Pierrefonds-Roxboro retains bilingual status, mayor confirms
Posted February 7, 2023 4:24 pm.
The borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro has successfully retained its bilingual status.
Several Montreal municipalities – such as Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Dorval, Kirkland, and Côte Saint-Luc – were at risk of losing that bilingual status under Bill 96, Quebec’s French-language reform law.
The municipalities needed to show English speakers don’t makeup 50 per cent of the population.
Pierrefonds-Roxboro sent a request to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) to retain its status.
“I am extremely pleased to announce that we recently received confirmation from the OQLF that our borough’s bilingual status has been accepted and maintained,” Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, the mayor of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
“This after many discussions and three resolutions by our borough council since the Quebec Government announced their intentions of possibly removing this status, something we’ve had since the 1970s and necessary in our community.”
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Almost 90 cities, towns or boroughs in Quebec are considered officially bilingual, a designation allowing them to offer services, post signage and mail communications in the country’s two official languages.
Jurisdictions without this status must communicate only in French, with few exceptions.
“It is also important to note that we did not require the Montreal Administration to approve this at the Montreal level and it was confirmed by our legal affairs,” wrote Beis.
—With files from The Canadian Press
