QUEBEC—The Parti Quebecois’s plan to toughen Bill 101 could be in trouble.

The Coalition Avenir Quebec confirmed Wednesday the existence of a draft of a letter stating it will oppose the most controversial aspects of Bill 14, the proposed legislation to beef up Quebec's French language law.

In the letter, the CAQ stated it is opposed to the following provisions of Bill 14:

  • The right to remove a municipality's existing bilingual status
  • Removal of the right of children of francophone military parents to attend English school
  • New measures forcing companies with 26 to 50 employees to conduct their internal communications in French
  • Measures to restrict francophone and allophone students from attending Anglophone CEGEPS.

The letter was obtained by CJAD and its original source or for whom it was intended are not known.

CAQ spokesman Guillaume Simard-Leduc would only say it is a draft, and would not say if such a letter has been sent out to party members.

He noted that the letter sums up many of the positions the party's MNAs have stated in the past weeks.

The CAQ will announce its position on Bill 14 on Tuesday, March 12, the same day formal hearings on the proposed legislation begin.

The Liberal party has already stated that it is opposed to the entire bill and that their members will vote against it.

An aide to the Parti Quebecois government's language minister did not return calls this morning.