MONTREAL—Facing a crowd of CEGEP students largely opposed to the Parti Quebecois’ plan to update the province’s language laws, Quebec’s language minister paid a visit to Dawson College on Monday morning to discuss law Bill 14.
For half an hour, Diane de Courcy spoke to students and took a number of questions.
After the short visit, many students told CTV Montreal that they were disappointed by the meeting and didn’t feel the minister dealt with their concerns. The main worry: that Francophone and Allophone students could be turned away from Dawson in the future.
“As an Anglophone I’m completely protected by this because I can become a bilingual citizen,” said student Sara Charron. “Francophones will be severely limited because they won’t be able to access a bilingual education as readily as they can now.”
Students also worried that with Dawson restricted to Anglophones, the quality of education would decline.
Bienvenue, a student group opposed to Bill 14, tried to present the minister with a petition signed by 300. While she accepted the signatures, she said it was largely too late to accept the petition and students should have signed an online petition instead.
