Committee rejects Liberal proposal to require 5 French courses in English CEGEPs

A new proposal from the Quebec Liberals to mandate anglophone students at English-language CEGEPs to take five second-language French courses instead of the party's original idea of three core French courses was swiftly rejected Thursday.

The Liberals' Hélène David, the MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys, pitched the sub-amendment on Wednesday as a compromise to the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government's Bill 96 during a committee review of the proposed legislation.

However, the CAQ members on the committee voted against it, including the party's minister in charge of the file, Simon Jolin-Barette, which Liberal MNA David Birnbaum called "absolutely deplorable."

"We had a compromise that the CEGEP leadership told us could work, that the minister knew could work, and he said no," Birnbaum said.

Jolin-Barette, the minister responsible for the French language in Quebec, had asked for more time to reflect on the Liberal proposal and consult with CEGEPs, but the PQ refused and demanded a vote be held Thursday.

Political analyst and former Liberal MNA David Heurtel said the CAQ had no choice but to vote no so as to not appear soft on protecting French in Quebec.

"Five-and-a-half months away from an election, the CAQ does not want to be tagged with that because their core vote is francophone nationalists."

The English Parents Committee Association said Thursday that neither proposition is tolerable.

"We will not accept anything but a total removal of that amendment, it has no place in Bill 96," said the association's president, Kathy Korakakis.

The Liberals' original proposition proved unpopular with CEGEPs and non-francophones, with polls showing their support declining since the idea was first floated.

The Parti Quebecois abstained in the vote after leader Pascal Berube said it's not his job to fix the Liberal's mess, in reference to the major about-face from the party last week.

The Liberals offered their "mea culpa" after acknowledging that it was a mistake back in February to propose the three core French class amendment to Bill 96.

-- With files from CTV News Montreal's Andrew Brennan