In retrospect, sociologist Guy Rocher was right to say that the Lévesque government should have beaten iron while it was hot and extend the provisions of Bill 101 to CEGEPs from the outset.
If we didn’t do it at the time, it wasn’t for political reasons. The opposition could hardly have been stronger than it was. There was talk of a “Nazi” bill that would accelerate the exodus of Anglophones already caused by the victory of the PQ. What more could we have said?
In 1977, it might have seemed sufficient to limit access to elementary and secondary school to only members of the historic English-speaking community. It seemed reasonable to hope that the children of immigrants would choose for the most part to continue their post-secondary studies in French and gradually integrate into the majority. Mr. Rocher acknowledges today that the team of advisers he was part of had underestimated the decisive influence that CEGEPs would have on linguistic orientation.
The solution was to be independent, believed Camille Laurin, but it has become highly hypothetical. To say the least, it would be imprudent to bet on the “Grand Soir” to ensure the sustainability of French.
While Philippe Couillard assured to see no threat even if the alarm signals multiplied, all the parties represented in the National Assembly recognize today that the danger is very real and that a recovery is necessary. Even the Liberals seem to have had an enlightenment. The English-speaking community, which once again denounces a violation of its fundamental rights, no longer knows which way to turn.
Bill 96 certainly makes some useful corrections. Despite the good will of the responsible minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette, and the lyrical flights of Prime Minister Legault on the need to protect the foundations of the nation, there is no question of correcting the omission of the Lévesque government.
It must be said that Mr. Legault does not feel a great pressure to act on the issue of CEGEP, even if 58% of Quebecers say they agree to subject it to Bill 101, according to a Léger poll conducted last May. Such a level of approval should meet the criterion of “social acceptability” that the Prime Minister constantly raises. It is obviously not his caucus, almost totally foreign to the reality of Montreal, which will encourage him to tighten the screw.
We are far from the climate of effervescence in which Bill 101 was adopted. The Caquist strategists had foreseen that the debate on the bill 96 would kick off the election year, but parliamentary committee hearings were largely overshadowed by the health system crisis and a never-ending pandemic.
In the same way that Quebeckers have come to believe that the health network was definitely doomed to dysfunction after countless failed reform attempts, it is as if the deterioration of the situation of French was now considered distressing, yes, but inevitable. What do you want, in today’s world …
Some may have welcomed the consensus reached between the parties on the main lines of Bill 96, even if it means arguing over the details, but this is mainly due to its reduction to the lowest denominator, which does not meet the urgency of the situation.
Mr. Jolin-Barrette read the essay with interest Why Bill 101 is a failure by researcher Frédéric Lacroix. His new book, to be published on October 7, will explain to him why his bill will not work either despite the planned freeze on enrollment in English CEGEPs.
Mr. Legault would – perhaps – have obtainedErin O’Toole authority over temporary immigrants to Quebec, including foreign students from non-subsidized private colleges; Justin trudeau will certainly not grant it to him. The vast majority of these colleges offer instruction in English to an ever-growing number of foreign students benefiting from temporary permits that systematically lead to permanent residence. They sell first and foremost – at a high price – access to Canada, explains Mr. Lacroix. It goes without saying that these establishments cannot be subject to Bill 101 if the public colleges are not.
In a moment of depression during the 2018 election campaign, Mr. Legault had said he feared that the blindness of the Couillard government would cause that one day, “our grandchildren no longer speak French”. If they manage to no longer understand Richard Desjardins, he will be able to say: “I should have, well had, therefore had …”
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