Vaudreuil-dorion mayor backs plan for bilingual CEGEP
Vaudreuil-dorion Mayor Guy Pilon is 100 per cent behind the idea to build a bilingual CEGEP in the municipality.
“It’s a very good idea,” Pilon said. “Having a CEGEP in Vaudreuil-dorion sends the right message — it’s a sign that the region is important.”
The proposed project is the result of a collaboration between John Abbott College in Ste-annede-bellevue, Collége Gérald-godin in Ste-geneviève and Collège de Valleyfield.
Pilon said the city’s administration had met with representatives from the three CEGEPS and suggested a selection of possible locations for the campus and as well as supplied the landowners’ contact information.
Vaudreuil-dorion is booming and has one of the fastest growing youth populations in the province. As it stands now, students hop on buses to access the CEGEPS outside their territory. Pilon said it would ease the travel burden to have a campus within city limits and that if was located near the train station, even better. The population of the Vaudreuil- Soulanges region — including towns, cities and villages — reaches 150,000.
John Abbott College spokesperson Debbie Cribb said the trio of colleges had been working on the file for close to four years.
“The file is complete and the three CEGEPS are in full agreement. It has been submitted to the minister,” she said.
Word of the project has triggered controversy in certain circles. Some political pundits and French-language education advocates are opposed, saying the creation of a bilingual campus will further erode the chances of the survival of the French language in the province.
They are asking the Quebec government to reject the plan. And the Mouvement Québec français has launched a petition calling for Bill 101 (the Charter of the French Language) to expand its reach to include CEGEPS.
Currently, Bill 101 restrictions apply only to elementary and high school, after which any student is free to attend English CEGEPS and universities, if so desired.
“Students with an interest in national or international careers need to be able to study in the language of the industry they are considering,” Cribb said. “For many students, (CEGEP) is the first opportunity they’ve had to learn English. It’s a chance for them to broaden their horizons, to open as many doors as possible.”
A concern among opponents of the proposed bilingual campus in Vaudreuil-dorion is that enrolment by French-speaking students in English CEGEPS and universities in increasing, while enrolment in French equivalents is languishing.
Pilon said that, ultimately, it is the province that decides the fate of the project, but he only sees the campus as a bonus for the region. And he said that the CEGEP’S bilingual status is not an issue for him. He said the region’s linguistic communities have a history of working together.
“Bilingualism is a reality here,” Pilon said. “We are, in effect, an extension of the West Island.”
The mayor said the city is happy to help in any way it can, such as making any zoning amendments necessary for the build.
The press attaché for Quebec Education Minister Jean-françois Roberge told the West Island Gazette that there was no announcement about the future of the bilingual-campus project, as yet.