(Quebec) English-speaking CEGEPs must “reconcile with reality,” deplores the Legault government, which does not provide new reductions to its law on the protection of French for indigenous students. Quebec counters that it offered the First Nations “Bill 101” to protect their languages, which they refused.
The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, said she was ready to “further support” indigenous students who study in English, but does not intend to add new regulatory relief to the law (96) on French.
“For the moment, the regulatory relief that we have is the regulatory relief that we are talking about,” summarized M.me Déry Wednesday. The minister and her colleague responsible for First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafrenière, recalled that they had already made regulatory changes to take into account the specificities of Indigenous students.
For his part, the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, refuted the argument of the English-speaking colleges by affirming that they must “be reconciled with reality”.
Since last year, First Nations students who receive their education in English at college have been exempt from the uniform French test. A second regulation – which is still under study – also allows them to take three French courses rather than three courses in French. This latest regulation should come into force soon.
“We had to find a way to allow them to be exempt from the uniform French test because they are not considered either as French speakers or as English speakers, that is to say that their language is neither English nor French. We are very sensitive to the accessibility of higher education for these students,” assured Minister Déry at the press scrum.
However, these reductions are insufficient according to five English-speaking CEGEPs which deplore that the terms of the Charter of the French Language “impose multiple systemic and discriminatory obstacles and compromise the transmission of their ancestral languages”. The management of these establishments wrote directly to François Legault – at the request of indigenous students – to inform him of the “urgency to act”.
More than two years after the adoption of the law, the measures taken by the Ministry of Higher Education remain insufficient. Today we urge the government of Quebec to take full stock of the situation and engage without delay in a constructive dialogue with Indigenous communities.
Extract from the letter from the English-speaking CEGEPs
The five establishments (Dawson College, John Abbott College, Vanier College, Cégep Heritage and Cégep régional Champlain) explain that Indigenous students do not take advantage of these exemptions because they are accompanied by administrative measures, such as forms to complete.
“Many believe that the requirement to submit such a request represents in itself a process that goes against their ancestral rights and they refuse to submit to it on principle,” they indicate.
They are “in error”, according to Roberge
Minister Jean-François Roberge, for his part, believes that the establishments which signed the letter have a poor understanding of the relief offered.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Jean-François Roberge
“I think they are in the wrong, because they have misunderstood the actions we have taken in relation to the First Nations and Inuit community. We have adopted regulations which give them roughly speaking approximately the same exemptions as the historic English-speaking community,” argued the minister.
According to Mr. Roberge, colleges are on the wrong track when they claim that the Charter of the French Language harms the success of Indigenous students.
The general management of English-speaking CEGEPs who claim that the First Nations and Inuit are being placed in a situation of failure do not understand the situation or pretend not to understand the situation. The exemptions we gave are entirely reasonable.
Jean-François Roberge, Minister of the French Language
For her part, the Innu Minister, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, said she was “sensitive” to the access of First Nations to higher education. “I am convinced that we will find solutions to ensure […] that they have access to higher education because we need them,” she said.
A “plan B”, says Lafrenière
Minister Ian Lafrenière recalled that the Prime Minister had committed during the election campaign to present “Bill 101” to protect Indigenous languages. However, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (APNQL) was fiercely opposed to it.
“I remind you that basically, what we did not want was to go there in a regulatory way, we wanted to go there with a bill,” argued Mr. Lafrenière. “We understood very well the specificity of the First Nations and the Inuit, we did not want to consider them as rights holders. We understood the position of the AFNQL, we found another path,” he said.
The AFNQL asked at the time that the First Nations be completely exempted from Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette’s reform. The First Nations Assembly and Education Council are now challenging the law in court.