Kelley wants actions, not just words, for anglos
QUEBEC — Geoffrey Kelley, Liberal MNA for the West Island JacquesCartier riding, welcomes overtures by the Parti Québécois government seeking better relations between Quebec’s English minority and the French majority.
Kelley was an adviser to Claude Ryan in the 1990s when Bill 86, amending the language charter, was adopted — establishing a balance credited for 20 years of linguistic peace in the province.
But he perceives a gap between PQ minister Jean-François Lisée’s reaching out and the Marois government’s proposals in Bill 14 to overhaul Bill 101.
“You can never find fault with someone who is willing to reach out and meet people,” Kelley said Friday. “That’s something to be encouraged. But in English we say ‘Actions speak louder than words,’ ” he added, noting the “snap decision” by Health Minister Réjean Hébert to take Lachine Hospital out of the McGill University Health Centre network and measures proposed in Bill 14 that have caused unease in the English community.
“Once again, things English are seen as problems, as opposed to assets for our society,” Kelley said, adding that, despite Lisée’s efforts at rapprochement, the reality is “the same old same old.”
“If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Kelley said of Hébert’s decision on Lachine Hospital.
In his letter announcing the change, which is still not final, Hébert spoke of “the French vocation of the hospital.”
“No one is talking about the care. No one is talking about the condition of the patients,” Kelley said, recalling the 1996 Centaur Theatre speech to the English community by then PQ premier Lucien Bouchard.
Bouchard had said, “If you are ill you need a blood test, not a language test,” Kelley said. “What happened to that spirit?”
Other proposals in Bill 14 make it harder for the children of military personnel to enter Quebec’s English schools, and empower the government to strip towns and cities of their bilingual status.
The Quebec Liberal Party calls for vigilance to protect the French language, but believes enforcing the existing law is the best course.
“Politics is perception,” Kelley said. “There is deep concern about the future of the French language. I understand that.”
But he disagrees with coercive approach in Bill 14.
“Are there ways that we can positively encourage French?”
“There are many anglophones who would like to improve their knowledge of French as a second language. There are many anglophones that have made the effort. The English community has worked quite hard to be part of the solution and not be the problem all the time.”
And rather than seeing bilingualism as a threat to Quebec’s French character, it should be regarded as an asset, he said.
In her inaugural address, setting out her government’s agenda, Premier Pauline Marois said she wants to encourage exports and tourism.
Kelley said more exports and more tourism means dealing with people beyond Quebec’s borders who speak English, offering opportunities for bilingual Quebecers.
“What an exciting opportunity,” Kelley said.