(Quebec) The Legault government is reusing its fashionable recipe: it will create another dashboard, this time on the situation of French. For the rest, its long-awaited action plan on language recycles measures already announced, but which should not be neglected.
The Press got its hands on an almost final version of this plan signed by the Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge. The document is circulating among the ministries involved. He should receive the imprimatur of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Changes remain possible.
Minister Roberge, who will defend his budgetary appropriations in parliamentary committee this Tuesday, must unveil this plan soon. The date of April 28, i.e. Sunday, has been circled on the calendar, but nothing is set in stone yet.
The announcement of this plan has also been postponed several times. Initially, it was supposed to be done last fall.
The “Plan for the French Language” has a budget of $580 million over five years. This pot is already part of the government’s financial framework, because it was created thanks to the last two budgets. The most expensive measure aims to increase the offering of Francisation Québec courses: 320 million over five years announced in the Girard budget of March 12.
“National Awakening”
This plan is the fruit of the work of the Action Group for the Future of the French Language, created in January 2023 and made up of six ministers. In addition to Mr. Roberge, we find Christine Fréchette (Immigration), Bernard Drainville (Education), Pascale Déry (Higher Education), Mathieu Lacombe (Culture) and Martine Biron (International Relations and Francophonie).
The government had inflated expectations with the creation of this action group. It was the starting point of the “national awakening” that Jean-François Roberge said he wanted to “slow down, stop and reverse the decline of the French language”. He wanted to give another spin after the adoption in 2022 of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (bill 96).
The minister was not then able to indicate when the Quebec government would be able to “reverse the decline of French”. He responded that “when the action plan is submitted, there will definitely be a timetable.”
There is no such timetable in the version of the plan obtained by The Press.
We plan to create a dashboard, like those already in place in Health and Education. It will make it possible to monitor the evolution of certain indicators of the linguistic situation in Quebec. The government will be able to rely on it to guide its action.
What indicators will be used? The use of languages, particularly in public spaces and at work, the language of consumption of cultural products and the spoken language, it is specified.
In its plan, Quebec targets in particular three indicators pointing to a decline in French. The data is taken from the most recent Statistics Canada census.
Proportion of people whose mother tongue is French
2001: 80.9%
2021: 74.8%
Proportion of people who mainly speak French at home
2001: 82.3%
2021: 77.5%
Proportion of people for whom French is the first official language spoken
2001: 85%
2021: 82.2%
The Quebec Statistics Institute will be responsible for carrying out the necessary surveys to annually monitor the situation of French. It will do this in collaboration with the Ministry of the French Language and the Office québécois de la langue française, in particular, indicates the action plan.
Five axes, known measurements
Jean-François Roberge’s plan includes five areas of intervention:
- immigration must contribute to the vitality of the French language;
- French-speaking culture must be more accessible and discoverable;
- universities must encourage the attendance of French-speaking and Francotropic students (i.e. those with cultural affinities with French and who are more inclined to adopt French as a second language);
- mastery of French among young people must be prioritized;
- the French language must be a universal anchor point and a vector of exchange to promote its valorization and influence.
The measures associated with these five axes are already essentially known and are in the process of becoming a reality.
In immigration, the plan aims to increase the percentage of immigrants who know French. Minister Fréchette has already reviewed the requirements in this area in the permanent and temporary immigration programs.
In culture, the plan aims to increase the availability and promotion of French-speaking content in the digital universe dominated by Netflix and Spotify. Minister Lacombe has already announced the upcoming tabling of a bill to “regulate the large platforms so that there is more Quebec content”, as recommended to him by a group of experts recently.
We are still awaiting the launch of a measure presented as part of the spring 2023 budget: the “digital cultural passport for young people”, a tool “which will allow them to have access to cultural goods and services” in French “at an advantageous cost”.
In higher education, the plan proposes a review of tuition fees for Canadian students not residing in Quebec and international students. It plans to develop the French skills of 80% of non-Quebec students enrolled in an undergraduate program at an English-speaking university. Everything has already been announced by Minister Déry.
In education, the plan mentions that educational approaches will be “updated and diversified” in order to improve students’ mastery of French. Minister Drainville has already undertaken work to reform the French program at the elementary and secondary levels.
reference: www.lapresse.ca