Quebec appoints its first French-speaking minister after passing Bill 96

 A week after the passage of Act 96, the provincial government announced on Wednesday (June 1) that Simon Jolin-Barrette would become Quebec's first Francophone minister.

Prior to that, Jolin-Bahyt had served as Quebec's justice minister, leader of parliament and in charge of the French language.

The French Ministry is a new addition under Act 96, which is the first time in Quebec's history that a separate French ministry has been established. As Minister of French, Jolin-Bahyt was responsible for the formation of a new ministry to ensure the implementation of Act 96, including the recruitment of 100 civil servants in the French Office (OQLF), the provision of language policy to the government, and the appointment of a French commissioner.

Born in 1987 and raised in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, on Montreal's south shore, Jolin-Bahyt is a practicing lawyer in Quebec and was elected to the provincial National Assembly in 2014.

Since the CAQ came to power in 2018, Jolin-Bahyt has served first as immigration minister and then as justice minister in 2020. He spearheaded several of the province's most controversial bills and reforms, including Bill 9, which invalidated 18,000 skilled immigration applications; Bill 21, which banned the wearing of religious apparel by civil servants; a major overhaul of Quebec's experienced immigrant PEQ program; and the recently passed French-language enhancement Bill 96.

Speaking at a press conference after being sworn in as French minister, Jolin-Bahyt said government services for new immigrants would be provided in French six months after their arrival. He said complementary measures could be taken if necessary, such as providing interpretation services, and that he aimed to have 90 per cent of new immigrants prefer French to English as soon as possible and find out the best way to learn French.