The Legault government recently announced its intention to increase university fees for students coming from outside Quebec. This policy will likely result in a significant drop in the number of English-speaking Canadians who come to Quebec to study. As the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, said, that is the goal. Why do Quebec taxpayers
should they invest in the education of these students, who come to Quebec only to live and study in English and who leave after obtaining their diploma?
I imagine that I am the kind of student that the Legault government had in mind when designing this policy. I attended McGill as an out-of-province student. I lived in Montreal and spoke little French. My studies were subsidized by Quebec taxpayers. I left Quebec after obtaining my diploma.
But living in Montreal for four years, I developed a deep affection for the city and for the province. Building on these experiences, after completing my higher education in Ontario, I decided to return to live in Quebec. For ten years, I have worked as a professor at the University of Montreal. During this period, I taught hundreds of students, always in the official language of Quebec.
A major objective of the new Legault policy is to promote the French language in Quebec. I think this policy will have the opposite effect. The government will discourage future generations of young Canadians from coming to discover the culture and language of Quebec. How does this promote the future of the French language in the long term?
My decision to come and work in French in Quebec was motivated by my experiences as a student in Montreal. I hope that future generations of Canadians will have the same opportunities.
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