Message from the Mayor – The Town of Sutton must maintain its bilingual status

Within the framework of Bill 96 projet de loi sur la langue officielle et commune du Québec, le français that that has just been tabled, the Government of Quebec wishes to add an article to the Charter of the French language, which could affect the bilingual status of the Town of Sutton.

As mayor, I want to reassure all my fellow anglophone citizens that the Town will do everything in its power to maintain the recognition of Sutton’s bilingual status, even if it no longer meets the conditions provided for in the article 29.1 of the Charter by currently only having 28% anglophones in its population instead of the minimum of 50%.

Thus, I will undertake to propose any resolution to confirm this recognition, as the future article 29.2 of the Charter stipulates in the event the Town of Sutton were to have its bilingual status withdrawn by the Office québécois de la langue française.

We have a duty to continue to recognize the important contribution of the anglophone community in the founding and development of our municipality. To the extent of the financial and administrative resources of the Town, our anglophone citizens should be able to obtain information and answers to their questions in English, as we do now.

Michel Lafrance, Mayor