Quebec - From English school boards looking for more students to save their system to language hardliners, no one seems to like the Quebec Liberal government's Bill 103 as it was written.
The National Assembly Committee on Culture and Education started hearings into the educational language law nearly one year after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law and gave the province 12 months to come up with an alternate solution.
On Thursday, the Quebec Federation of Labour delivered the same message at the hearings that it's been repeating for the last 30 years.
"In Quebec it should be in French and (Bill) 101 should apply to every school, French or English, subsidized or not," said QFL president Rene Roy, adding that the Quebec government should be prepared to use the notwithstanding clause if the Supreme Court objects.
Under the current French Language Charter, children are allowed to attend public schools, or schools partially subsidized by the government, in English after doing the majority of their studies at an English private school.
Bill 103, the latest attempt to restrict this freedom, will require students to spend at least three years in a private, unsubsidized English school before moving into the public system.
The SCOC ruled Bill 104, which eliminated access to English schools entirely, was "excessive."
The federal New Democratic Party was present at the hearings Thursday and stressed that the proposed new law is sending a bad message to the population.
"Despite the shortcomings of the Charter brought in 1982, in spite of the fact the Supreme Court decision was abysmal, we've got to come up with clear rules again," said the NDP's top Quebec lieutenant, Thomas Mulcair. "What they are heading for now is a constant fight on an issue that's still a flashpoint in Quebec politics."
Mulcair added that creating a two-tier system where the rich can buy the education they want for their children while others can't is also a dangerous precedent.
"In a free and democratic society we think it is wrong that some people can buy a right that's not available to everyone," he said.
The Quebec English School Boards Association made one of the first submissions to the commission, and as expected Debbie Horrocks launched a fierce attack on any attempt to continue restrictions on allowing children to be educated in the language of their choice.
"We are not a threat to Quebec society," said Horrocks. "The English public school system raises kids, graduates kids in both official languages. Our graduation rates are high."
Horrocks also said that English schools in Quebec want children to remain in Quebec after they graduate.
