At the Quebec Liberal Party general council meeting last weekend, Leader Charles Milliard promised he would be unveiling a new plan to protect French before the summer. For many anglophones, this induces groans. The language regime in Quebec — with its laws, regulations, policies, inspection bureaucracy and established orthodoxy — is already like a thick fog hanging over the community.

After eight years of being beaten down by the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s identity politics, and faced with the Parti Québécois alternative that would likely go even further, anglophones in search of a reprieve are placing their hopes on the Liberals. 

Polls clearly show, however, that to win, the Liberals must increase support among francophones. And too often, this translates into a zero-sum game in which promoting French means diminishing English and, by extension, the community’s standing — its visibility and services and the viability of its institutions. 

The Liberal party has struggled with this game before, causing anglophones to grind their teeth. In 2021, then leader Dominique Anglade unveiled a 27-point plan for French that wasn’t adopted formally but spawned a proposal — co-opted by the CAQ — for more........

© Montreal Gazette