English Montreal School Board denies Quebec nationhood, sparks Bloc's outrage
A controversial English Montreal School Board document that denies the existence of the Quebec nation sparked outrage from the Bloc Québécois Tuesday.
The Bloc changed its election campaign game plan Tuesday morning specifically to respond to the document.
The school board wants to challenge the Francois Legault CAQ government's Bill 96 (An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec). The EMSB criticizes it for "unilaterally rewriting the constitution to recognize Quebec as a nation where the only language is French."
The board is asking the federal government to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for a ruling on its legality.
Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, therefore, moved his daily press conference to the Supreme Court.
"Quebec is not a 'nation,'" the EMSB statement reads. "It never has been... Calling oneself something does not make it so and Quebec's intelligentsia is deliberately misusing the word "nation," so as to imply a reality that exists only in their self-mirage. The only precise word to use regarding Quebec's reality is 'province.'"
- Read more: Legault calls EMSB 'radical group' for denying Quebec nationhood; board chair pays political price
The Bloc leader saw this as an "insult."
The House of Commons has recognized the Quebec nation in a motion.
"The English Montreal School Board is attacking a motion supported by 281 out of 338 MPs," Blanchet said.
He is asking his opponents, Liberal Justin Trudeau and Conservative Erin O'Toole, to formally commit not to challenge the Legault government's eventual legislation if either of them form the next federal government.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 7, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.