The amendment, inspired by a proposal by the Liberal MNA, Hélène David and David Birnbaum, was unanimously approved by the committee examining Bill 96, which aims to amend the Quebec map of French. However, Liberal leader Dominique Anglade said her party would continue to vote against the bill, saying the idea was “in good faith” but that they could not support the way the CAQ government wanted it to be implemented. He accused Simon Jolin-Barrette, the minister in charge of the French language, of not consulting others about the course implementation. “[We thought] the minister had these talks not only with CEGEP but also with the Ministry of Education, and then we realized that absolutely nothing of this was happening. “Nothing,” Anglade said in an interview with Sean Henry on CBC Montreal’s Daybreak Monday. In a press conference Tuesday, Anglade acknowledged that her own party should also have consulted CEGEP in advance before proposing the idea, but said it was important to recognize when it was time to return to the draw. Anglade said that to be feasible, the proposal would have to be reworked to give CEGEP three years to gradually attend classes and ensure that students’ R-scores – a key measure of academic performance used in admissions universities in Quebec – would not be affected by their grades in the classrooms. Daybreak Montreal13: 12 Quebec Liberal Party Says It Will Vote Against Bill 96 We spoke with the Liberal Leader of Quebec, Dominique Anglade. It is also the Official Opposition in the National Assembly. 13:12
She said another important factor in her party’s decision to oppose the bill is the CAQ amendment which puts a strict ceiling on enrollment in English-speaking CEGEPs. While Jolin-Barrette said the bill would not prevent students from attending the school of their choice, Anglade said CAQ was trying to “implement Bill 101 in CEGEPs”, making it more difficult for French-speaking and non-French-speaking students to attend. “Basically what it does is tell all CEGEP English speakers that they will never be able to expand,” Anglade said, “and for no good reason.” The Parti Québécois, meanwhile, has argued that Bill 96 does not go far enough and has launched a petition urging students attending French-language schools in Quebec to be required to continue their college education in French. Pascal Bérubé, the PQ critic for the French language and relations with the English-speaking Quebec, called the liberal back-track “circus” and “shameful”. He said the PQ did not intend to support the Liberals’ call for the amendment to be withdrawn. “This is their problem … Deal with it,” Beroube said in response to a reporter’s question on Tuesday. “What do you want me to do, talk to the Liberals, give them a chat?” Anglade said that while its party supported the promotion of the French language and access to language courses for all Quebec residents, it accused the CAQ of creating a “division between English and French speakers”. In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister François Lego said he was surprised that the Liberals were backing down from their own proposal, which was supported by all four parties. “Now the Liberal Party is telling us, ‘Well, we’ve spoken in English and they’re upset, so we’m going to change our minds.’ “Well, listen, it was voted unanimously,” Legault said. The prime minister said his government would discuss the amendment with opposition parties and whether implementation of the courses should be delayed.

English CEGEP “shocked” by the amendment

The upheaval comes after the administrators of many English CEGEPS spoke out against the amendment, saying it would not be feasible and would affect student success. “We were very concerned when we heard about this amendment; in fact, we were shocked,” said John McMahon, general manager of Vanier College, who said the schools had not been consulted. “To be clear, we are not talking about French second language lessons, we are talking about history lessons, physics lessons and so on,” he said. CEGEPs said the requirement would allow them to try to hire qualified teachers to teach French lessons in time for the fall semester. Christian Corno, general manager at Marianopolis College, says it will affect the grades of students who may have been able to take French in high school but could not learn other subjects in their second language. “It’s another ball game to be really successful in an object like physics or sociology,” Corno said. “[They] “They may be able to do well, but not to the degree they would need if they were interested in being admitted to McGill Medical School.” But PQ chief Paul St-Pierre Plamondon argued that all CEGEP students should be able to take these courses in French. He pointed out that he attended college-level courses in Danish on various subjects while living in Denmark, and university courses in Swedish and English while in Sweden. “French is the common language in Quebec and if the people of Quebec do not have the minimum level of knowledge and understanding and cannot work in French, we are creating problems,” Plamondon said. “If you want to work in one language, you must be at the level where you can take a CEGEP course in the same language. Period.” Research has shown that English-speaking Quebecers have higher unemployment rates, in part because of their knowledge of the French language. Korno said the intention to increase attendance and exposure to French for CEGEP English students was “very noble”, but said the government needed to take a more “systemic approach” working to improve French education for English. students at all levels. McMahon said the solutions could include organizing an internship for “English students in French-speaking companies”. “We are fully committed to preserving French, to promoting French and to increasing opportunities for all students to improve their French, but that was not the way,” he said.