Quebec business owner believes Bill 96 will exacerbate province’s worker shortage

Critics of Quebec’s Bill 96 continue to react and make their voices heard following last week’s adoption of the language law reform.

Bill 96, among other things, limits the use of English in the public service and permits inspectors to conduct searches and seizures in businesses without warrants.

It requires those newly arrived and refugees to communicate in French to government agencies within six months of their arrival.

And it requires all students at English CEGEPs to take three core courses in French, or if eligible, take additional courses on the French language.

Vincenzo Guzzo, the CEO of Cinemas Guzzo – which operates 10 theatres in the Montreal area – feels Bills 96 will only exacerbate the province’s worker shortage by creating division in the province.

CityNews’ Alyssia Rubertucci spoke to Guzzo about the language law reform.

How will Bill 96 affect your business and exacerbate the issue of labour shortages?

“Let’s get something clear. I don’t think Bill 96 will strengthen anything. I mean, if you want to strengthen the French language, I think what you’ve got to do is promote the French language. I think you’ve got to put pressure on Ottawa to promote it across the country to make Canada truly what it’s supposed to be, which is a bilingual country.”

How does the new law affect you on the business side of things?

“I don’t understand where people have gone. You know, where have people gone? I mean, it’s just I don’t get it. We’ve got the shortage of employees and I don’t understand. So right now, our theatres cannot open the regular business hours they would have opened before the pandemic. So, for example, one theatre in particular open seven days a week at noon, can only open three days a week at noon. The other days, I don’t have enough staff to do it. So where they’ve gone, I don’t know.

“What I can tell you is that if you’re trying to attract people to come to Quebec because it’s a great place to live, it’s a great standard of living… the fact that you’re telling people that they’re not allowed to talk among themselves in a non-work environment or in a non-work-related discussion in whatever language they want, it’s very particular to me.

“I like that the premier pointed out that anglophones will still be able to get English service. I got a complaint this weekend. This new law was just enacted, and I got a complaint from a French customer who went to one of my English-only theatres. And believe it or not, I thought the complaint was going to be about staff, but it wasn’t. He says, ‘I got there. I got served in French when I bought my ticket. I got served in French at the concession counter, and I got served in French where to go. But the movie was in English.’ Yeah, the movies in English theatres are English. Like. Sorry. What does Bill 96 have to do with what kind of movies we’re going to play?”

So what do you want the government to do for you? How can they help the sort of situation you’re dealing with in terms of labor shortages?

“Well, I don’t think this government can do anything. I think this government’s only thinking about winning their election. And so I think we’ve seen the two years of pandemic, how they managed. And the truth of the matter is, I expect zero from the provincial government.

“I don’t know what the Canadian government can do apart from, I guess, let more people in. But like I said, if Quebec is going to start pushing people away and saying, ‘we don’t want you non-francophone-speaking immigrants, it’s going to be complicated.

“I don’t think the provincial government is going to do anything to resolve our problems.”