Three CAQ ministers took the pulse of high school students on Monday on the future of French and Quebec culture. Their observation: young people mainly consume English-language digital platforms, unsurprisingly, but they ask to see more content from here.
The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, was visiting a school east of Trois-Rivières, in Mauricie, accompanied by his colleagues from Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, and Education, Bernard Drainville.
Their visit to the Académie les Estacades was part of the efforts of the action group for the future of the French language set up by the Legault government last January. The initiative aims to determine the main directions of an action plan to curb the decline of French in Quebec.
When asked who subscribes to streaming services Netflix and Disney, a majority of hands went up in the auditorium where several hundred young people were gathered to chat with the three chosen ones. Conversely, the Radio-Canada Tou.tv platform received few hands raised, some even seemed to be unaware of the existence of this Web TV.
But students who spoke expressed their interest in American platforms offering more Quebec productions, a way that they believe could lead them to consume a little more Quebec culture.
“There is a way of solution perhaps. We don’t tell them to drop Netflix because we know that’s not going to happen. But if we are able to bring more Quebec productions to Netflix, we can see that young people would like that, ”said Mr. Drainville in a press briefing following the meeting.
“No one in the room said: ‘French isn’t important, it’s too demanding, lower your expectations’. Basically, there is a kind of thirst for culture and French, then they proposed how, ”added Mr. Roberge at his side.
He indicated that an online consultation will be announced on Tuesday to allow the action group for the future of the French language to continue the reflection.