Opponents of the province's proposed Bill 103 united with a common message that the French language is not for sale.

More than 3,000 people converged on the Centre Pierre Charbonneau Saturday night to fight for the security of the French language in Quebec society.

The gathering was mounted by a coalition made up of about 30 organizations including major Quebec unions and the Commission scolaire de Montreal to press Premier Jean Charest to scrap the bill.

The rally was considered the start of a major movement to keep French strong, said Mario Beaulieu of the St. Jean Baptiste Society.

The proposed law would allow immigrant parents to send their children to English school after spending at least three years in an English private non-subsidized school. Access would be provided on a case-by-case basis.

The new law would replace Bill 104 that closed a loophole that allowed parents to send their children to English school after spending only one year at a non-subsidized English private school.

Bill 104 has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Among those in attendance were Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe.

Out-of-province education

In 1970, 250,000 students attended public school in English, compared to 100,000 today.

Political analyst Robert Libman said he is outraged by the opposition to Bill 103, because it affects so few students.

"It's pure hatred. It's pure xenophobia," said Libman. "It's like emptying a salt shaker on the table and sought out one small grain of salt. That's what they are fighting for, to block access to English schools to such a small number of students."

One student, Pallavi Ganguli, and her family have taken a creative approach to the problem, enrolling the 14-year-old girl in school on the other side of the Quebec border in Ottawa.

"It's so difficult to manage stuff between two cities," said Pallavi, who commutes via daily lifts from her frazzled parents.

Still, the commute is worth it to have the grade 10 student educated in a language she speaks, said mother Alakananda Ganguli.

"We both wanted to have our rights to choose a school we felt was best for our child and that's the only thing we've been able to do," said Ganguli "At the expense of a lot of other things."

Ganguli hopes to attend McGill University, where she can be taught in the language of her choice.

Bill won't last: lawyer

Lawyer Brent Tyler, who has represented families fighting for English education in the province, said he expects Bill 103 will live a short life, because it is not extreme enough for hardcore separatists.

"It's going to last until the next election. When the PQ gets elected, when they will adopt what they said they would adopt, which would be extending the restrictions to private schools," he said.