Tag Archive for: English-speaking community

Only French should have official status as minority language in Canada: CAQ

/in , /by

Reaction from anglo groups was swift and negative, with a warning that Ottawa must not cede any responsibility for official languages to the provinces.

QUEBEC — The Coalition Avenir Québec government has sparked an angry reaction from Quebec’s English-speaking community over its vision of reforms to Canada’s Official Languages Act.

“This is a non-starter,” said Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) president Marlene Jennings.

“Quebec is attempting to territorialize language by demanding that the government of Quebec have sole jurisdiction for linguistic planning and control on its territory and displacing federal leadership on the protection of Canada’s official language communities,” Jennings said.

Read more

We must protect French – but not at the expense of Quebec’s English-speaking communities

/in , /by

By Marlene Jennings, president of the Quebec Community Groups Network

At the dawn of 2021, English-speaking Quebecers are witnessing the relative language peace we have enjoyed for many years fade.

In Ottawa, Official Languages Minister Mélanie Joly has promised to table a white paper as the basis for protecting and promoting French not only outside of Quebec but also within. Meanwhile, in Quebec City, Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for the French language, will reinforce the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101).

Read more

Opinion: We’re committed Quebecers who deserve respect

/in /by

By Geoffrey Chambers

Measures to promote and protect French are welcome, but not steps that would suppress English and the English-speaking community.

As citizens of the sole bastion of French in North America, English-speaking Quebecers have accepted the need for rules and practices to protect and support the French language and culture. We are also committed to living and thriving in a predominantly French Quebec. We are increasingly bilingual, with every succeeding census recording a gain of several percentage points in our competence in French. The 600,000 members of our community who voted with their feet over the last half century have left behind them pretty much only those who are committed Quebecers to enjoy all that is good about living here.

Read more

Quebec announces plans to strengthen French language laws

/in /by

November 24, 2020 – Quebec’s Minister Responsible for the French Language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, announced on Tuesday a plan to table a bill aimed at strengthening French in the province.

“Quebec was born in French, and it will stay French,” Jolin-Barrette said at a news conference on Tuesday. Read more

Anglos skeptical about CAQ plan to reinforce French Language Charter

/in /by

November 25, 2020 – Members of Quebec’s English-speaking community have reacted with skepticism over promises by the Legault government to respect the rights of the minority in its overhaul of the French Language Charter. “We heard the same thing about Bill 40, and the Quebec English School Boards Association is in court now defending our constitutional right to manage our own schools,” said Kevin Shaar, vice-president of the Quebec Community Groups Network. Read more

Quebec language minister says changes to Bill 101 are not an attack on English

/in /by

November 24, 2020 – The Coalition Avenir Québec government will soon make changes to Quebec’s French language charter. Simon Jolin-Barrette announced that he will table legislation to modify Bill 101 early in the new year. But as Gobal’s Raquel Fletcher reports, he has revealed few details of what that plan will actually look like, which is causing some anxiety in the English community. Read more

QCGN supports APPELE-Québec GoFundMe Campaign to Support Legal Challenge Against Bill 40

/in /by

Our community has the Constitutional right to manage and control our schools. The Coalition Avenir Québec government has taken this right away from our English-speaking community – and together we must fight to take back this fundamental right. All nine of our English school boards along with the Quebec English School Boards Association have launched a legal challenge to quash Bill 40. This controversial legislation abolishes our democratically elected school boards and transforms them into government-controlled service centres. Our legal action declares that this upheaval of our education system contravenes our linguistic minority community’s right to manage and control our school system. This foundational right, under Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees education in one of Canada’s two official languages. It is an essential element of linguistic duality, a cornerstone of our national identity. It took French parents in British Columbia five years to win another case that solidified minority-language education rights. Just like our West Coast counterparts, we are in this for the long haul. This is bound to be a long and costly fight. Please consider making a contribution to the Go Fund Me campaign to support this legal action to defend the Constitutional rights of Quebec’s English-speaking community and advance the minority-language rights of all Canadians. Any donation, big or small, is appreciated – but most importantly a large number of donors will unequivocally demonstrate to our governments that we believe in our rights and we will fight to protect them. Please contribute what you can and help us get the news out by sharing this appeal extensively throughout your networks.

https://ca.gofundme.com/f/quebec-bill-40-court-challenge

One year of Legault government: tense relations with minorities

/in /by

From its plan to rehaul school boards to Bill 21, The Journal de Montréal analyzes the rising tensions between the Coalition Avenir Québec and minority groups, including the English-speaking community. Despite the tension, the government is willing to listen to community concerns, said QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers.

Read more (in French only)

Poll: English-Speaking Quebecers: Views on Governance

/in , /by

What do English-speaking Quebecers think about the current state of affairs in their home province? This five-part study is based on one of the largest opinion surveys to date of Quebec English-speakers.

Conducted by Léger Marketing for the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC), the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) and the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS), the survey was conducted via web panel between Aug. 29 and Sept. 4, 2019.

The poll sampled 1,936 Quebecers. This included 1,019 Quebecers with English as their first language, 773 Quebecers with French as their first language and 144 persons whose first language is neither English nor French. The survey has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Download poll

Majority of Anglophone Quebecers say Axing School Boards Puts Minority Language Rights at Risk: Survey

/in /by

In an Interview with Global Montreal, QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers quotes a new poll that shows the vast majority of English-speaking Quebecers are concerned plans of abolishing school boards would put minority languages at risk. The poll by Léger Marketing was commissioned by the QCGN, the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) and the Association of Canadian Studies (ACS)

Read more