On April 28, our Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, unveiled “A bold $603 million plan to reverse the decline of French in Quebec.” Nothing less ! Would he have been inspired by the famous tirade of Georges Danton in 1792: “To defeat them, gentlemen, we need audacity, more audacity, always audacity! » ?
But everything indicates that there is above all, among some good measures, costly verbiage, which risks provoking smirks among our friends at McGill, at Concordia and elsewhere who are working towards the final anglicization of Quebec , as was highlighted in the text Libre opinion by Mr. Yann Leduc published on May 10. Why is that ? Quite simply because inconsistency and contradiction have the capacity to destroy the best intentions…
Indeed, nowhere in his document is there any question of simply applying the law on French, the official language, as it should have been for a long time, in all communications with businesses, organizations and Quebec citizens. It is easy to verify that practically all Quebec government documents are available to choose from, in French and English for everyone, including immigrants. We can see that the pages on the State’s websites are entirely bilingual, with rare exceptions.
So, we easily understand that, faced with such inconsistency, businesses have little hesitation in operating more and more in English. In addition, most immigrants quickly understood the message and chose English as a priority in their procedures. As soon as they finish secondary school, their children will overwhelm the CEGEPs and universities intended for English speakers of British ancestry which are already overfunded. The disastrous consequences are observed in all areas.
No, Minister Roberge’s plan to promote our official language really lacks realism and credibility. In short, there are $603 million in unnecessary spending planned, like so many others in different areas, while it is completely unnecessary in a state that respects itself by applying its democratically voted laws.