The Sun revealed Wednesday morning that the three francization centers in Quebec will not accept any new students starting for the next session, which begins on November 4.
The Parti Québécois speaks of “a clear example of bad planning and a government which says one thing, which does the opposite,” said Pascal Paradis, PQ member for Jean-Talon.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, of Québec solidaire, for his part, sees “the impacts of CAQ austerity and the bad decisions of Minister Roberge”.
But the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, who is also Minister of the French Language, assures us that all this is mush for cats.
“These are not cuts in francization. It looks like we are closing Francisation Québec, that there are no more classes in the school service centers… That’s not true! This is all false!” he got carried away, in the morning press scrum in the corridors of the National Assembly.
Minister Roberge arrived with fresh supporting data.
“The first week of October last year, in the school service centers, there were 14,438 students studying French. This year, in the first week of October in school service centers, there were 23,000 students studying French. A 50% increase!”
— Jean-François Roberge, Quebec Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, who is also Minister of the French Language
Mr. Roberge concedes that “there may be movements of students” from francization centers to francization organizations.
In response to the Parti Québécois Paradis in the House on the course closures in Quebec, the minister estimated that the elected representative of the opposition “only looks at the part of the school service centers, just in Quebec and concentrates in a place where a course is not renewed. When a course is closed in one place, it is open elsewhere.
The overall picture does not show budget cuts, he insists.
“There are more bands opening. There are more teachers hired. There are more students in classes. We speak French more this year than last year. So, more groups, more students, more money, more lessons, don’t talk to me about cuts!”
«Enough is enough»
However, course and program closures are repeated in several regions, not just in Quebec.
Minister Roberge maintains that ultimately, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec is still far too high. And if the francization waiting lists are overflowing, it’s Ottawa’s fault, not Quebec’s.
“But no one is required to do the impossible,” he declared, during the daily question period held at the Salon rouge.
“We cannot respond to a demand that is infinite, fueled by the loss of total federal control over temporary immigration. This is what increases the waiting list. It’s not the supposed government cuts,” continued the minister.
So please, in Ottawa, I will say it in English, enough is enough for temporary workers! Get the message.”
— Jean-François Roberge, Quebec Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, who is also Minister of the French Language
Earlier in the day, the trade union center of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) had rightly deplored on the social network bad government decisions, it’s small.”
