Learn French or leave, says Quebec party leader
MONTREAL — The perennially divisive topic of language politics surfaced on the Quebec campaign trail Friday as the leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec promised his government would force new immigrants to leave the province if they don’t learn French within three years.
After two weeks of campaigning nearly devoid of language talk, the issue jumped into the spotlight on Day 16 as party leaders responded to Francois Legault’s proposals with differing visions on how best to integrate immigrants into French-speaking Quebec.
Legault said new immigrants would be given a temporary permit upon entry, then have three years to take free language courses and pass a basic Frenchlanguage test. Those who fail would not be granted permission to stay and would be considered to be in the country illegally, he said.
Legault said most people should pass easily, but he’s open to offering an extension or exemption to seniors or those with learning disabilities. “I will be open to accommodations, if someone has learning difficulties,” he said.
“I want to be human. I don’t want to ask them to do something that is impossible.”
Legault said more than 50 per cent of immigrants who arrive in Quebec don’t speak French and many of those end up leaving or facing high levels of unemployment. He warned that under present conditions, the use of French will disappear. “If year after year we accept 50,000 immigrants and most don’t speak French, it’s a matter of time,” he said.
The Coalition has proposed lowering the number of immigrants to the province to 40,000 a year from the current 50,000.
Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard accused Legault of fear-mongering and wanting to “break up families.” Couillard said Quebec’s immigration policy has been a success, noting that about 50 per cent of all jobs in recent years have been filled by immigrants.
“Immigrants are learning French, and you know where they learn it best? At work,” he said in Gatineau, near the Ontario border.
Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee said Legault was the biggest threat to the French language. “The worst thing we could do for French in Quebec is to adopt the proposition of the [Coalition], which would agree to have 40,000 people per year enter Quebec without knowing French,” Lisee said.