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Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard says protecting the French language will be a top priority ahead of the general election scheduled for October.
The party is holding its general council in Sherbrooke, Que., this weekend to lay out its electoral platform.
Though his plan to protect French has not yet been made public, Milliard says it’s “better” than those of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec ‘s and the Parti Québecois’. The separatist PQ, which currently holds seven seats at the Quebec legislature, has been at the top of the polls for months, with the federalist Liberals coming in a close second.
Benoît Dubreuil, Quebec’s French language commissioner, said earlier this week that current language laws are not enough to stabilize the status of French in the province.
“I’m not proposing the same recipe and we’re going to have different results,” Milliard told journalists on Saturday. “The plan we will be proposing will take into account that everybody in Quebec wants French to be strong, but at the same time we can have a different discourse in the public about the fact that all Quebecers should feel at home.”
Some of Quebec’s language laws, including the law beefing up the Charter of the French Language known as Bill 96, have been challenged in court.
A few weeks ago, Milliard wavered on the use of the clause overriding Charter rights for Bill 96. He initially said he was in favour of retaining a clause to protect the law from legal challenges, breaking a 2022 election promise made by the Liberal party.
His stance caused a stir within his caucus and among the anglophone community. He then said he would amend Bill 96 and then determine whether the use of the clause was still necessary.
Liberal members of the legislature voiced their opposition to a bill expanding French language laws to vocational training and adult education tabled earlier this week
Liberal Jennifer Maccarone said she also believes that the cap on enrolment in English-language CEGEPs under Bill 96 should be lifted. The law also requires all students to take three French courses or to complete three courses from their program in French.
Speaking to journalists at the convention on Saturday, Milliard also said the Liberal party would put a strong focus on the economy. He said the government needs to do more for small and medium-sized businesses and be more efficient delivering public services like health care and education.
Milliard said the party will present a financial plan that will respect the return to a balanced budget by generating revenue and controlling government spending.
“I’m from the economic sector, so this is gonna be a very strong and reliable plan,” said Milliard, who spent five years as the head of the federation of Quebec chambers of commerce.
WATCH | CAQ tables bill to extend the Charter of the French Language:
Quebec wants to ban thousands from English vocational schools, but the election may come too soon
The CAQ government has tabled Bill 8 at the National Assembly to extend the Charter of the French Language to another part of the education sector: adult education and vocational training. As many as 27,000 students would have to transfer from the anglophone to the francophone school system, but the bill is unlikely to pass before the upcoming provincial election.
