Judge dismisses COVID-19 language challenge
Simultaneous interpretation of key government information from unilingual anglophone politicians and officials is sufficient to ensure the language rights of francophones in New Brunswick, a judge ruled this month.
Rogersville resident Nelson Cyr filed an application against the province in the Court of King’s Bench in 2023, arguing that his language rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the Official Languages Act, by government communications efforts.
He argued that much of the vital information offered to the public through regular news conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in 2020, was presented by unilingual anglophones, such as then-health minister Dorothy Shephard, then-chief officer of medical health Dr. Jennifer Russell, and notably then-premier Blaine Higgs.
But in a decision earlier this month, Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Dysart ruled on Cyr’s application seeking declaratory relief.