Quebec’s New Law 101: What’s the Acadia Impact?

It’s still interesting that in this new version of Bill 101, there’s this openness to getting closer to French speakers outside of Quebec.says Michelle Landry, professor of sociology at the University of Moncton.

Even if it is not just about Quebec’s relationship with French speakers elsewhere in Canada, Bill 96 proposes several measures that would directly affect these communities, including those in the Atlantic.

Quebec Initiative Requires Amendments

Michelle Landry sees this law as a file breeze of freshness. This openness in Quebec said, It’s a little new like the climate.

On the other hand, the sociology professor acknowledges that Bill 96 needs some amendments to really benefit French-speaking minorities, especially with regard to tuition fees.

Quebec’s Minister of Justice, Simon-Jolin-Barrett, is proposing that Francophone and Acadian students pay the same fees as Quebecers if they decide to pursue a post-secondary study program in French that is not available in their home province or territory.

To access this education at a discount, the study program chosen must be in the French language and not be offered in the student’s home province.

The sociology professor recalls that enrollment at the University of Moncton is based on a group of students from other Maritime Provinces.

Professor of Law at the University of Moncton and Director of the International Observatory of Linguistic Rights, Eric Labelle Esto, welcomes this commitment from Quebec while expressing a certain reservation.

Law professor Eric Labelle Esteau acknowledges that there is a risk of lowering tuition fees for Francophones who wish to study in Quebec in a French-language program not available in their home province (archives).

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Photo: Radio Canada

The fact that French Canadians are privileged to access undergraduate programs in the same way as French students is, in my opinion, healthy and commendable., He says.

Will the fact that Quebec fill the void, in a way, have the effect of absolving the provincial government of New Brunswick from its responsibilities and causing it not to create the programs it should create? This possibility exists.

Despite the amendments deemed necessary by some, Quebec supports in this law its pivotal role in the survival of the French, at the national level.

However, it should be noted that he has not always recognized his responsibility in relation to the French-speaking minorities in Canada.

conflict past

At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, the Francophone-speaking people of Quebec were more and more asserting themselves at the national level and would gradually distance themselves from or separate from the French-speaking outside of Quebec.says Christoph Trasnel, professor of political science at the University of Moncton.

Christoph Trasnel is Professor of Political Science at the University of Moncton.

Photo: Radio Canada

This phenomenon can be explained in part by the unified strategy advocated by successive federal governments, which consists in treating the provinces without taking into account their peculiarities, especially the linguistic ones.

During this period, Quebec refuses to support measures proposed by Canada to advance the status of Francophone minorities in the country, fearing that they will advance the status of English speakers in its province, explains Michel Landry.

But this situation has developed in recent decades, she says, with increased talk of Quebec Get closer to French speakers outside Quebec.

La Belle Province announced it in 1995, when it announced Quebec’s first policy towards Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada, and then in 2006, headed by Quebec Premier Jean Charest, with the Quebec Policy. In terms of Canadian Francophonie.

And finally, in 2019, when Quebec is taking steps to revamp it with a view to offering a third edition.

The fact remains that this is the first time the governorate has enshrined this leadership in legislation.

It matters, according to Michelle Landry. I think this kind of law can promote this kind of policy, [où le] Quebec supports French speakers outside Quebec, Emphasizes.

For Christophe Trisnel, Quebec says one thing to the rest of the Canadian Francophonie: If I can help these French-speaking minorities, it is important that I do so because it is my responsibility.