This article was originally published in The Gazette on April 1, 2005.
1960s: Fuelled by the energy of the Quiet Revolution, the Liberal government of Jean Lesage takes action on the status of the French language, adopting a series of measures to promote French in public places without banning the use of English.
November 1969: Jean-Jacques Bertrand's Union Nationale government introduces Bill 63, a law to promote the French language in Quebec. It allows parents to choose the language in which their children will be educated.
Summer 1974: The Liberals under Robert Bourassa introduce Bill 22, the law making French Quebec's only official language. The law obliges immigrants to send their children to French schools.
It also compels the use of French on public signs - but permits the use of additional languages.
Aug. 26, 1977: Under the Parti Quebecois government of Rene Levesque, Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language, designed to make Quebec a French society, passes in the National Assembly.
Dec. 2, 1985: The Liberals defeat the PQ after an election campaign during which Robert Bourassa promises to allow bilingual commercial signs.
December 1988: The Supreme Court of Canada rules the sign law - Sections 58 and 69 of Bill 101 - violates the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, which guarantee of freedom of expression. Bourassa invokes the notwithstanding clause of the constitution to protect new sign legislation,
Bill 178, which prohibits outdoor bilingual signs but allows some bilingual signs indoors.
April 8, 1993: A United Nations human rights committee ruling that says Bill 178 violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is made public.
June 1993: The Liberals proceed with the adoption of a new sign law, Bill 86, which allows bilingual outdoor and indoor signs, as long as French has "net predominance."
Sept. 12, 1994: The Parti Quebecois wins power after a campaign during which it pledges to abolish Bill 86. Not willing to stir up the language issue on the eve of the referendum on separation, Premier Jacques Parizeau shelves plans to scrap it.
Nov. 25, 1996: PQ members narrowly agree at a policy convention to keep Bill 86 on the books on the condition the government toughen up other language laws on things like packaging. Culture Minister Louise Beaudoin announces plans to bring back Quebec's language-enforcement agency, the Commission de protection de la langue francaise.
June 6, 1997: The government re-establishes the Commission de protection de la langue francaise and its language-law inspectors after the National Assembly adopts Bill 40. The bill also requires stores to stock French versions of computer programs in cases where they exist.
Oct. 20, 1999: Quebec Court Judge Danielle Cote strikes down Bill 86, the law requiring the predominance of French on signs. The government appeals the decision and wins.
June 2002: Bill 104 is adopted by the PQ government to close a loophole that allowed children ineligible for English instruction to attend unsubsidized private English-language schools, then transfer into public English-language schools.
Yesterday: The Supreme Court of Canada lays down legal criteria that will make it easier for immigrants - and native-born Canadians who move to Quebec from other provinces - to gain access to English schools. However, the court stops short of striking down any provisions of Bill 101. It also rejects a bid by francophone parents to be allowed to send their children to English school.