The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, finds it intolerable that thousands of temporary immigrants live in Quebec with no notion of French. Some of these workers from elsewhere want to learn French, but Quebec must offer them courses, if possible in the workplace, believes the president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM), Michel Leblanc.
More than 290,000 temporary immigrants were on Quebec soil as of December 31, 2022, according to the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI). These include workers and students. These people are not required to learn French, because they come to Quebec for short stays—which can still be spread over several years. Some also wish to become permanent residents.
These people work in businesses, cafés or restaurants in Montreal, among other places. They are changing the face of the metropolis by not mastering the national language of Quebec. “We cannot tolerate that they anglicize Quebec,” said Minister Roberge during a conference organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Monday noon.
The president and CEO of the CCMM, Michel Leblanc, welcomed the government’s desire to help temporary immigrants learn French. He says that several companies (in information technology or aeronautics, for example) want to keep their temporary workers.
“There are people who work hard, who have just arrived, sometimes with children, wives or husbands, who want to integrate. We need to make their life easier. If we blame the immigrant, we lose sight of the fact that our system is not accommodating enough for their schedule, for their reality,” says Mr. Leblanc.
Like the peregrine falcon
The organization Francisation Québec, which will come into operation on 1er June, is likely to facilitate the learning of the national language for all newcomers, including those from temporary programs, argued Minister Roberge.
The Quebec Minister for the French Language was invited by the CCMM with his federal counterpart, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, after their historic agreement aimed at improving the protection of French in Quebec. The federal Minister of Official Languages has already acknowledged, with Bill C-13, “that only one of the two official languages is in decline in Canada, including in Quebec”. And that language is French.
Mme Petitpas Taylor presented his “friend” Roberge with a stuffed peregrine falcon, to show that it is possible to halt the decline of a vulnerable species. The two ministers agreed last March for the Trudeau government to strengthen French in Quebec. This is an unthinkable gesture until recently, since Ottawa generally has the mission of protecting linguistic minorities, including the English-speaking one in Quebec.
Bill C-13 will, among other things, require federally regulated businesses in Quebec to comply with the Quebec Charter of the French Language. The working language must be French; it will also be mandatory to be able to serve customers in French. Everything indicates that this bill will be passed this week by the House of Commons.
Francophone immigration
Minister Jean-François Roberge called on Canadian senators to subsequently sanction the bill “without going through the laundry”, maintaining the reference to the Quebec Charter of the French language.
Minister Roberge urged Ottawa to set ambitious French-language immigration targets. He denounces the “initiative of the century” aimed at increasing the Canadian population to 100 million people in 2100. “I dare name the issue of mass immigration. Some call it the initiative of the century. For me, it’s the fad of the century to think that we can, in an excessive way, lose control of our immigration thresholds. It’s not good for Quebec and it’s not good for the Canadian Francophonie,” he said.
Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, a Francophone from New Brunswick, recognized the importance of increasing Francophone immigration to the country, including to Quebec.