Tag Archive for: François Legault

Robert Libman: It’s time to speak up, diplomatically, but with passion

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Who is ready and willing to stick their neck out? Once the much anticipated legislation beefing up Bill 101 is tabled in the National Assembly, who will step up and represent the concerns of minority communities in Quebec?

Premier François Legault has already made it clear his Coalition Avenir Québec government won’t hesitate to use the notwithstanding clause, an admission that fundamental rights will be in play.

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) is the organization most likely be at the forefront as the debate heats up. Its president, former MP Marlene Jennings, sounds like she knows what’s coming. “I’m ready to rumble,” she has said. The school boards, anglo institutions, human rights lawyers and English media will all have important roles to play.

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Legault affirme que la CAQ tiendra toutes ses promesses électorales… et ça crée un malaise

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Lors de sa conférence de presse du jour en compagnie du ministre de la Santé Christian Dubé et du directeur national de santé publique Horacio Arruda, le premier ministre du Québec en a profité pour annoncer aux Québécois que son gouvernement était «déterminé et convaincu» à respecter toutes les promesses électorales faites en 2018.

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Tom Mulcair: Diversity is a plus for all of Quebec, not a flaw

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Quebec competes in an open North American market where businesses have choices. Legislating against minorities isn’t a great calling card.

Recently, Premier François Legault criticized Montreal for hiring Bochra Manaï as an anti-discrimination officer, because she opposed a discriminatory law, Bill 21. Someone tasked with fighting discrimination, who fights discrimination? Unacceptable!

It’s been a couple of long years on the human rights front here in La Belle Province, with religious minorities bearing the brunt of recent debates.

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2021 : Après la crise sanitaire, le débat identitaire ?

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L’année qui s’achève aura permis à la population de tester la capacité de François Legault de gérer une pandémie. En 2021, il subira un autre genre de test, en pariant sur sa capacité à imposer l’usage du français dans toutes les sphères d’activité et dans tous les coins du Québec, à commencer par le centre-ville de Montréal.

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Nouvelle loi 101 en 2021: après la crise sanitaire, place à l’enjeu identitaire

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Le gouvernement Legault semble fin prêt, en cette troisième année de mandat, à relancer le débat linguistique.

QUÉBEC — Si 2020 a été marquée par la crise sanitaire au Québec, l’année politique 2021 promet de raviver le débat identitaire.

L’année qui s’achève aura permis à la population de tester la capacité de François Legault de gérer une pandémie. En 2021, il subira un autre genre de test, en pariant sur sa capacité à imposer l’usage du français dans toutes les sphères d’activité et dans tous les coins du Québec, à commencer par le centre-ville de Montréal.

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Anglos skeptical about CAQ plan to reinforce French Language Charter

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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

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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

Opinion: Time for CAQ government to stop seeing anglos as a problem

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Rather than picking fights with our community, we urge the Legault government to alter course, work with us, and cease defining us as a problem, writes QCGN President Geoffrey Chambers in this opinion piece for The Gazette. Chambers argues that today’s English-speaking community is invested in Quebec. We have encouraged and enabled our children to develop French-language skills. We accept and celebrate the predominance of French as the linguistic and cultural norm here. We don’t see ourselves, our language, or our culture as something bad that must be suppressed. Our community’s bilingualism is an asset to be celebrated — as multilingualism is applauded in any European country. Read more

Opinion: Anglos’ COVID-19 anxiety should be understood, not deflected

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It is more important to understand why there is a difference in reporting anxiety levels among Quebecers than to deflect, writes Jack Jedwab, President of the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS). An ACS/QCGN survey reveals that some 34 per cent of Quebec anglophones know someone who has been diagnosed with the virus compared with 21 per cent of francophones.That partly explains the differences in levels of anxiety felt by anglophones and francophones, Jedwab writes. Read more

Faced with poll showing COVID-19 fears among English speakers, Legault blames media

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A new poll shows that English speakers in Quebec are significantly more worried about COVID-19 than French speakers, and are almost twice as likely to wear a mask. Faced with these numbers on Wednesday, Legault lashed out at English-language media, saying at a press conference that the Montreal Gazette in particular “has a certain responsibility.” Read more