Quebec once again demands that the CRTC guarantee services in French at 911

Photo: Paul Chiasson Archives The Canadian Press Quebecers using Internet telephony are not always able to receive a response in French when they call 911.

Isabelle Porter in Quebec

Published yesterday at 5:58 p.m.

• Canada

A year after pressing Ottawa to act, the Quebec National Assembly once again unanimously adopted a motion demanding that 911 emergency centers guarantee services in French.< /p>

As Le Devoir revealed last year, Quebecers using Internet telephony are not always able to have people respond in French when they call 911.

Under the motion adopted Wednesday, “the National Assembly asks the CAQ government to take all necessary additional steps with the federal government” in this matter.

It s is, it is written, “to ensure that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission [CRTC] takes the necessary actions so that the 9-1-1 emergency call centers of IP telephone companies provide telecommunications services in French throughout Quebec. And this, “without preventing the additional use of a language other than French, and as quickly as possible.”

The motion was tabled by the MP Liberal from Westmount–Saint-Louis, Jennifer Maccarone. It was adopted unanimously by the 103 deputies present during the session.

“In an emergency situation, it is difficult to find words in our mother tongue. For a French speaker, this is certainly not the best time to practice your English,” argued the elected official in a press release. “The cases reported to us in recent months are worrying. The CAQ government must continue to put pressure on the federal government to ensure that 9-1-1 services are offered in French to all French-speaking Quebecers. It’s a question of safety for the public, let’s not wait for a tragedy to happen. »

The National Assembly of Quebec and the House of Commons of Canada had already adopted unanimous motions on this subject a year ago. Last February, the Trudeau government criticized the CRTC for its inaction in the matter. “Stop trying to wash your hands of it and resolve the problem as quickly as possible,” declared the Trudeau government’s lieutenant for Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez.

The CRTC argued for its part that the problem was not directly within its jurisdiction. In a letter, the organization called on telephone service providers to review their contracts with problematic subcontractors “without delay”, but it refuses to modify its regulations in this area.