Legal dispute over Quebec's language policy

The legal dispute over Quebec's language policy began soon after the enactment of Bill 101, establishing the Charter of the French Language, by the National Assembly of Quebec in 1977.

The Charter, enacted under the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque, expanded upon Quebec's previous language legislation, Bill 22, also known as the Official Language Act, enacted in 1974 under the Liberal Party of Quebec government of Robert Bourassa. Earlier language legislation in Quebec had included Bill 63 in 1969, and the La Vergne Law of 1910.

Both statutes were drafted in an attempt to follow the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec (the Gendron Commission).

Unlike the (Quebec) Official Language Act of 1974 (not to be confused with the federal Official Languages Act), the Charter of the French Language was a legal framework defining the linguistic rights of Quebecers, and a language management policy giving the state of Quebec the power to intervene in many sectors of public life to promote French as the common language of all citizens. Its enactment by the National Assembly sparked a legal battle that still goes on today.

In 1867, the British Parliament passed the British North America Act, 1867, now known as the Constitution Act, 1867 which became the supreme law of the Dominion of Canada (although it was modified several times, it is still part of the Constitution of Canada). This act contained only one section (section 133) dealing with language. It read:

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