That Valérie Plante does not have great sensitivity for the French fact and its future in Quebec is nothing new.
In 2018, giving a speech to an audience of investors in Montreal, she “forgot” to speak French. “It was really afterward that I realized it,” she explained, admitting to having made “a mistake.”
Boutonniere flower
When Plante addresses the linguistic question, we always have the impression that, for her, French is a sort of flower in the buttonhole for Montreal. A cute thing that she always subtly opposes to “diversity” and which should not constrain anyone.
It was to be expected: Plante took up without questioning the catastrophic speeches from McGill and Concordia on the Legault government’s decision to raise tuition fees for non-Quebec students.
These institutions, she argued, ensure the “economic vitality” and “also social” of Montreal. The increases decreed by Quebec would prevent “talent for tomorrow” from coming to Montreal and Quebec. In short, according to her, the CAQ measure “directly attacks Montreal”! Nothing less…
Committee
In 2022, to counter criticism of his lack of linguistic sensitivity, Mme Plante created a committee on the French language of the City of Montreal (CLFVM), chaired by former PQ minister (former mayoral candidate) Louise Harel.
In its first report, in May 2023, the CLFVM recommended, among other things, “affirming the French-speaking character of the City” by adding a slogan to its logo: “Montreal, French-speaking metropolis of the Americas.”
Another Louise-former-PQ minister, Louise Beaudoin, is also part (like 7 other people) of this committee. I contacted her on Monday and she insisted – as a citizen, not as a member of the committee (she insists) – to mark her disagreement with Mayor Plante.
“We cannot proclaim ourselves a French-speaking metropolis of the Americas without that having consequences!” she says, taking inspiration from the reply that the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, gave to Plante.
The former minister says she is disappointed that the mayor seems to put the “economic vitality” of Montreal in opposition to the development of French: “As if globalization, economic vitality, couldn’t happen in French! We need to deconstruct this idea.”
Exaggerations
Furthermore, Louise Beaudoin does not believe that the CAQ measure will penalize English-speaking universities as their leaders (and Plante) claim.
They pressed the panic button by announcing a radical drop in the number of students. However, it is the number of “requests for admission” that has decreased, underlines Beaudoin. At the end of the process, the number of registrations will remain the same. And what’s more, for these future registrants, McGill and Concordia have promised to compensate for the $3,000 increase thanks to scholarships.
The CLFVM should take up and expand on Citizen Beaudoin’s criticisms. Montreal also has (did you know?) its French language commissioner. Position held since May 2023 by Noémie Dansereau-Lavoie… a former member of Jean-François Roberge’s office. She too could make the mayor see reason, taking inspiration from her former boss.