QUEBEC CITY -- If elected premier, Parti Quebecois (PQ) leadership candidate Sylvain Gaudreault would gradually tighten funding for English-speaking CEGEPs, but would not impose Bill 101 on the college network.

The Canadian Press obtained the linguistic component of the candidate's platform on Thursday.

Currently, English-speaking CEGEPs receive more funding in proportion to the demographic weight of the historic English-speaking community because an increasing number of Francophones and Allophones are enrolling in English CEGEPs.

More students mean more funding, and more funding helps attract more students.

If he is elected PQ leader in October, then premier in 2022, Gaudreault would set about breaking this funding formula English-speaking CEGEPs.

The Jonquiere MNA said he knows that this would represent a major shock for a CEGEP like Dawson, in Montreal, where a high proportion of students don't come from the historic English-speaking community, but he would gradually spread these cuts over several years.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2020.