Anglo MNA seeks free French training for all
An anglophone Liberal MNA wants the Quebec government to open up the Charter of the French Language to make free instruction in French a right for anyone who resides in Quebec.
Greg Kelley, the MNA for Jacques-Cartier, says he thinks he has found a way to unite Quebecers of all stripes around a common cause, which is improving the French of people from all backgrounds.
That list runs from anglophone students graduating from university and seeking employment in Quebec, to new arrivals, to workers who need to recycle themselves after a job change or seniors who have lived here all their lives and need to brush up.
In fact, requests for more accessible and free French language training is an issue often heard from Quebecers of all backgrounds, Kelley said.
And rather than see the Charter as a divisive thing in Quebec, it could be flipped around to be a positive, unifying force, Kelley said.
On Wednesday, Kelley will put his idea in action and is to table an opposition member’s bill in the National Assembly, which if adopted would enable his plan.
The details of the bill only become public once it is tabled, but the public order paper Tuesday makes mention of the bill.
It will be called “An act to amend the Charter of the French Language to establish free French instruction services for every person who resides in Quebec.”
“I am opening up the Charter of the French Language, which some people say is a taboo, but I’m opening it to try to create something that is extremely positive for everyone,” Kelley said in an interview in his legislature office.
“It’s a right that would belong to every Quebecer.”
The bill comes just a week after a new study revealed the number of English-speaking Quebecers in the civil service is still pathetically low.
One of the reasons often given for the low number is a lack of high-level French skills by anglophones who tend to gravitate to the federal civil service.
Kelley is well aware of the issue. Before he became an MNA, he worked in the government’s Secretariat for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers, which is still conducting research on the issue.
But at the same time, the Coalition Avenir Québec government is also working on a new plan to reinforce French in Quebec, Kelley said.
Kelley has yet to float his plan by the minister responsible for the French Language Charter and the looming reforms, Simon Jolin-Barrette, but he thinks the CAQ might seize the olive branch and act on the idea.
While some people perceive the Charter as divisive, his idea would be a way to unite Quebecers in a common objective, Kelley said.
“There are parts of the charter which people get angry about, but parts of it do protect our community’s rights,” Kelley said. “I think my colleagues in the legislature will say this makes a lot of sense.”
“This is an opportunity to provide every Quebecer with a new right and a positive right around the French language, which can unite people,” he said.
Kelley admits, however, that he has not costed out the plan, which could cost a bundle. The actual application of the idea would remain in the hands of the government.
Opposition legislation often languishes unadopted on the house order paper, but Kelley said his door is open to discuss the project.
“I think we can all take a step forward and all agree that language is important and the right to training should exist for every person who lives in Quebec, no matter where you live or what your background is.”
Kelley’s bill, his first since being elected, is unlikely to get approval soon.
The house recesses for Christmas this Friday.