Montreal’s Anglo Community Mobilizes to Protest Bill 96 on Saturday

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Gasoline prices were 77.2 cents a litre, Jean Chrétien was prime minister and Billie Eilish wasn’t even born the last time English-speaking Quebecers protested in the streets 22 years ago.

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But now Montreal’s generally anti-war Anglophone community is mobilizing, with hundreds or even thousands marching on Saturday against a proposed law that many say will restrict access to services in their language.

Bill 96, a proposed law to strengthen the French language charter, is expected to come to a vote in the National Assembly later this month.

The English community has said the law would erode CEGEPs in English due to enrollment limits and the requirement that all students take three additional classes in French, making it harder for them to graduate.

Other aspects of the law that the community has found concerning are the increased powers given to the province’s language watchdog, such as the power to search and seize without a warrant. The community is also concerned about how the law could restrict access to services in English in the courts and in the health care sector.

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In recent days, information booths have been set up at English-language CEGEPs and emails have been sent to parents of children attending English-language primary and secondary schools, urging them to attend on Saturday.

The event is planned for 10 a.m. in front of Dawson College on Sherbrooke St. W. at the corner of Atwater Ave., with protesters marching toward Prime Minister François Legault’s office on McGill College Ave. It’s not known how many will attend, but the the community seems galvanized, said Russell Copeman, executive director of the Quebec English School Boards Association and a spokesman for the day of action planned for Saturday.

“In my lifetime, there haven’t been a lot of big public policy demonstrations in Quebec that were spearheaded by the English community; there was the referendum (in 1995) and the issue of mergers and splits (in 2000),” said Copeman, a former Liberal Party member and former mayor of the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district. “I think the feeling of anxiety, anguish and dissatisfaction has rarely been greater in the community than it is (about Bill 96).”

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Copeman said the English-speaking community is not only concerned about the law, but also frustrated that concerns have fallen on deaf ears, as the government paints those who oppose the bill as anti-protective. French language.

“The government has portrayed people who oppose Bill 96 as bad Quebecers, and we reject that argument. It’s very divisive,” Copeman said.

Legault has called the bill “balanced and reasonable”, saying the CAQ government resisted a call by other parties to ban francophones and allophones from English-language CEGEPs, a move Legault said would be ” radical”.

Copeman hopes Saturday’s action will raise awareness of the bill among the majority French-speaking community, which he says will also be affected by its passage, as it will limit enrollment to CEGEPs in English for francophones and allophones, which ultimately it will give them fewer options to decide their futures.

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However, there seemed to be little awareness of the bill or its impacts among people approached by a reporter this week at the Rosemont subway station. Only five of 30 said they were aware that the government was trying to strengthen the French language, and most of them were unaware of the content of the proposed law.

“It’s a little complicated,” said Rosemont resident Anne-Marie Levac. “I am one of the first to say that the French language should be protected, but I am not sure that (the bill) is the right way to do it, since English speakers feel threatened.”

“It is clear that we have to protect the French language, but I do not like that Francophones are described as racists; I also don’t like it when English speakers are portrayed as rich and spoiled. Is not true.”

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While the English-speaking community feels threatened, leaders of indigenous nations say the law is an attack on their culture and amounts to cultural genocide.

“There will be a pretty decent contingent from Kahnawake participating in the rally,” said Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, Grand Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK). “I’m using strong language like (cultural genocide) because I want you to realize how derogatory this bill is to First Nations.”

She said the community is demanding a full exemption from the law. It would place barriers in front of indigenous communities, not only with the additional requirements for CEGEP students, but it would make it more difficult for them to access services in English, since most Aboriginal people do not consider themselves to be historical Anglophones as described in the project. Of law. .

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He added that Saturday’s participation in the protest will be one of several actions planned to protest the bill if the province does not agree to the community’s demands.

“You put a Mercier Bridge across our territory, you put a train track across our territory. If we can’t find a way to coexist, what does that say about the future? We are not threatening violence, but we are threatening action because sometimes it takes action to get a response.”

On Thursday, Sky-Deer announced the the MCK Facebook page who will meet with the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ian Lafrenière and Simon Jolin-Barrette, the minister responsible for the French language, to discuss the demands of their community.

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