Take less of it, but take care of it… Do you remember this promise from the CAQ about immigration?
The formula, semantically, was quite successful. The content of the proposal was questionable, but it seemed nonetheless, to many, to make sense.
Unfortunately, this slogan sometimes looks more like a New Year’s resolution to clear your conscience than a real change of course.
As proof: a recent headline from To have to, according to which the French language learning allowances offered to immigrants are not always paid on time.
“The processing times for their application for financial assistance in francization are however so long that newcomers spend months studying without receiving this allowance,” it was revealed.
More than ten cases have been identified in five regions of Quebec.
The news made the opposition roar in Quebec.
“The Caquist slogan should say: take less, take care of it, but above all the check in less,” said Liberal MP Saul Polo during question period.
Money, as we know very well in Quebec City, is the sinews of war when it comes to francization.
Moreover, it would be unfair to say that the CAQ did nothing in this crucial file.
The government increased the total amount injected into programs by more than 50% two years ago. Just like that which is specifically granted to those who take the courses to quickly learn to master French.
Newcomers who learn French full time now receive $ 200 per week.
The reasoning is as follows: they will thus be more inclined than before to register for francization courses before entering the labor market full time.
But of course, they still have to receive this allowance!
Let’s say it: Minister Jean Boulet’s reaction was the right one. Asked about the delays, he promised to solve the problem “to the most sacred”.
We will wait and see it to believe it, of course. The Immigration Department can sometimes take on the appearance of a bureaucratic nightmare. What a minister wants is not necessarily what is ultimately going to happen.
But at the very least, the political will is there.
It is important to specify, moreover, that this desire goes beyond the resolution of this problem of delays.
Bill 96 (which aims to modernize the Charter of the French language) currently under study should finally create a one-stop shop for francization. A project that we have tried to implement a few times over the past two decades, to no avail.
Currently, there are three gateways for newcomers who wish to learn French. The Department of Immigration, school service centers and community organizations.
It’s too complex.
Over the years it has been found time and again that the left hand does not always know what the right hand is doing. The Auditor General’s office deplored this a few years ago.
Is this lack of consultation the source of the current problems in the processing of requests for financial assistance? Impossible to know for now. The Ministry is still trying to shed light on this.
Because the Department, it should also be mentioned, is notoriously ineffective in monitoring its performance in francization. That too, the Auditor General has already pointed out.
And that too, it would be time to settle it “to the most sacred”!
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