Quebec’s National Day is an opportunity for all Quebecers to remember their history and the importance of protecting the French language, which is often undermined, particularly in Montreal, said Prime Minister François Legault.
“The national holiday is the time to reflect on the path we have traveled as a nation over the past 400 years. To remember the builders, like Samuel de Champlain, Jeanne Mance, Marie de l’Incarnation who founded a French-speaking nation in North America. Then they were able to count on the help of indigenous nations,” declared the Prime Minister of Quebec, in a video published on social networks on Monday.
“There is something improbable about our history: 8 million French-speakers on a continent of 400 million,” continued the Prime Minister, who stressed that despite the Conquest, “we are still here, four centuries later.”
Since then, “we have built a modern, democratic society where life is good […]. When I look at us, I tell myself that we have every reason to be proud of being Quebecers. Happy National Day everyone,” he concluded.
“What’s happening in Montreal worries me”
Before enjoying the National Day festivities in Repentigny, the Prime Minister of Quebec went to Charlemagne in Lanaudière, Monday morning, for lunch. During a speech, he once again underlined the importance of protecting the French language.
“Every year I come here and I see certain faces again […] life goes by too fast […] but there is something that slows down time, and that is traditions. […] One of my joys of the year is knowing that I am coming here,” he declared before emphasizing that “the French language” and its protection is at the heart of this day.
“When we look at what is happening in Montreal […] I’m worried to know [qu’il y a] hundreds of thousands of new arrivals who do not speak French,” he criticized.
“We all have a duty […] French people have landed here for 400 years […] we will also have to be a little more strict, among others in Montreal, continued Mr. Legault, adding that “the people who join the rest of us must speak French.”
For him, “we must do more” to “protect our values”, “our language” and “our history”.
