Hanes: Are the Quebec Liberals poised for a 'different tone' on language issues? |
Last Monday, Premier Christine Fréchette gave a speech to a Montreal business audience in which she pledged to set a “different tone” in relations with English-speaking Quebecers after years of antagonism.
By Thursday, it was clear the chasm between words and actions is as wide as ever.
That’s when the Coalition Avenir Québec government tabled Bill 8, a new piece of legislation to extend the Charter of the French Language to English adult education and vocational schools. Fréchette hopes to have it adopted before the National Assembly rises for the summer this Friday, ahead of a fall election.
Yes, that’s correct: The government wants to radically alter the criteria for who is eligible to finish their high school diploma or train as a plumber, electrician or nurse in English — rules that have been in place for nearly 50 years — in just a week, with barely any consultation or regard for the gutting of anglophone institutions.
But by last Friday, it looked less likely the CAQ would manage to rush this reform through by the end of the week. The Quebec Liberals asked for detailed study of the proposed law and indicated they don’t support denying adult ed and skilled trade students the same freedom to choose what language they study in as those attending college and university.
By the weekend, there was a ray of hope that the Liberals are ready to break with the temptation to go along with the CAQ. The government’s typical MO is trying to protect French with policies that end up being punitive to the English-speaking community, and the Liberals have at times gone with the flow in order to shore up their own........