By affirming that the increase in tuition fees for non-Quebecers “directly attacks Montreal”, Mayor Valérie Plante demonstrated that she was not an ally of Quebec on the French language, deplores the government of François Legault .
“I find it sad,” said Prime Minister Legault on Thursday. The day before, the mayor of Montreal had strongly criticized the decision of the CAQ government to increase tuition fees for students from the rest of Canada to $17,000 and for international students to at least $20,000.
“It is certain that we see it as a measure that directly attacks Montreal and which is not fair. If Bishop’s no longer has this rule, why does Montreal have it? “, she said. In December, Bishop’s University was exempted from the measure, due to “the demographic and linguistic situation in the Estrie region” which is “distinct”, according to the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, of that of Montreal.
“Montreal is the French-speaking metropolis of the Americas. It should be more than a slogan,” railed the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, on Thursday. “The mayor of Montreal should be an ally of the government in this process. »
In unison, the CAQ deputies from Vimont and Bellechasse, Valérie Schmaltz and Stéphanie Lachance, denounced “inadmissible” comments from the mayor. “Will Mme Plante wants to build a wall to ensure that anglicization in Montreal is there, by what? Five or six years? », asked Mme Schmaltz? “There is not the Quebec of Valérie Plante, then the rest of Quebec,” continued Mme Luck. I, as a regional deputy, want us to protect French from one end to the other. »
“Not embarrassed”
In a press scrum on Thursday, Mayor Plante maintained that she was “not embarrassed” by her actions to protect the French language. “My job is both to promote the French language and, also, to support all the institutions that are part of Montreal’s DNA, which contribute to the economic vitality of the Quebec metropolis and which ensure its international reputation,” she said. “Because that’s important too. »
François Legault, for his part, defends the intentions of his government. Especially in the context where “if you go to shops, for example around McGill, […] it happens a lot in English.” ” It is important. There is a decline in French in Montreal,” he said.
With Jeanne Corriveau