(Québec ) Une chicane linguistique autour de la définition de qui est Québécois a éclaté jeudi au Salon bleu, alors que libéraux et caquistes se sont accusés de tenir des propos « inacceptables » et « odieux » dans les débats concernant l’abandon du projet d’agrandissement du collège Dawson et le bilinguisme des juges.
Publié à 13h49
En période de questions, la cheffe du Parti libéral, Dominique Anglade, a d’abord questionné François Legault sur son recul concernant l’agrandissement de Dawson, un cégep anglophone du centre-ville de Montréal. Le gouvernement a confirmé plus tôt cette semaine qu’il abandonnait le projet et qu’il accompagnerait le collège pour louer de nouveaux locaux.
Reprenant le ton d’une publicité télévisée gouvernementale, la cheffe de l’opposition officielle a demandé au premier ministre « comment on appelle [ça] a francophone studying in Dawson? »
“Only 50% of students studying at Dawson are Anglophones. So what do you call students who study at Dawson? Half are not English speakers. Is it better to expand French-speaking CEGEPs before expanding English-speaking CEGEPs? We at the CAQ think so, ”replied Mr. Legault.
The bilingualism of judges
The Liberal leader then continued with a question about the appointment of bilingual judges. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette suffered a major setback on Wednesday when the Superior Court ruled that if the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec asks for bilingual magistrates in certain districts, Quebec cannot comply. oppose.
“At the CAQ, we think that a judge who speaks French, but who does not speak English should be able to be a judge in Saint-Jérôme,” said Premier François Legault.
“After two years of going through what we went through, Quebecers deserve better than a government that wants to divide Quebecers. Me, I can tell you one thing, the Liberal Party of Quebec, it is there to bring together all Quebecers, Francophones, but also, yes, Anglophones, ”replied Dominique Anglade.
Strong exchanges between Fortin and Jolin-Barrette
During her exchanges with the Prime Minister, the Liberal leader referred to the Speaker of the House, François Paradis, by mistakenly calling him “Mr. Quebecer”. The prime minister would then have replied, in an exchange that was not picked up by the microphones, that Mr. Paradis was a Quebecer since he was a caquiste, according to what Liberal leader André Fortin explained.
“What the Prime Minister is saying very clearly is that people who belong to the Liberal Party, people who recognize themselves in Québec solidaire, in the Parti Québécois, in the Conservative Party, people who have no affiliation politics, whatever it may be, they are less Quebecois. If my neighbor had said something like that, I would have found it indecent. For the Premier of Quebec to say so is unacceptable, it is unworthy of his duties,” said Mr. Fortin.
When he left the Chamber, the leader of the government, Simon Jolin-Barrette, accused the Liberal Party of playing partisanship a few months before the election. He also said he still trusted the President of the National Assembly, François Paradis, even if he accused him Thursday of making a “differential treatment” between his interventions and that of the leader of the official opposition.
On leaving the Blue Room, President Paradis did not feel like going back on the accusations of bias brought against him by Simon Jolin-Barrette. “I don’t want to comment on that. I think everything has been said, ”he said before continuing on his way at a run.
With Tommy Chouinard, Fanny Lévesque and Charles Lecavalier, The Press