Bill 96: Quebec Liberals request withdrawal of CEGEP French course amendment

The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) is asking the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government to remove a controversial amendment to Bill 96 — an amendment initially proposed by the QLP itself.

As part of legislation aimed at reinforcing language laws in Quebec, the amendment would require students at English CEGEPs to take three core courses in French in order to graduate.

Although anglophone students were exempt from the proposal at first, the Liberals suggested they be included in the new regulations back in February. 

But now, the party is taking back its suggestion, spokesperson Francois White confirmed to CTV News.

White said Liberal leader Dominique Anglade would speak further on the matter at the National Assembly on Tuesday. 

EDUCATION CONCERNS

The QLP’s original proposal was met by swift criticism from CEGEPs, parents and students alike.

For the director general of Marianapolis College, there’s a fear that the new legislation would negatively affect the academic standing of students, creating obstacles down the road.

“At the very least [it could] lower their grades, which can impact their ability to be admitted to the university of their choice, or program of their choice. Especially in competitive programs such as law school or med school,” said Christian Corno.

There are also concerns some Anglophone students might choose to study outside the province.

“People might go to CEGEP for one year for their education and not come back,” said Andrew Caddell, executive member of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy. “So we lose a whole generation of students that would otherwise have stayed, have improved their French, become more integrated into the community and would have become very much part of the fabric of Quebec society.”  

REJECTING BILL 96

The news comes days after the Liberals announced they would vote against Bill 96 as a whole.

Last week, Anglade said some elements of the bill would put English-speaking minority groups “at risk.”

“That’s also why we are going to be voting against it,” she said.

Alongside changes to CEGEP requirements, the bill could tighten language laws for Quebec businesses, potentially extending those laws to federally chartered industries such as Via Rail.

Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette also put forward an amendment to the bill that would no longer require Quebec judges to speak English as well as French.