(Montreal) The decline in the proportion of Quebecers having French as a language spoken at home, “it’s not something that worries me”, says the star candidate of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), André A Morin. This is the opposite of the Liberal leader’s speech at the start of the campaign, since Dominique Anglade says she is concerned about the situation.
Posted at 4:31 p.m.
Updated at 8:49 p.m.
The exit of this former chief federal prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for the Quebec region came to darken the launch of the Liberal Party campaign.
However, the day had just taken a favorable turn for the Liberals with the controversy raised by François Legault who challenged Dominique Anglade by designating her as “this lady”, without naming her.
“The madam, she has a plan! “replied Dominique Anglade in a speech at an activist rally in Montreal. On Monday, she will unveil her “wallet plan”, aimed at giving money back to Quebecers hit by the rising cost of living. We already know that she wants to lower the taxes of those who earn less than $92,000—up to $1,000. She returns to the basic game of her party by choosing to make the economy the “question of the ballot box”.
Between 200 and 300 Liberal activists gathered in LaFontaine, in Rivière-des-Prairies, for the launch of the Liberal campaign – 400, according to host Marc Tanguay, outgoing MP. The party got us used to bigger crowds for Day 1.
Decline of French
At the end of this gathering, André A. Morin, candidate in Acadie north of Montreal, answered questions from journalists, particularly about the decline in French observed by Statistics Canada based on census data. The percentage of Quebecers speaking mainly French at home fell from 79% to 77.5% between 2016 and 2021. The proportion of those for whom French is the first official language spoken continued to fall, dropping from 83.7% at 82.2%.
“It’s not something that worries me, dropped Mr. Morin. There is always a way to change the situation. Then me, by the way, that’s what I say to Mme Anglade is not something that worries me. »
The candidate considers that “there are already a very large number of measures in place” to protect French. There is no need to be afraid “because we have the means to ensure that people like their language, like French, are able to speak and write it well”.
There are still a very large number of Quebeckers who speak French, so at that time, I think that French will continue to be spoken and to grow in Quebec. For me, it’s not something to worry about.
André A. Morin, candidate in Acadie
A few hours earlier, in Quebec, Dominique Anglade said however that the portrait unveiled by Statistics Canada is “worrying”, a source of “worries”. She swept aside criticism from her opponents who accused her of not taking the situation seriously enough. Questioned about the remarks of her candidate, the Liberal leader replied that “the situation of French will always be worrying. We have seen a decline, a setback, particularly, not only, in downtown Montreal, and that’s why we made 27 proposals.
At the end of the afternoon, Mr. Morin tried to qualify his remarks in a message on Twitter: “I specify that the PLQ in [sic] made 27 proposals to protect French in Quebec. The current situation deserves sustained attention and I am committed to continuing my actions in this direction if I am elected in Acadie”.
A dozen Liberal candidates have still not been announced by the PLQ, while the other parties have a complete team. Dominique Anglade presented his candidate in La Pinière on Sunday, Linda Caron, the president of the party. This riding of Montérégie was represented by Gaétan Barrette.