The thing does not fail to be surprising. What does the Caisse de depot et placement do in the configuration of the university system? The Quebec government has just announced that the Caisse and its real estate subsidiary, Ivanhoé Cambridge, have been given the mandate “to study the establishment of a world-class interuniversity complex” on part of the Royal Victoria site. A city serving whom? Serving what?
Quebec has chosen to put the cart before the horse. Unless he wants to improve his gift to McGill, it is not clear how the requalification of the site could serve the university system of Quebec without first defining the institutional and intellectual project that this city should serve.
This project should be the creation of the International University of La Francophonie. The Ministry of Higher Education must first be given the mandate to develop its form and content. An institution of such scope should bring together all of the French universities of Montreal and Quebec to make it the place par excellence for the dissemination of Quebec knowledge and skills. It is also a place to attract and bring together the driving forces of universities from across the Francophonie. It is primarily the project that will make the university campus a “world-class” facility, not the planning choices and the increase in the supply of accommodation for students.
It takes a flagship institution to give Montréal the means and prestige associated with a university city with international influence. Not only would the International University of La Francophonie become the keystone of the Quebec university system, it would embody, overlooking the city center, the symbol, the strength and the affirmation of the French character of the metropolis. At a time when all the indicators are red regarding the decline of French, such an institution will become a powerful instrument for the francization of the city center. By attracting students, researchers and professors from all over La Francophonie, Université Jean-Marc-Léger, as we have suggested naming it in honor of one of the great pioneers of the institutions of La Francophonie, will contribute to increasing the critical mass of French speakers.
Moreover, at a time when the Government of Quebec has chosen to make recruiting Francophone immigrants its priority and to target the recruitment of candidates at the top of the income scale, the International University of Francophonie will open up new possibilities. And the university city could become the place par excellence to open up Montreal and Quebec to the immense potential for cooperation with the French-speaking world.
We know it only too well, in many circles, the expression “world class” is a coded phrase to imply that we will have to give in to the Anglosphere. This is what is hidden behind the omission to specify which university and institutional project will serve the projected university city. It is not clear how a university city attracting even more English-speaking students would contribute to strengthening the French character of the metropolis. It is even less clear why public funds should be devoted to it.
The government announcement of this public-public partnership, as mentioned in the press release, refers to immense stupidity or censorship. Before thinking about the container, you have to think about the content. This is why we urge the government of Quebec to mandate, under the aegis of the Ministry of Higher Education, a working group whose mission will be to draw the outlines of the great institution that the Quebec university system deserves. This must be done with resources and a fairly short work schedule so that the managers in charge of real estate know what they will have to do to give a soul to the buildings, a style to the facilities and a vocation to the buildings.
By creating the International University of La Francophonie, Jean-Marc-Léger University, the Government of Quebec would complete Quebec’s contribution to building a strong Francophonie. World-class equipment must serve ambitions and goals that are in perfect continuity and resonance with the international positioning of Quebec. The Ministry of International Relations and La Francophonie would find there the strategic focus it lacks. Increasing your presence in the world is good, but doing it while having something to offer that is more inspiring than trade and investment statistics is better.
The national destiny of Quebec is inseparable from its insertion in the various ecosystems and authorities which order the exchanges between the nations. The government of Quebec does not have to behave like a shopkeeper to make the student residence project a miserable real estate affair. If it does not rise to the height required by the conditions for the development of Quebec as a French nation proud and confident in its own institutions, it will only make the mountain project a disappointing regional project. The Anglosphere will nibble on it to the rhythm of Anglicization and the decline of French. Worse still, it will condemn it to being only a weak competitor of what the United States is able to offer the best.
There is an appointment in this ambition to rise to the international level. It would be sad to see the Legault government miss it for lack of vision. For lack of ambition. And, above all, by resigning to the potential of exemplary that could embody the International University of La Francophonie.