(Quebec) The Legault government wants a “national mobilization” to halt the decline of the French language as we run towards the “wall” and aims for 100% French-speaking immigration by 2026. The subject will be at the heart of the speech of opening of the session of François Legault, Wednesday.
The Prime Minister has targeted this issue as one of the two major challenges that his government must meet, along with the fight against climate change. He immediately framed the debate by affirming that to reverse the fall in the use of French in Quebec, “the key is really around immigration”.
On the menu, immigration controlled by Quebec will be 100% Francophone by 2026, he said. He says he is “open to all suggestions” to “stop the decline of French”, and believes that the opposition parties and civil society must also make their contribution. He underlined that this subject would be addressed in his opening speech.
You have to look at Quebec, we are around 78%, 80% francophone. It is certain that there is a fall of four to five points for 20 years. On the other hand, where it is dramatic, it is really in Montreal, where we have fallen below the 50% mark.
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
This data repeated by Legault, however, does not take into account the 6.7% of Montrealers who say they speak French and another language at home. In addition, the census specifies that 84.4% of Montrealers can carry on a conversation in French, according to Statistics Canada.
national awakening
The new Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, struck even harder. After reading a report by The Press which demonstrates that the decline of French does not exist only in Montreal, but in the majority of regions of Quebec, he affirms that “all the indicators are red”.
“That is what is worrying. If we look at the mother tongue, the language spoken at home, if we look at the language at work, all the indicators are red,” he lamented.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
The Minister for the French Language, Jean-Francois Roberge
Mr. Roberge gives himself the mandate to make Quebecers understand “that right now, we are not walking, we are running towards the wall” of the decline of French. He says the province’s language decline has been greater in the past 20 years “than in the previous century.”
We need a national awakening, we need national mobilization, every Quebecer needs to ask themselves: am I choosing a book in French, am I listening to a program in French? , am I consuming culture in French, do I express myself in French in my workplace whenever I can?
Jean-François Roberge, Minister of the French Language
The minister affirms “that we will really have to take strong action” and that the Legault government “will take action”, without specifying which ones. First of all, he wants to “implement” the reform of the Charter of the French language adopted by his predecessor, Simon Jolin-Barrette.
But this “mobilization”, this “awakening” is also heard by the young CAQists. The youth wing of the party wants the CAQ to hold a “big discussion on the protection of French” where everything will be on the table to reverse the decline of the language, including the application of Bill 101 to CEGEPs, even if its new President personally opposes it.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Victor Pelletier, President of the Commission for the Future of the Coalition avenir Québec
“We don’t think we should go with Bill 101 in particular at CEGEP for the moment, we will still discuss it in the party. Everything is on the table. I want us to have a big discussion on the protection of French,” says the new president of the CAQ’s Commission for the future, Victor Pelletier, in an interview with The Press.
No law 101 in cegep
Mr. Pelletier, who lives in Blainville, goes to Montreal regularly for his studies at the University of Montreal. “The decline of the language can be observed with the eye in the Montreal area. There is a strong decline of the French language in Laval, but it is especially in Montreal, regardless of the borough where you are, ”he said.
The president of the CRCAQ affirms that the protection of the French language should not be opposed to the economy: “it is a belief that some have”, he said. “But we must not pound on our pride and our language for the economy,” he added.
Even if François Legault says he is open to “suggestions”, he still closed the door to Bill 101 at CEGEP. “We know that all newcomers have to send their children to school in French for all of primary and all of secondary school. Would two or three years of CEGEP change the situation? “said the Prime Minister. “For the foreseeable future, the door is closed. »
As for 100% Francophone immigration, its objective is lagging due to a “backlog” made up of “immigrants who were selected by the former government,” he explained. Quebec controls approximately 65% of the 50,000 immigrants the province receives each year. It is this portion that will have to be completely French-speaking.