ANSWERS FROM THE CANADIAN PARTY OF QUEBEC
The Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) believes Quebec can protect and promote the French language while fully respecting the rights, freedoms, and institutions of its English-speaking community. Our approach is based on freedom of choice, equality before the law, institutional autonomy, bilingualism, and respect for both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Question 1: If your party is elected, will it commit to taking the following measures during the 2026–2030 mandate?
Governance, rights and legislation
Continue the process of adopting a Quebec constitution, following broad public consultation?
No. The CaPQ does not support the adoption of a separate Quebec constitution. Quebecers already benefit from constitutional protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provides a common framework of fundamental rights and freedoms across Canada. We also recognize and respect the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms as an important part of Quebec’s legal framework.
Rather than creating a separate constitutional framework, our government would focus on ensuring that Quebec legislation complies with both the Canadian Charter and the Quebec Charter. We believe Quebecers’ fundamental rights should be protected through strong judicial review and a consistent constitutional framework.
Our party would therefore reject the creation of a separate Quebec constitution and reaffirm Quebec’s place within Canada’s constitutional framework.
Withdraw the appeal concerning Bill 40 before the Supreme Court of Canada?
Yes. We would withdraw the appeal concerning Bill 40 and repeal the provisions of Bill 40 affecting English-language school boards. We believe Quebec’s English-speaking minority must retain meaningful control over the institutions responsible for educating its children.
English-language school boards are an important expression of minority-language educational rights. Their governance should respect the constitutional protections provided to Canada’s English-speaking minority and should not be subject to unnecessary political interference.
Refrain from invoking Quebec or Canadian notwithstanding clauses pre-emptively in order to shield legislation from judicial review?
Yes. We would not use the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively to shield legislation from judicial review. The notwithstanding clause should be an exceptional constitutional mechanism, not a routine tool for preventing courts from examining whether legislation complies with fundamental rights.
Our government would respect both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and allow the courts to perform their constitutional role.
Access to services
Clarify the application of Bill 96 to ensure that municipalities can provide services in English to residents who request them?
Yes. The CaPQ would repeal Bill 96 and replace its restrictive approach with one that protects French as Quebec’s official language while respecting individual freedom of choice.
Municipalities should have greater autonomy over how they communicate with their residents. Municipal governments should be able to provide services in English where residents request them.
We believe Quebec can promote French without preventing municipalities from serving their own communities in English.
Ensure that the application of Bill 96 does not impede access to health and social services in English for those who request them?
Yes. We would repeal the provisions of Bill 96 that create unnecessary barriers to accessing healthcare and social services in English.
Quebecers should be able to communicate with healthcare and social-service professionals in the language they understand best. Where reasonably practicable, government services should also accommodate residents who require assistance in other languages through interpretation or translation.
Language must never become a barrier to essential healthcare or social services.
Education and workforce training
Do not apply the eligibility criteria under Bill 101 to adult education and vocational training programs offered in English?
Yes. Adults should have the freedom to choose the language of their vocational, professional, and continuing education.
The CaPQ would remove unnecessary language-based restrictions on English-language adult education and vocational training. Quebec needs a skilled workforce, and the government should be making education and training more accessible rather than creating additional barriers.
French will remain the official language of Quebec, but Quebecers should be free to pursue education and training in English when that best meets their needs.
Increase funding for employability and workforce training programs that specifically serve English-speaking Quebecers?
Yes. The CaPQ would ensure that English-speaking Quebecers have equitable access to employment services, skills training, and workforce-development programs.
The government should help Quebecers acquire skills, find employment, and participate fully in the economy. Programs serving English-speaking communities should receive appropriate support based on demonstrated need.
We would also promote bilingualism as an economic advantage, encouraging Quebecers to develop strong French and English skills.
Question 2: Recent policy changes have placed considerable financial pressure on Quebec’s English-language universities and reduced their ability to attract and retain students. What will your party do to put them on a stronger footing?
The CaPQ would reverse policies that have made Quebec’s English-language universities less competitive and less accessible.
We would reverse the recent tuition measures that have disproportionately affected Quebec’s English-language universities and their ability to attract students from elsewhere in Canada, and return to a system in which universities can compete for students based on academic excellence rather than government-directed language policy.
We would also protect the institutional autonomy of English-language universities, allowing them to establish admissions policies, recruit students and faculty, develop academic programs, and establish partnerships according to their educational missions.
Quebec benefits enormously from having world-class universities operating in both French and English. English-language institutions attract students, researchers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and investment to Quebec. Weakening these institutions ultimately weakens Quebec’s economy and academic ecosystem.
The CaPQ would therefore establish a stable and predictable funding environment for universities while ensuring that funding formulas do not unfairly disadvantage institutions because of the language in which they operate.
Our objective is not to weaken French-language universities. It is to ensure that both French-language and English-language universities can succeed.
Students should have the freedom to choose the university that best fits their academic ambitions. The government should promote bilingualism and encourage students to develop strong French and English skills rather than treating proficiency in one language as a threat to the other.
Question 3: The adoption of Bill 96 has imposed significant constraints on admission to and access to Quebec’s English-language CEGEPs. What will your party do to put them on a stronger footing and ensure that they can continue to fully meet the needs of students and communities?
We will absolutely repeal Bill 96’s restrictive provisions affecting English-language CEGEPs and restore freedom of choice for students.
Students should be able to choose an English- or French-language CEGEP based on their educational goals, circumstances, and preferences. The government should not unnecessarily restrict that choice through language-based admission barriers.
English-language CEGEPs play an important role in Quebec’s education system and economy. They serve historic English-speaking communities while providing valuable educational opportunities to students from across Quebec.
We would protect the institutional autonomy of English-language CEGEPs and remove unnecessary language-based restrictions affecting admissions, programs, and student recruitment, allowing them to determine their institutional priorities according to the needs of their communities.
We would also support greater access to English-language vocational and technical education and remove unnecessary restrictions that prevent students from pursuing programs in English.
At the same time, we recognize the importance of French in Quebec. Our objective is not to undermine French-language education. It is to promote bilingualism by ensuring that Quebecers can become proficient in both French and English.
A strong education system should give students more opportunities, not fewer.
English-language CEGEPs should be strengthened as part of a diverse, competitive, and bilingual education system that prepares Quebecers for the Quebec, Canadian, and international economies.
Conclusion
The CaPQ position is straightforward: French is the official language of Quebec, but protecting French does not require restricting the rights, freedoms, institutions, or choices of Quebec’s English-speaking community.
We would repeal Bills 21 and 96, as well as the provisions of Bill 40 affecting English-language school boards, restore institutional autonomy, expand municipal flexibility, protect access to healthcare and social services, restore freedom of choice in education, reverse discriminatory tuition increases, and promote bilingualism across Quebec.
Quebec should be confident enough in the French language to allow its citizens to speak, learn, work, and receive services in the language that best meets their needs — while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.