Indigenous and French students | Quebec does not plan new reductions

(Quebec) The Legault government calls on English-speaking CEGEPs to “reconcile with reality” when they assert that the law on the protection of French harms the success of indigenous students. Quebec will not grant new relief to First Nations.

The advocacy of English-speaking colleges – which came to the defense of indigenous students – did not convince the Legault government to offer other regulatory relief to the law (96) on French.

The Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, even refuted the argument of the English-speaking CEGEPs by affirming that they must “be reconciled with reality”.

“The general management of English-speaking CEGEPs who claim that the First Nations and Inuit are being placed in a situation of failure do not understand the situation or pretend not to understand the situation. The exemptions we gave are entirely reasonable,” declared Mr. Roberge.

For her part, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, said she was ready to “further support” indigenous students who study in English, but believes that the exceptions in place are sufficient.

Since last year, First Nations students who receive their education in English at college have been exempt from the uniform French test. A second regulation – which is still under study – also allows them to take three French courses rather than three courses in French. This latest regulation should come into force soon.

“We had to find a way through […] we are very sensitive to the accessibility of higher education for these students,” assured Minister Déry.

However, these reductions are insufficient according to five English-speaking CEGEPs which deplore that the terms of the Charter of the French Language “impose multiple systemic and discriminatory obstacles and compromise the transmission of their ancestral languages”.

The management of these establishments wrote directly to François Legault – at the request of indigenous students – to inform him of the “urgency to act”.

The five establishments (Dawson College, John Abbott College, Vanier College, Cégep Heritage and Cégep régional Champlain) explain that Indigenous students do not take advantage of these exemptions because they are accompanied by administrative measures, such as forms to complete.

“Many believe that the requirement to submit such a request represents in itself a process that goes against their ancestral rights and they refuse to submit to it on principle,” they indicate.

Present at the National Assembly on Wednesday, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (APNQL), Ghislain Picard, did not seem surprised by Quebec’s position. “Go meet indigenous students, be transparent. Talk to them. If there is any insurance to be sought, it belongs to the people to whom we [donne] the service,” asked Chef Picard.

A “plan B”, says Lafrenière

Minister Ian Lafrenière recalled that the Prime Minister had committed during the election campaign to present “Bill 101” to protect Indigenous languages. However, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (APNQL) was fiercely opposed to it.

“I remind you that basically, what we did not want was to go there in a regulatory way, we wanted to go there with a bill,” argued Mr. Lafrenière. “We understood very well the specificity of the First Nations and the Inuit, we did not want to consider them as rights holders. We understood the position of the AFNQL, we found another path,” he said.

The AFNQL asked at the time that the First Nations be completely exempted from Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette’s reform. The First Nations Assembly and Education Council are now challenging the law in court.