SHERBROOKE \u2014 Liberal Leader Charles Milliard says he agrees with Quebec French Language Commissioner Beno\u00eet Dubreuil, who said this week the most recent government revisions of the Charter of the French Language have not sufficed to reverse the decline.<\/p>\n
But raising expectations, Milliard said the plan for French that his party is working on behind the scenes will \u201cplease Quebecers,\u201d and be better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI share the worries of the commissioner,\u201d Milliard said arriving for a two-day party general council meeting Friday. \u201cWhat that means is the measures put in place in the last eight years have not been sufficient and do not correspond to the reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur plan will respond to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked in English if the new Liberal plan will go further than that put in place by the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec or be better, Milliard responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell it will be better, obviously, because we\u2019re going to have specific measures that will promote French and protect French but also give access to more quantity and quality of French for all Quebecers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a project, a plan that will try and reunite all Quebecers to the core of Quebec culture, which is French.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the CAQ has been wrong with some decisions that\u2019s why we\u2019re going to have our own plan and we\u2019ll let Quebecers be the judge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quebec\u2019s Liberals have a long history of stumbling over language policy as they try to walk the line between wooing francophone nationalists and not alienating its large base of English-speaking voters.<\/p>\n
In April 2021, former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade announced a 27-point plan for French<\/a>. The plan stayed largely under the radar until the party tried to unveil some of it during the debate over the CAQ\u2019s reform of Bill 101 via Bill 96.<\/p>\n One element in particular, agreeing to more French courses in the English CEGEP system, rankled the anglophone community so badly the party later issued a mea culpa.<\/p>\n When Milliard became leader in February 2026<\/a>, he promised to take another swing at the issue. On Friday, he announced the new Liberal plan will be ready before June 21, which is well before the October general election.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Dubreuil indicated in his annual report<\/a> that CAQ-imposed language reforms, including Bill 96, have not reversed the decline of French in Quebec.<\/p>\n He called on political leaders to produce a new, more robust plan.<\/p>\n But Milliard faced questions on whether his Liberal caucus, which includes MNAs representing majority anglophone constituents, will be united before the new plan.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no malaise with language in the Quebec Liberal Party,\u201d Milliard said standing in the lobby of a Sherbrooke hotel. \u201cWe are resolutely francophone and we are proud of our language and our members are united.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will produce a plan that will please Quebecers.\u201d<\/p>\n Milliard made the comments on the same day as the party announced it would not support the CAQ government\u2019s latest effort to shore up French<\/a>, Bill 8, presented by French Language Minister Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge.<\/p>\n The Liberal critic for the French language, Madwa-Nika Cadet, said the Liberals cannot support a bill that would remove the right of adults to take vocational training and adult education courses in the language they choose.<\/p>\n