Minister Jean-François Roberge calls for a “national awakening” for the future of the language and asks Quebecers to consume more cultural products in French.
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“All the indicators are red,” warns the new minister responsible for the French language. Not only is French declining as a mother tongue, but also as a language spoken at home and the language of work.
Jean-François Roberge promises that his government will take “strong” action to try to reverse the trend. But laws and regulations have their limits. Citizens have their share of responsibilities in this fight, believes the minister.
“Quebecers will really have to understand that right now, we’re not walking, we’re running towards the wall! We have a real problem. The decline of French is greater in the last twenty years than in the previous century, so we need a national awakening, we need national mobilization, ”he insisted on Tuesday, the day of the return to Parliament in Quebec.
Minister Roberge therefore invites citizens to contribute to the sustainability of the French language in their daily lives.
“Every Quebecer must ask themselves: am I choosing a book in French? Am I listening to a program in French? Am I consuming culture in French? In my workplace, do I express myself in French whenever I can? “.
No care in French
And the situation is also problematic in the health system. Patients in some Quebec hospitals have been unable to receive treatment in French, revealed The newspaper.
A situation that François Legault considers unacceptable. “It’s even shocking! “Reacted Tuesday the Prime Minister, who promises to act.
He also makes the decline of the French language one of his main battlegrounds. “We are at less than 50% Francophones on the island of Montreal,” he laments. The Prime Minister considers that the situation of French in the Metropolis is “dramatic”.
100% Francophone immigration
After the adoption of Bill 96, which reforms the Charter of the French language, the Prime Minister plans to take other actions regarding the selection of newcomers, which will be detailed in the inaugural speech he is to deliver to Parliament on Wednesday. .
“The key is really around immigration,” he repeats. François Legault aims in particular for 100% French-speaking immigration by 2026.
However, there is no question, “in the foreseeable future”, of imposing Bill 101 on the CEGEP. He recalls that newcomers must already send their children to French-language schools in elementary and secondary school.
“Would two or three years of CEGEP change the situation? I think the urgency is really to see what we do with immigration, ”he insisted.
For the PQ, the hard report of the CAQ on the precarious situation of French shows that their reform of law 101 is not sufficient. “It’s as if it were a disavowal of Bill 96,” according to PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.