Prime Minister François Legault spoke out Wednesday against the idea of a thematic week for the promotion of English in a CEGEP in the Quebec region after two of his ministers contradicted themselves on the issue.
Mr. Legault expressed his opinion on an activity organized this week by Cégep Garneau, “English Week 2023”. ” It’s not a good idea. There is already enough English among young people and in general in Quebec,” he said during an exchange with journalists before question period in the National Assembly.
A few minutes earlier, the Minister responsible for the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, and his colleague in Higher Education, Pascale Déry, had presented divergent points of view regarding this initiative already denounced by groups for the protection of French. .
Mr. Roberge did not take issue with the fact that Cégep Garneau is programming this activity. “I will not rebel because a French-speaking CEGEP occasionally spends a week to promote the learning of English,” he declared Wednesday morning in a first press scrum.
The duty reported Wednesday that, from September 11 to 15, as part of “English Week 2023,” the Language Department of Cégep Garneau invited the entire college community to speak in English. “So don’t be surprised if your teacher includes English in their class or if you hear people speaking in English around you. The important thing is to have fun… In English! » indicated the establishment’s website.
Mr. Roberge considered that this initiative could be compared to other thematic weeks organized by Cégep Garneau. “It would be a very bad idea if there was no French thematic week, philosophy thematic week and other thematic weeks. From what I understand, it is a French-speaking institution which also carries out activities to promote French,” he explained.
A few hours later, when going to the council of ministers, Mr. Roberge agreed with the position expressed by Mr. Legault.
“I completely agree with the Prime Minister,” he finally said, responding later to journalists.
“English does not need a showcase”
On Wednesday morning, his colleague Pascale Déry had already stated that this activity was useless due to the omnipresence of Shakespeare’s language. “I was reading that this morning and I think that English doesn’t need a showcase in Quebec, honestly. […] Students are exposed to Netflix, Spotify. We already have difficulty getting them to master French, to master the language well, so I ask Cégep Garneau to value and promote French. »
Questioned during a press briefing, Liberal MP André Fortin asked the Cégep to reverse its decision. “The decision of Cégep Garneau to ask everyone to speak at the CEGEP in English for a week, for us, is ill-advised. So, we are asking the Cégep to reconsider its decision,” he said.
Mr. Roberge did not take issue with showing more flexibility than the Liberals in this matter. “My political compass is in no way influenced by liberal rantings,” he said.
The minister responsible for the French language has not commented on the positions of two groups for the protection of French, Impératif français and the Mouvement Québec français, which oppose the initiative. “I think we must first promote French in all Quebec institutions, French-speaking as well as English-speaking,” he said.
PQ MP Pascal Bérubé took the trouble to highlight the contradictions of the two ministers. “In the same camera shot, there is a minister who says that it is not serious and the other, that it does not make sense. They are on the same team,” he said.
Mr. Bérubé said it was improbable to find himself in a situation where Mr. Legault would have to convince his minister responsible for the French language that the Cégep Garneau initiative is a bad idea. ” It does not make sense. We are there with the CAQ, things are going well,” he said.