François Legault urges Justin Trudeau’s government to take action to protect French rather than attack “Bill 96” because it is “discriminatory” against English speakers. “English is not an endangered species,” he insisted on Wednesday.
The Quebec Premier was responding to comments made Tuesday evening by certain federal Liberal MPs according to which the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French, threatens the rights of the English-speaking minority.
“It looks like they don’t understand,” Mr. Legault said during a press scrum at the Parliament Building on Wednesday.
During a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, former minister Marc Garneau and his Liberal colleagues Anthony Housefather and Patricia Lattanzio denounced at length the scope of “Bill 96” and its impact on English-speakers in Quebec. “It would be a big mistake for us, as federal MPs, in a federal committee, examining federal laws, to leave the field open to Quebec to do whatever it might want to do in terms of language in Quebec”, said Mr. Garneau, who is the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce — Westmount, in Montreal.
However, ” [Justin Trudeau] says that it worries him then that it worries him, the decline of French”, underlined the Prime Minister Legault, who urges his vis-à-vis to ensure that “the boots follow the chops”.
In terms of protecting French, Quebec expects three things from the federal government: that large federally chartered companies, such as Air Canada and VIA Rail, submit to the Charter of the French language; that 78% of migrants received at the Roxham Road entry point, near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, be transferred to other provinces; and that Ottawa ensure that nearly 100% of regular immigrants welcomed by Quebec speak French.
“Let him begin by settling [ça] “, he said. “Afterwards, we can talk about increasing the immigration thresholds. »
On Tuesday, in an interview with The Canadian Press, Prime Minister Trudeau said that Quebec’s immigration capacity was 112,000 newcomers per year. For the moment, the Quebec ceilings have been set at 50,000 entries.
Justin Trudeau will meet his Quebec counterpart on Friday in Montreal. Decline of French and health transfers are on the agenda.
Further details will follow.