Montreal's French-language committee complete with former ministers, a journalist and an actress

Former interim leader of the Parti Québécois Louise Harel will chair Montreal's French-language committee, a panel that was recommended by the executive committee last June.

Harel, who was a member of the National Assembly from 1981 to 2008 and was a candidate for Montreal mayor in 2013, will lead the team.

Their mandate will be to advise and accompany the city in implementing its 2021-2024 action plan for the promotion of the French language.

Eight other people are slated to sit on the committee, including Louise Beaudoin, who also served as a minister and member of the National Assembly from 1994 to 2003, and then again from 2008 to 2012.

The others include Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) board of directors member Jean-Philippe Alepins, journalist Anne Lagacé Dowson, author and broadcaster Stanley Péan, Stella Guy, who has held several management positions at the City of Montreal for 19 years, president and CEO of Vision Diversité Aida Kamar, co-founder and COO of Gallea Lin Zi Shang and a multidisciplinary artist Elkahna Talbi.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante points out that the French language is a source of collective wealth and an essential element at the heart of Montreal's identity.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 25, 2022.