The destiny of French is linked to that of science. I repeat myself. The language of publication of search results is not the main issue. It is scientific and university life in French that is at stake.
To flesh out my remarks, I published in The newspaper two texts in the spring of 2023. These texts show 1) how certain grants awarded to English-speaking universities contribute to the anglicization of Montreal and Quebec, 2) why we struggle to have services in French in McGill-affiliated hospitals why industrial life and economics takes place more and more in English every day. Quebec subsidizes it!
Financial recovery
The principle is however simple: the money from Quebec, concerning the recruitment of non-Quebec students, should aim exclusively for attendance in the French language. Those who wish to attend our English-language establishments are welcome, but at their own expense or at the expense of the rich foundations of these universities.
We can estimate recovering on average 20% per year of the 200 million ($40 million) that I have noted in my other articles and thus annually increase the amounts provided for the recruitment of non-Quebec students by French-language universities, to reach recurring $200 million in 2028-2029. The main changes to be made quickly to initiate a virtuous circle concern the following rules:
- Canadian non-resident of Quebec exempt – deregulate new admissions to English-speaking universities, in particular at the doctoral level ($34 million) and for medical residents ($3 million);
- Regulated foreign clientele at the graduate and post-graduate levels – deregulate new admissions to English-speaking universities ($32 million);
- Exempted international students – cancel the university exemption quotas for new admissions ($49 million) and ask the Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie (MRIF) to write to all the partners covered by the intergovernmental cooperation agreements of the government’s intention to open all these agreements as of this year so that they exclude English-language universities ($8 million);
- Students subject to the Canadian lump sum – deregulate new admissions to English-language universities for Canadians not resident in Quebec ($44 million) and take the same approach with the MRIF for agreements with France and Belgium with a view to exclude English-language establishments ($6 million).
The implementation of these measures would ultimately make it possible to recover $176 million (see table below).
Changing rules
The rules can be modified during the year, but Quebec has contractual or at least moral agreements with those admitted and registered. If there are no new rules issued this summer, the anglicization of Quebec through university attendance will continue to the tune of 200 million dollars this year in the university environment and I wonder about the real will of the government to stop being a promoter of anglicization when immediate action can be taken.
Quick changes to be implemented in the Budget rules and calculation of operating grants to Quebec universities – 2023-2024*
*Amounts rounded to the nearest million
Martin Maltese, Professor of education financing and policies, UQAR