(Quebec) Aboriginal people are asking to stop the reform of the Charter of the French language which should be adopted by the end of the parliamentary session.
Posted at 1:49 p.m.
They received the support of Quebec solidaire (QS) and the Liberal Party (PLQ) to bring their demands to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
According to indigenous leaders, it is a destructive and paternalistic bill that perpetuates colonial hegemony. A Mohawk leader even raised the threat of more violent action.
At a press conference Tuesday at the National Assembly, they called for a meeting with Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who is responsible for Bill 96, that is to say the reform of Law 101.
They refuse to impose French courses on aboriginal college students, as provided for in the bill.
Indigenous leaders argue that students who are already struggling to graduate will fail these courses.
If the bill is adopted as planned before the end of this parliamentary session, it “will force the exodus of our students to other schools outside Quebec,” predicted the leader of the Assembly of First Nations. Nations of Quebec and Labrador, Ghislain Picard.
“It is a stunning irony that the first occupants of the territory in Quebec are forced to go and study outside their territory, it is something that we consider unacceptable. »
According to him, the bill, if it is adopted before the end of the session as planned, will force Aboriginal students to go into exile outside Quebec.
Manon Massé, of Québec solidaire, recalled that her party would nevertheless vote in favor of the bill.
The bill is in its final stages before its final passage, since its clause-by-clause study has been completed, but Liberal MP Geoffrey Kelley maintains that the minister “still has tools” to amend his bill.