While Quebec is once again immersed in the language debate, the Legault government announced with great fanfare on Friday an exhibition dedicated to Camille Laurin, the former PQ minister under René Lévesque to whom we owe the Charter of the French language. . The exhibition should travel to several museums across Quebec between September 2022 and winter 2024.
The Société des musées du Québec, which is leading the project, has not yet determined which institutions will host it. A limited collection has been designed for small rooms in the regions, while the major museums of Montreal and Quebec will be able to present the range of unpublished archives. Entitled “Camille Laurin: an inestimable legacy”, the exhibition will retrace the journey of the eminent psychiatrist who became an icon of the struggle for the French fact in Quebec.
“Mr. Laurin perfectly understood the importance for the Quebec nation to define itself, to express itself and to unite around the French language. Thanks to his conviction and his power of persuasion, we continue to assert ourselves and to exist as a French-speaking nation within the Americas,” boasted the Minister responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, at a press conference. .
Alongside the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, and the Minister responsible for the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, Simon Jolin-Barrette did not fail to point out that Camille Laurin, who died in 1999, would have celebrated his 100th birthday. on this May 6th. Friday’s announcement is all the more timely as the issue of the French language occupies an important place in political news with Bill 96.
Defended by Minister Jolin-Barrette, the Far 96 project aims precisely to strengthen Camille Laurin’s Charter of the French language. This broad reform is sharply criticized by several groups in the Anglophone community, while some Francophones consider that it does not go far enough, on the issue of Anglophone CEGEPs, among others.
Despite this context, Simon Jolin-Barrette ensures that the exhibition tribute to Camille Laurin is not political. “Mr. Laurin’s work goes beyond any political formation. His heritage belongs to all Quebecers. […] I think that all Quebecers can claim it,” affirmed the minister with conviction.
A legacy to defend
His predecessors — whether Liberals, PQs or CAQs — also co-signed an open letter on Friday to mark the 100th birthday of Camille Laurin, recalling that the defense of the French fact in Quebec goes not only through Bill 101 , but also by individual choices.
At a press conference, Minister Chantal Rouleau went further by acknowledging that the presence of French in Montreal remains an issue, nearly 45 years after the adoption of Bill 101. Also present, Camille Laurin’s brother for his part sorry for “the invasive and galloping anglicization” in the metropolis, believing today that French is in a “dramatic situation”. Five months before the elections, Pierre Laurin nevertheless welcomed Minister Jolin-Barrette’s desire to raise the bar.
“Camille Laurin’s determination, passion and courage should inspire us at this other critical moment in our history. […] I am reassured to see that Mr. Jolin-Barrette is the minister who is taking up the torch”, dropped the brother of the former PQ minister in the heart of a vibrant plea.
Elected under the Parti Québécois banner for the first time in 1970, Camille Laurin was close to René Lévesque, even if the latter was always more moderate than him on the language issue. Demonized in the English-language press at the time, he nevertheless persisted and had the Charter of the French language adopted in 1977, in a less radical version than initially desired, however.
Bill 101, as it was commonly called, consecrates French as the one and only official language of Quebec by forcing in particular the children of immigrants to be educated in the language of Molière until secondary school.