Prove out-of-province students cause decline of French, Liberals tell CAQ

“What we have seen is rhetoric — divisive rhetoric — coming from the CAQ. We want to see data.”

Published Oct 19, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read

Madwa-Nika Cadet, co-chair of the Quebec Liberal Party relaunch committee, answers questions from the Montreal Gazette on June 26, 2023. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

QUEBEC — The Liberals are calling on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to produce studies linking its decision to increase tuition for out-of-province students with the status of the French language.

“So far we have not seen any type of study, any type of analysis that says there is actually a connection between the protection of the French language and the policy put forward by Minister (Pascale) Déry,” Liberal language critic Madwa-Nika Cadet told reporters Thursday at a news conference.

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“What we have seen is rhetoric — divisive rhetoric — coming from the CAQ. We want to see data … that the presence of anglo-Canadians in Montreal and Quebec is anglicizing the province.”

The issue has been floating around ever since the tuition increase was announced last week by Déry, the higher education minister, and Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge.

In announcing the decision that out-of-province students would have to pay about $17,000 a year in tuition, up from the current $8,992, the ministers said one of the reasons they were acting is because the presence of students from other provinces is contributing to the anglicization of Montreal.

Roberge said students from outside Quebec typically don’t speak French and most return to their home province after graduating.

The influx of English-speaking students is one of “the reasons for the decline of the French language in Quebec,” he said. “That’s not surprising when tens of thousands of people arrive on the island of Montreal without mastering French. It’s obvious that this can have an anglicizing effect on the metropolis.”

Roberge was in France for work this week, so he has not been heard from in the debate.

But after saying at their general council meeting last weekend that the decision has all the markings of a pro-independence government, the Liberals have demanded evidence proving the action is appropriate.

“I asked the question of (Déry),” Cadet said. “On what basis does she justify this measure? That it will stop the decline of French? She has not been able to answer this question.

“Normally when a minister goes to cabinet to present a recommendation, there is an impact analysis. We haven’t seen the impact analysis. So there is no proof so far. No proof.”

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier