MONTREAL - The possible upcoming election of a PQ government is raising anxieties among some Quebecers and Pauline Marois was confronted with some feedback reflecting those sentiments at an event in Chateauguay Saturday morning.

While visiting a public market in Chateauguay Saturday morning, Marois was politely rebuked by a merchant for her plan to ban francophones from attending English trade schools and CEGEPs.

As the cameras rolled, Marois smiled and told the man that she would try to make everybody happy. Later at a press conference she added that she would not let the English community down, however she remained vague on what that meant.

The comments come at a time when newspapers across Canada are widely assailing Marois and her plan to extend Bill 101 in several manners. 

A PQ government would extended the provisions of Bill 101 to CEGEPs and trade schools, which would only be open for those with high school English language eligibility.

Previous PQ leaders such as Bernard Landry did not support extending Bill 101 to CEGEPs on the grounds that those students are largely adults over age 18. 

Marois said that government money should not be spent anglicizing Quebeckers.

The new measures would also penalize companies with 50 employees-or-less that do not conduct their affairs in French.

That restriction has been questioned in business circles and other circles, including the Voir newspaper, where a columnisted described a local high-tech company with employees from around the world that has intentionally kept its payroll under 50 employees and might move out of the province if forced to operate exclusively in French.

Opponents of the plan to extend Bill 101 have been protesting frequently outside the Office Quebecois de la Langue Francaise at Sherbrooke and St. Urbain.

Protests against the PQ policies have been promoted largely through Facebook.

Marois plans new ministry

Marois also announced Saturday that she would create a Ministry of Democratic Governance that would manage popular ballot initiatives and create fixed-date elections.

CAQ leader Francois Legault responded to that announcement by stating that Marois was living, "in an imaginary world, a parallel universe."

Legault said that the PQ policy of creating popular ballot initiatives would plunge Quebec into division and chaos.