced that they were voluntarily registering with the OQLF, which they had been required to do for several months following the adoption of Bill 96 by the national assembly. Their decisions would have greatly facilitated negotiations with Ottawa, according to Quebec government officials.

The compromise between Ottawa and Quebec City convinced the New Democratic Party (NDP) on Friday to drop its support for an amendment - which the Liberals were adamantly opposed to - to make these businesses subject to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, thus breaking the majority formed with Conservative and Bloc members.

Although he notes that Quebec was unable to "extract more from Ottawa," Blanchet is pleased that the agreement can protect the French language.

"This is not a setback," he insisted, crediting his party with "one obvious fact: without our sustained efforts over the years, this progress would not even have been considered by Ottawa."

The Bloc will "consider voting in favour" of the bill since its amended version "seems to correspond to the will of Quebec."

However, it will continue to "actively campaign" to ensure that the federal language regime is devoted solely to protecting French in the rest of the country "where its survival is in grave peril," says Blanchet.

Now that the committee study is complete, Bill C-13 is sent back to the House of Commons for the report stage before the third reading. It will then be sent to the Senate. The government hopes for quick passage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 4, 2023.