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Simon Jolin-Barrett says he has heard the concerns of the English-speaking community and has decided that the Liberal Party’s amendment makes sense.
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April 26, 2022 • 9 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 23 comments “What we want to do is give them all the tools to improve, work in French and improve their French. “The change we are proposing respects our 100 cents target,” MNA’s Simon Jolin-Barrett told CEGEP’s Anglophones. Photo by Jacques Boissino / files of the Canadian press
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Quebec – English-speaking students attending English CEGEP will have the opportunity to take three of their French language courses or increase the number of compulsory second language courses required for completion, the French minister in charge said on Tuesday night.
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After saying a week ago that he needed more time to study and voted against a liberal amendment to Bill 96 aimed at correcting their admitted mistake in forcing the Anglophones to take three basic French courses, Jolin-Barrett has made a full circle and is now saying that he is in full agreement with the Liberals.
He said he had heard the concerns of the English-speaking community and decided that the liberal plan, which would give students the opportunity to take three core French courses or increase their second language courses from the current two to five, achieves the same goal, which is better to equip Anglophones for living and working in Quebec.
This will also avoid the projected failure rate of English-speaking students who arrive at CEGEP with insufficient knowledge of French and are still required to take core courses in their second language.
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But he expressed serious concerns about the level of young French Anglophones.
“We have learned that students with English language rights have shortcomings in French,” Jolin-Barrett told the Montreal Gazette. “The Liberal Party is demonstrating this with its amendment; that there is a problem with the Anglophone community.
“What we want to do is give them all the tools to improve, work in French and improve their French. The change we propose meets our goals 100 percent. The Liberal Party pointed out the unacceptable level of French language proficiency of young people in the English system.
“We thank them for their correction. Whether it’s three French courses or three French courses, that achieves the goal. ”
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A version similar to the failed April 14 liberal amendment was filed late Tuesday by Jolin-Barrett at the legislature’s secretariat. The government will use its majority to ensure that the amendment becomes part of the core of the bill at the next opportunity, which is on May 10.
The final vote on Bill 96, which revises the Charter in French, will take place later in the session, which ends on 10 June. Liberals have already announced plans to vote against the final version of the bill, but the government has enough MNAs to ensure it becomes law.
However, the three French courses will remain mandatory for allophones and francophones attending English CEGEP. Anglophones will have an option. The new rules will apply to all categories of students from the 2024 academic year.
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The development was followed by another presentation by the Liberal Point on the bill’s study committee, Helen David, who repeatedly warned the government that the courses were a recipe for disaster and that the Liberals had made the mistake of proposing them.
“I don’t think our visions are that far apart,” David said during a committee hearing earlier in the day. “I mean, let’s think about the students first, and maybe (in the committee) we’ve gone too far?”
Arriving on Tuesday night, David was relieved that the minister had seen the light.
“I am very pleased that the minister has read my arguments,” David said in an interview. “Students are the first winners in this amendment. By the end of their college studies, their French language skills will improve and this will allow them to contribute to Quebec’s progress in all walks of life.
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Also active in pushing the minister behind the scenes was the parliamentary aide to Prime Minister Francois Lego, in charge of relations with the English-speaking Quebec, Christopher Skeet.
“My consultations have made it clear that Quebec’s English-speaking people want to learn French,” Skeet said in an interview Tuesday night.
“This is the key to success in Quebec. Therefore, English-speaking people who are comfortable will be able to take basic French lessons, while those who feel the need to improve their French will have a choice.
Not mentioned by anyone in the government of the Coalition Avenir Québec On Tuesday, a protest rally was held against Bill 96, organized for May 14.
Coincidentally, Lego will face a legislative committee on Wednesday to appear once a year to defend and explain government policy toward English-speaking Quebecers.
pauthier@postmedia.com
twitter.com/philipauthier
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Anglophone groups are planning a protest in the city center against Bill 96 on May 14
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Robert Liebman: The repulse against Bill 96 was overdue
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