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“There is an urgency to act,” he said, calling for more statistics on the use of French in all aspects of Quebec society, including the home.
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June 1, 2022 • 2 hours • 5 minutes ago • 90 comments French Minister Simon Jolin-Barrett says Bill 96 gives Quebec “the tools it needs” to protect and promote the French language, including the new government ministry, which he now heads. Photo by Jacques Boissino / Canadian Press
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QUEBEC – On Wednesday, when comparing Quebec’s language situation with Louisiana, Prime Minister Francois Lego said he wanted a more complete statistical picture of the use of French in all aspects of society.
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“Everyone has to admit that there is a decline in French,” Lego told reporters as he arrived for a period of questions in the National Assembly. “When we look at the statistics, the language that is most often used at home is in decline, the language that is most often used at work is in decline.
“We cannot deny that there is a decline in the place of the French in Quebec. It’s about time. If this decline continues, how many years will it take before French is not used much? “
Lego said statistics show that the number of people on the island of Montreal using French in the workplace has risen from 59.5% to 56.8%. He said that was one of the reasons why the Avenir Québec Coalition government passed Bill 96 to strengthen the French Charter.
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“There is an urgency to act,” he said.
Lego, meanwhile, is challenging the federal government to cede more power over Quebec’s immigration. In particular, he wants the province to have control over the category of family reunification.
At his party’s political congress over the weekend, Lego said immigration would be a key issue in the autumn general election and that gaining more power was a matter of survival for the nation in Quebec.
“If we continue with a system in which Ottawa chooses these immigrants and only half speak French, we may eventually become Louisiana,” he told Congress.
At the same time, his government is trying to allay the English-speaking community’s fears about Bill 96. It ran a full-page advertisement in the Montreal Gazette on Tuesday, entitled “Bill 96: The Facts,” which said “several lies are circulating.”
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Experts and critics complain that the advertisement does not meet the concerns of the English-speaking community.
But Lego again tweeted on Wednesday a comment made by a citizen who complained about the newspaper’s coverage of the bill: “You have to pay for full-page ads in a newspaper to respond to misinformation in the same newspaper,” the tweet said.
Devoir payer des pages entières dans un journal pour répondre à la misinformation faites par ce même journal. pic.twitter.com/WZOdIFbi0z
– Jean-François Martin (@ JF_Martin007) May 31, 2022
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All this comes when Lego is accused by the opposition of inventing an immigration crisis for political reasons, while Quebec is heading for elections.
Liberal MNA Saul Polo, who was born in Santa Marta, Colombia and moved to Quebec 30 years ago, told the legislature on Tuesday that he “refuses to accept the label that immigration is a threat to the nation in Quebec.”
He said it was not the government’s job to choose to speak Spanish at home and French outside the home. Polo was particularly annoyed when he heard Lego say in the legislature on Tuesday that his success in integrating Quebec society was an “anecdote” and the problem remained.
“Being treated like an anecdote by the prime minister hurt me deeply,” Polo told reporters. “I and many Quebecers have made every effort to integrate and become full citizens.
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Legault Wednesday was also fueled by the opposition on Tuesday’s promise to cut more checks on Quebecers to tackle inflation if re-elected in October.
But while Lego showed no signs of wanting to abandon the language problem, he tried to explain why he put the problem first and foremost.
“The data we have, the language spoken at home and the language of work are important,” he said. “I would like to add one more statistic. That is why I asked (the French Minister) Simon Jolin-Barrett and his team for data on the language used in the public sector.
“What we are saying is that we want French to be a common language. Well, we need to look at what the language is at home, what the language of work is, what the language is in the public sector. They walk together.
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“If there is no one who speaks French at home, it means that French will eventually disappear.
Lego was annoyed when he was pressured by a Gazette reporter to expand on the issue of languages spoken at home.
“Do you agree with me that if in 50 years no one speaks French at home, the future of French will not be good? Do you agree with this? So you have your answer. ”
But moments later, liberal MNA D’Arcy-McGee David Birnbaum announced that he had heard Legault make remarks to West Islanders during the legislature’s question period.
“Shame,” tweeted Birnbaum. “Just Francois Lego, turned off micro, but audible and said twice:” C’est le West Island qui s’énerve! This was his outrageous response to our intervention from the period of questions about his recorded attacks on Quebec residents whose mother tongue was different from French.
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SHAMEFUL! Francois Lego, far from micro but heard, has just said twice: “C’est le West Island qui s’énerve!” This was his outrageous response to our intervention during the period of questions about his recorded attacks on Quebecers whose mother tongue was different from French.
– David Birnbaum (@ DavidBirnbaum1) June 1, 2022
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Lego grew up on the West Island, in Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue.
This earned Legault strong criticism from the main English-speaking community group, the Quebec community group, which responded with its own tweet.
“Prime Minister Francois Lego – officially the minister responsible for relations with the English-speaking people of Quebec – is showing incredible disrespect for his constituency,” the tweet said.
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Lego made the comments on the day Bill 96 became law.
At a brief signing ceremony early Wednesday, the lieutenant governor. J. Michel Doyon signed the bill after its adoption last week in the National Assembly. This is the largest major overhaul of the French-language charter in 45 years.
Jolin-Barrett also received a new title: Minister of the French Language. He was previously called the French minister. He now gets a full ministry to implement the new law.
Jolin-Barrett said Bill 96 would give Quebec “the tools it needs” to protect and promote the French language.
He said some measures would take effect immediately, such as the creation of a French-language ministry. Other measures, such as those applicable to trademarks and franchise requirements for small businesses, will apply after three years.
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The CEGEP enrollment ceiling in English will start next year, but the requirement to take additional French courses should take effect in two years.
Next year, Jolin-Barrett must introduce a new government language policy.
“Some parts of the bill are being implemented today, other parts in three years,” he told reporters. “We have time to do things right and give people time to adapt.”
pauthier@postmedia.com
twitter.com/philipauthier
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