MONTREAL - The public debate over access to English-language education in Quebec spilled into the streets of Montreal Monday evening with a rally outside the Premier's offices.
Crowd organizers said nearly 5,000 people showed up, but independent sources said only a few hundred protesters were present at a rally against Bill 103 and Bill 115.
The Societe Saint-Jean Baptiste de Montreal said it was one of the most important demonstrations in defence of the French language in 20 years.
Mario Beaulieu, president of the SSJB, believes the French language is on the verge of extinction in Quebec.
He said the only solution is to apply the French Language Charter to all schools in the province, which would effectively wipe out all private, unsubsidized English schools, since only children who were eligible to attend English public schools would have access.
"[Bill 115] is completely unacceptable. It weakens the most important law in the French Language Charter, Law 101," said Beaulieu.
Language hardliners present at the rally believe that with the passage of Bill 115, up to 30,000 students will eventually attend English public schools, and they say that a province of 7 million people cannot afford that much linguistic division.
"It a very sad day for the French language to see that the National Assembly of the Quebec government is adopting a legislation that weakens the French language. It's totally unacceptable. We should be expecting from out government the promotion and protection of the national Quebec language, which is French," said protester Jean-Paul Perreault of Imperatif francais.
Others say that Bill 115 favours the wealthy, because only they will be able to afford to send children to English unsubsidized schools for three years.
Meanwhile a hardline minority were calling for the abolition of all English schools in Quebec.
The SSJB says despite the adoption of Bill 115, they will continue to hold rallies in support of tougher laws to protect the French language.
