The Quebec Liberals would dismantle two controversial cornerstones of the Coalition Avenir Québec’s language policy, party leader Charles Milliard said Wednesday, promising to reverse moves that ran afoul of English school boards and universities.
Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Milliard said a Liberal government would scrap a major tuition hike for out-of-province students at English-language universities and abandon ongoing CAQ efforts to abolish English school boards.
In a language plan released Tuesday, Milliard’s Liberals promised to “find common ground” with Quebec’s English school boards if elected in October.
The party said it would end ongoing legal battles between the school boards and province.
One of those battles revolves around Bill 40, which sought to replace elected school boards with government-run service centres.
While French school boards were dissolved, the Quebec English School Boards Association argued the change would violate minority language protections. A lower court opted to preserve English school boards, but the CAQ government is seeking a reversal from the Supreme Court of Canada.
Legal fights between school boards and the province have “been lasting for too long,” Milliard said Wednesday, promising to “sit with school boards … to try to address those issues and find solutions.”
English boards should continue operating, the Liberal leader said, adding that he would also reverse attempts to require English school board employees to conduct internal communications in French.
“I think it’s about time that we have a premier who wants to reunite all communities, especially when it comes to our school boards,” Milliard said.
In Quebec City, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said the CAQ government has no plans to drop its request to appeal the lower court’s ruling on Bill 40 to the Supreme Court.
“It’s before the courts, so I have to be careful, but I think it’s important (to pursue),” Jolin-Barrette said ahead of a cabinet meeting.
Milliard would axe $3,000 tuition hike
Hiking tuition for out-of-province students at McGill and Concordia universities was “a bad decision,” Milliard said, promising to reverse CAQ-imposed increases that upped student fees from around $9,000 per year to $12,000.
“We need to attract as many people as we can so that they can fall in love with Quebec and, hopefully, stay in Quebec,” he said.
On Tuesday, Quebec’s three English universities signed a deal with Higher Education Minister Martine Biron, promising that 60 per cent of out-of-province undergraduate students would learn French in exchange for up to $20 million per year in government funding.
The deal did not resolve the tuition issue, which the universities continue to oppose.
Milliard said Wednesday that he supported the agreement.
“It’s maybe one of the only good ideas from (Premier Christine) Fréchette,” he said.
Philip Authier of The Gazette contributed to this report.
The Gazette’s On Quebec Politics newsletter by Andy Riga breaks down key election issues, from polling shifts to legislative manoeuvring to ideas circulating in francophone commentary that don’t make it into English-language coverage.
To sign up, visit this page and check the box labelled “On Quebec Politics” before providing your email address.