Language minister won't budge on English schooling exemptions for military children

MONTREAL – Quebec’s Language Minister Diane De Courcy reiterated Wednesday that the Marois government will not budge on language instruction exemptions for children of Quebec military personnel.

The minister said in a statement that she believes the proposed amendments in Bill 14 to strengthen the French language charter would allow the province to return to the initial objectives set out for military officers from the province.

De Courcy also said she believes that the current exemption, which no longer requires military officers in Quebec to enroll their children in French schools, is a version of creating a “bridging school” leading into the English school system.

In the 2010-2011 school year, 714 of the 849 Quebec-born military children attended public schools. In most cases, the parents are Francophone and their children do all their schooling in Quebec, said the press release, adding that since October 2010, 376 applications were made to convert the temporary exemption for a child into a permanent right. That means the law would then apply to the brothers and sisters of these children, as well as to their offspring.

According to the minister's office, that’s more than the 296 applications for permanent exemptions filed by parents who have sent their child to a private unsubsidized English school as a bridging school.

The National Assembly has voted unanimously against bridging schools, and De Courcy said she filed a document to the National Assembly Wednesday on Bill 14, focusing on the bill’s impact on the exemption granted to members of the Canadian Forces.

This provision of Bill 14 is subject to strong opposition from many, including Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume who said preventing children from learning English would look bad for the capital city.

Opposition party Coalition Avenir Quebec also refused to support the measure, arguing that it would make it more difficult for the children involved to integrate across the country.

The Quebec Liberal Party bluntly announced that they would vote against the entire bill.