Achi news desk-
Quebec is “going on the offensive” to protect and promote French, Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said Sunday as he unveiled a $603-million plan to tackle what he described as the language’s decline.
Roberge, Quebec’s cabinet minister responsible for the French language, said the government’s nine priorities include better monitoring of language trends, increasing French cultural offerings and improving students’ command of French.
Some of the measures are related to immigration, including increasing the percentage of French-speaking economic migrants and speeding up permanent residency for international students who complete francophone programs.
“It is important to mention that we are no longer defending the French language,” Roberge said at a press conference in Montreal. “We are going on the offensive, no, not against anyone, but to regain the lost ground and reverse the French decline.”
The strategy unveiled on Sunday includes 21 measures, some of which already exist or have already been announced.
These include previously announced commitments to raise tuition fees by 30 per cent for out-of-province Canadians and force universities to ensure most of these students are proficient in French when they graduate. The government also said it would impose stronger French-language requirements on temporary workers and permanent migrants from the economic stream.
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Roberge said the vitality of French in Quebec is challenged by a number of factors, including the growing number of non-French-speaking immigrants, the dominance of digital platforms primarily in English and the number of students studying at universities in English.
Roberge spoke at the press conference alongside provincial ministers from the departments of immigration, culture, education, higher education and international relations. They, and others, are part of a working group focused on the future of French in Quebec.
According to him, the five-year plan of 603 million dollars, which was revealed during a “difficult budgetary context”, shows the government’s commitment to the French language. The plan stated that the funding had already been provided within the financial framework of the district.
Roberge cited data from the 2021 census that showed the percentage of Quebecers who mostly speak French at home fell slightly between 2016 and 2021. At the same time, the percentage of Quebecers whose first official language was English rose to 13 percent from 12 percent in the same period, Statistics Canada found.
However, Quebec’s watchdog published a study in April that found the use of French in public spaces, such as shops and restaurants, has remained stable since 2007.
Roberge said $18 million of the funding will be invested in a project with the Quebec Statistics Agency to publish regular data on language indicators in the province.
More than half of the funding – $320 million – will be spent on programs to ensure that temporary international workers speak and learn French.
An additional $64.9 million will be dedicated to improving students’ command of French through programs including those that promote reading, Education Minister Bernard Drainville said.
“We must give our children a desire to speak French,” he said, adding that teachers and school staff have a responsibility to encourage students to speak French in classrooms, hallways and during extracurricular activities.
An amount of 187.3 million dollars will be dedicated to increasing the “francophone cultural offer” and making it more accessible. This will include funding for cultural productions in Quebec, said the province’s culture minister.
Mathieu Lecombe added that he plans to submit a bill that aims to “guarantee our fundamental rights to access and discover cultural content in the French language in the digital environment.”
Finally, the government will spend $12.8 million to strengthen Quebecers’ connection to the French language through initiatives such as French-language scientific publications and media campaigns.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
