For the first time, Quebec’s Liberal Party has vowed to vote against Bill 96, a controversial piece of language legislation.
The legislation would strengthen language laws, including tougher sign restrictions, more requirements for businesses and forcing students in English CEGEPs to take three core courses in French.
The Liberals now say they can’t support the bill.
The decision to vote against the bill comes after months of the Liberals repeatedly refusing to say how they would vote on Bill 96.
Last month, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade and MNA David Birnbaum would only say they wouldn’t vote in favor of Bill 96, which left open the possibility of abstaining.
Birnbaum has since taken to social media, where he said the Liberals proposed several amendments to the “deeply flawed” bill, including on access to justice and bilingual cities– and they were rejected.
As for CEGEPs, the Liberals were the party that proposed that English students would be required to take three courses in French, but the CAQ is requiring those be core courses, which some in the CEGEP network have said will harm the grades of some students.
— This is a developing story and will be updated.