‘A political stunt’: EMSB says Quebec’s plan to redirect 27,000 students to French schools will backfire

The CAQ’s plan would hurt Quebec’s economy, says English Montreal School Board chair Joe Ortona. Quebec failed to teach immigrants French and now wants to bar them from English vocational schools — a plan that will backfire by driving skilled workers out of the workforce, the head of the province’s largest English school board says.

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TALQ, a coalition of anglophone groups, also denounced the province’s plan, saying it would endanger the anglophone school system without benefiting the French language. “Here we go again — it’s a continuation of the Coalition Avenir Québec’s divisive identity politics, which has been very harmful to the English-speaking community,” said TALQ president Eva Ludvig.

“It’s unfortunate that Fréchette, who has said she’s taking a fresh approach, has decided to continue” in the same vein as her predecessor, François Legault, Ludvig added. TALQ’s president said the change will “have a very negative impact on the viability of our English school system.” Before taking over as CAQ leader and premier in April, Fréchette reached out to English-speaking Quebecers who felt disenfranchised by CAQ policies.