The Quebec Community Groups Network today congratulated Ginette Petitpas Taylor on her appointment as Canada’s new Minister of Official Languages and offered our keen assistance in her new portfolio. We also congratulated her predecessor, Mélanie Joly, on her promotion to Minister of Foreign Affairs. Read more
Heading into a new legislative session, after Tuesday’s “reboot,” Premier François Legault and his Coalition Avenir Québec government should rethink the profoundly flawed approach they have charted with Bill 96. A common theme emerged during a well-attended parallel consultation organized by the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) and subsequent National Assembly committee hearings: There is … Read more
Following months of repeated assurances to the contrary, Quebec Premier François Legault this morning confirmed that under Bill 96, he intends to restrict access to Quebec government services in English to members of the English-speaking community eligible to receive English education under Bill 101. Among the effects, this would remove the existing right to access … Read more
Quebec Premier Francois Legault came under fire this week for claiming “no minority in Canada is better served than English-speaking Quebecers” during his Tuesday inaugural speech. The premier made the comment after listing off institutions servicing the English-speaking community, from Dawson College to the MUHC. “English-speaking Quebecers worked hard to give ourselves those institutions,” said … Read more
Quebec Premier François Legault’s use and definition of the term “historic English-speaking community” is cause for concern, according to some in the province’s anglophone community. “The reaction that I’m hearing from English-speaking Quebecers is that it was a self-serving few seconds,” said QCGN director general Sylvia Martin-Laforge, “speaking to us and telling us we were … Read more
Premier François Legault has defined the historic English-speaking community as people who are eligible for English schooling in Quebec. The QCGN says the definition would mean between 300,000 and 500,000 English-speaking Quebecers would be dropped from the list of those entitled to services. The QCGN also challenged Legault’s statement that anglophones are the best treated minority in … Read more
Premier François Legault said Tuesday that despite his rocky relationship with Quebec’s English-speaking community, it is nevertheless the best served minority in Canada and he is proud of that. Legault’s use of the term “historic English-speaking community” will raise some hackles. The English community has complained such language potentially narrows the list of people eligible for services … Read more
With Quebec now officially into an election year, Premier François Legault is set to deliver a new inaugural message Tuesday to the National Assembly, which he hopes will signal a fresh start for his government. Launching a fresh session is useful for Legault. Any bills remaining on the order paper in the previous session automatically … Read more
As the Quebec Government prepares for the start of a new session tomorrow, we urge it once again to take a step back and bring Quebecers together to identify challenges, to separate myths from realities and, most importantly, to build a consensus on the best path forward to promote French in Quebec. If, on the … Read more
A bilingual roundtable sponsored by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada addresses some of the constitutional, legal, and political issues raised by Bill 96. It is moderated by Dean Robert Leckey of McGill University’s Faculty of Law. Panelists include Yves Boisvert of La Presse; lawyers Pierre Foucher (Université d’Ottawa), Julius Grey (Grey Casgrain), … Read more
(Video) “Language is a reflection of one’s culture and identity. No language should be suppressed,” QCGN Board member Eva Ludvig tell City News. Ludvig and Marion Delaronde, artistic director at the Kanien’kehà:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Centre, reflect on Bill 96, Quebec’s proposed language legislation that would curb the use of languages other than … Read more
Public hearings on the reform of Bill 101 ended on Thursday, after some 50 groups were heard over a three-week period. The testimony provided a portrait of fundamental legislative changes, in addition to raising some important fears, but Bill 96 did not raise the debates of yesteryear. “Like Bill 21, it reshapes Quebec law and society … Read more