Limiting admission to English CEGEPS through regulation while purportedly allowing full legal access is no different than voter suppression in America where minorities, particularly blacks are subject to regulations that hinder them from participation.
In the simplest of terms, it is like begrudgingly allowing Blacks to attend historically all-white schools, but limiting enrolment size and giving priority to white students.
Premier Legault proposes the exact same thing, which is allowing francophones to legally attend English CEGEP but limiting enrolment and giving priority to English students. It's called (or should be) 'Educational choice suppression'
That gentle reader is the very definition of a "Jim Crow" law.
Most francophones reluctantly agree that their children entering primary school should be streamed into the French side. While not all agree, educating primary and secondary students in French in the formative years is largely accepted as a way to protect the French language and culture on the majority.
But that support collapses when the children grow up and are ready for CEGEP (Quebec's version of grade 12 and 13 or junior college, so to speak,)
Here parents and voters harshly disagree and view it as a freedom of choice issue that discriminates against young francophone adults, rendering them second-class citizens because Anglos are the only citizens with full language options.
I haven't seen the polling results because none is made available, but believe me when I say that every government has polled on the issue and has been frightened by a result that indicates that imposing Bill 101 language rules on CEGEP would be wildly unpopular and cost them dearly in electorial support.
It's a situation, that the public won't abide by and despite good intentions (saving the French language), discrimination is discrimination.
And so because imposing Bill 101 to CEGEP is a no-go, as separatist government after government has confirmed (despite calls to action by militant nationalist and language fanatics,) regulation is the workaround answer in the hope that the public will be hoodwinked into believing that choice has been maintained when it decidedly has not.
As Alabama Blacks in the last century found out, while they had the official right to vote, precious few actually could.
Jim Crow is alive and well in Quebec.
I cannot underscore the pure hate, jealousy and opportunism that drove this gutless and nefariously cruel decision because its real effect will also be devastating on anglophone students applying to English language CEGEPS.
It's hard to believe the Premier when he says that he will give priority to English students for enrolment in English CEGEPS. Will schools actually enforce an entrance quota system? It's already notoriously difficult to score a place even with stellar grades. I can't imagine things could improve unless the government puts down a quota system that guarantees English students priority.
Jim Crow sounding more like the case now?
And limiting the availability of enrolment to English CEGEP will drive demand among francophones because there is nothing so desired as the forbidden fruit.
Will it be that an excellent English student with a 75% grade average will be accepted before a phenomenal francophone candidate with a 95% average?
Now the government has crowed that its cap of English places in CEGEP is 17% of all admissions, a generous percentage given that
native anglos make up about 8% of the population.
But Anglos
have historically a much higher rate of attendance in college and university compared to francophones, up to 50% more.
If Anglos are given priority as the Premier promised then it leaves precious few places that francophones have available in English CEGEP.
And by the way, the 33,000 students enrolled in the five English public CEGEPS make up about 20% of the Quebec CEGEP population. The 17% cap means that the government is planning to cut that number by 15% or about 2,500 students.
Right now, of the 33,000 students in English CEGEP, about 8,000 are French-speaking, not an astronomical number compared to the 130,000 francophone students attending French CEGEP.
But 8,000 is too much for a government concerned with appearances and cutting that number seems a priority that makes a mountain out of a molehill.
For francophones, getting into an English CEGEP will simply be a case of la creme de la creme.
It reminds me of an old saying among francophone Quebecers;
"He was so sick he had to go to a Jewish doctor!"
The new saying may well be;
"She was such a brilliant student, she got into an English CEGEP,"
I mostly supported Legault and the CAQ believing that it was a better alternative to the PQ, seeing that the Liberals had corrupted their way out of public favour, but while the PQ was and is honest of its intentions, making the public wary, the CAQ is stealthily doing what the PQ could not.
But Legault's tone has been decidedly confrontational with the Premier going out of his way to remind us that he is the Premier of francophones first and foremost. He isn't even shy about it.
He did well to hide his animosity towards Anglos and Canada in his run-up to the election but perhaps there were not so subtle hints that I should have picked up on.
In the election campaign event, his wife made some disparaging comments about Anglophone culture and perpetrated the nonsense of the superiority of Quebec culture.
"On the tape, Brais also praised Quebec as a jewel in North America, with a European-style culture distinct from the rest of Canada.
We are different, we are not coming from Saskatchewan .... Have you been to Saskatchewan? It's almost the United States,'' Brais said.
She also denounced Ontarians as people who only watch American TV."
I excused Legault for defending his wife's independence and right to an opinion out of marital fidelity but now conclude that it's a family position. Madame Legault apologized for her insult but not for her beliefs.
At any rate, the entire language issue is rooted on the language militant side as being a problem caused by the English, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the majority of francophones only care about protecting their language if someone else is to be shamed, blamed.
For me, I'm actually astonished that so few francophones opt for English CEGEP with only about 6% of francophone students choosing an English CEGEP.
While the rest of the world tries desperately to learn English, not to abandon their native language, but to enhance their professional prospects and personal fulfillment, Quebec pedals the fiction that having a second language is dangerous.
It is incredible that North Korea does a better job of teaching English to students than Quebec, with most North Korean high schoolers able to carry on a decent conversation in English. Not so in Quebec, where teaching English is seen as taking a bite out of the forbidden fruit.
How sad.
As for the argument that attending an English CEGEP leads to assimilation because it is a time where young adults choose a mate, it is a fact that in two out of three English/French marriages or partnerships, the resulting children are sent to French schools.
Legault continues to pedal a false language narrative that has the effect of casting blame on the English community for the lack of effort in Quebec's francophone community to safeguard its own language.
Taking a page out of the propagandist playbook, repeating this big lie over and over again has given it a legitimacy that it does not deserve.
I must respond two of Philip's comments:
ReplyDelete"Most francophones reluctantly agree that their children entering primary school should be streamed into the French side. While not all agree, educating primary and secondary students in French in the formative years is largely accepted as a way to protect the French language and culture on the majority."
...and...
"...it is a fact that in two out of three English/French marriages or partnerships, the resulting children are sent to French schools."
A 2010 public opinion survey found that 61% of francophone Quebecers wanted freedom of choice in language of education for their own children (Gazette/Leger Marketing).
A 2017 public opinion survey found that 53% of francophone Quebecers wanted freedom of choice in language of education for their own children (Le Devoir/ Leger Marketing).
Regarding English/French marriages, one has to consider that many of these unions are between francophone Quebecers and anglophones from countries other than Canada, such as the U.S., Britain, and Caribbean nations (e.g. Jamaica). Even if these anglophone parents have become Canadian citizens, by virtue of s. 59 of the Constitution Act, 1982, these parents do NOT have the right to choose to send their children to publicly-funded English schools...unlike those francophones who marry anglophones from other Canadian provinces. So that "two out of three" is, factually LESS. By how much, I do not know.
Tony, I don't know myself how accurate your statement is, but you certainly do your homework and seem to find information going back all these years, so, as usual, my compliments and I choose to believe what you wrote. I'm thinking of that incident where one child of a big family where the mother had to separate the family from the Québécois father and siblings, and go to Delaware for their child, who could not learn effectively in French. So much for Section 85 of Bill 101 and "humanitarian grounds"!
Delete"Legault continues to pedal a false language narrative that has the effect of casting blame on the English...repeating this big lie over and over again has given it a legitimacy that it does not deserve." Yeah, and the whole goddamn world squarely blames Israel for the escalation of violence, repeating this big lie over and over again has given it a legitimacy that it does not deserve. So what else is new?
DeleteWe're now getting into the third decade of a new millennium and we're still living well back into the second millennium. Some people just never grow up. Remember 01/06/21 and what happened in Washington, D.C.? Whoever fought the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada (retarded!), Iraq and Afghanistan should be pitied as their losses of life, limb and sound mind were all for naught, based on the events of that terrible day just 3½ months ago. Everything they fought for was almost lost on that day.
This new Quebec version of the Jim Crow law is mostly a deflection from at least two real problems:
(1) COVID 19 and
(2) Québécois pur laine are as dingbatty as the Americans who follow the previous one-term, twice impeached POTUS #45 believing the November 2020 election was "stolen". Even people with university degrees, military training and experience and what should be simple common sense can choose to be complete idiots. Adolf Hitler made POTUS #45 look pensive. POTUS #45 caused the death of about a half-dozen people six days into 2021; Hitler caused the death of about 50 million!
In all fairness, I doubt Bill 96 will cause any loss of life, but it will waste plenty of time, money and probably another exodus of people, probably it will be the ones the language fanatics want to leave.
I'm reiterating here what I've learned over my lifetime:
People see what they want to see,
Hear what they want to hear, and
Believe what they want to believe.
Sadly, some are genuinely stupid and have to be taught how to breathe, eat and defecate, but I have to think the vast majority choose to be stupid. Choosing denial in the face of reality is a part of life...always has been, always will be, and it always targets a scapegoat.
OK, I answered the macro issue above about bigotry and the ensuing stupidity at large above. Now to the micro issue:
DeleteWill it be that an excellent English student with a 75% grade average will be accepted before a phenomenal francophone candidate with a 95% average?
The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes". After all, this is in fact what the government says it wants. By reducing the number of English CEGEP spots to their warped perception of the underrepresented number of spots that would result, they also believe English instructional CEGEPs should be reserved for students who were educated in English in Quebec.
The government's objective, at least in the beginning, was and is to ensure only English students go to English CEGEPs. Much more importantly, however, the original objective of the CEGEP was to give the French kids two years to catch up to the English. Except for the maths, I found my time at Vanier College way back when was two years of suspended animation. Luckily, I was able to take three composition courses instead of the maximum of two, and only had to spend one miserable semester reading and interpreting novels and poems. I loved the former, even back in high school and despised the latter (can't you see by how magnificent my prose is?) Most assigned novels and poetry in high school and CEGEP were shtick dreck! [Look up those italicized words in a Yiddish on-line dictionary].
I make those statements in the foregoing paragraphs substantiated by a book (non-fiction, entirely of MY choosing) entitled "French Canadians" by Michel Gratton, a syndicated columnist (in both English and French), former press secretary at the PMO's office during the Mulroney years, and author of other books as well. That book was designed to give those outside the Francophone community an inside look as to how the social and political structure worked (often to the detriment of many of its players).
Gratton scathingly devoted one chapter to the education system that he describes as ridiculous, containing gobbledygook stories mostly about the life of ordinary French Canadian Catholics that taught absolutely nothing. Important subjects like the 3R's, science and geography were given far less, if any, importance. Another scathing chapter covered the Roman Catholic Church and how the likes of Paul-Émile Cardinal Léger were more to be feared than revered. He wrote in other chapters how intrusive the local «père» knocked on everybody's door on Fridays to ensure meat was not on the menu and, speaking of knocking, who in the household was in the family way. Oh, and worse yet how Franco Ontarians (and Acadians) were inferior to «Québécois de vieuille souche». I personally know a Franco Ontarian from North Bay who used to get into fistfights with his supposed brethren from the other side of the Ottawa River.
In summary, this is why I believe the English kid with the 75% average should be given preference. The French kid may have a 95% average, but only because he managed on exams to parrot the crap he learned to the appeasement of his teachers (i.e., he has a skull full of mush--loser) compared to the English kid who learned real subjects.
As for English kids who can't cut the mustard enough to be admitted to the English CEGEPs, they can always go to the French ones (yeah, and pigs could fly, too!)
As if they won't endure endless ridicule and beratement from their French peers, especially if their grammar is weak. The local «père» Gratton described above pestered his parents to send him to a seminary school on the Quebec side where he faced endless beratement not only from the students, but worse yet, from the school's «frères» as well, all because he was a «vendu» (a sell-out) because he was a Franco Ontarian.
I read those same polls but don't put much stock in them. As an old political pollster I know that people don't always say what they really feel for various reasons. My clue is that there has been zero pushback against forced enrolment into French schools by francophones. Ask yourself why no government has applied Bill 101 to CEGEP, it seems a no-brainer.
DeleteThe pushback would be awful because toddlers are not the same as young adults being told that they are ineligible for English CEGEP while others are, because of an accident of birth.
This is the reality that I see which exists when we read between the lines (or polls)
Unfortunately I have to agree with you, Phil. If francophones truly wanted freedom of choice at the elementary and high school level, then at least that part of Law 101 would have been done away with a long time. We would also have Liberal politicians come out in favor of this option, but we never see that, do we? From my personal experience, what francophone parents want is better English instruction in the French educational system, NOT freedom of choice to enroll in an English public school.
DeleteActually, there was another topic to respond to at the beginning of this editorial:
ReplyDelete"I mostly supported Legault and the CAQ believing that it was a better alternative to the PQ, seeing that the Liberals had corrupted their way out of public favour, but while the PQ was and is honest of its intentions, making the public wary, the CAQ is stealthily doing what the PQ could not."
Bourassa and the Liberals in 1974 did a 180 on the minorities by invoking Bill 22 and again in 1988 with Bill 178. He did all this to appease language zealots and others who simply hated the collective guts of the minorities who succeeded where the majority failed. History repeats itself this past week. They're losers! They're failures and Quebec once again proves it's a loser state.
Bourassa was devious--twice, and minorities got sucked in a second time. Leg-go has made it clear he supports his own kinds to the exclusion of others whereas Bourassa acted covertly. Where he lies is by saying he supports Francophones everywhere. THE HELL HE DOES! How can he support Acadians and others outside Quebec? He has absolutely NO jurisdiction to do so! Perhaps he can give them moral support, but after what I wrote above about contents in Michel Gratton's book, I am strenuously and egregiously skeptical!
From what I read in Bill 96, Francophone students from outside Quebec will be able to take courses not offered outside Quebec for the same tuition Quebec residents can. Hrummmmph! Apparently France and Quebec have such a reciprocity deal, and have for years, but no such deal was ever offered French Canadian residents outside Quebec after all these years.
Somehow, though, I don't see French Canadians outside Quebec being too enthusiastic about taking up the offer. Maybe some will, but I'm skeptical it will catch on much considering all that «vendu» business I mentioned in my previous response.
I will not be verbose about Bill 96 since we've all heard the reasons for language laws thousands of times over the last 50 years. Here's my opinion and conclusion about Bill 96: It won't work!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Marc, that is, if you're using past experiences as your guide. In fact, Bill 101 was NOT the original Charter of the French Language, Bill 1 was if we ignore Bourassa's Bill 22.
DeleteBill 1 was the PQ's first anti-English iteration tabled in February or March 1977. It was not received well by the French business class (Chambre de Commerce), let alone the English, as being far too strict, prejudicial and unpalatable, hence it was not passed into law. Bill 101 was invoked by closure into law by the PQ majority on August 26th of that year, because of the zealots who especially wanted the educational aspects put into force in time for the new academic year.
In my opinion, Bill 96 meets AND exceeds the mean spirit of the original Bill 1.
It's never about promoting the french language, or improving the quality of french used by most québécois, it's always about bashing the other guys. We all know the thoughts and attitudes behind a Réjean Labrie and a Mathieu Bocké De Coté, let's not pretend otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that these politicians will all send their kids to private english colleges, leaving the francophone peasants as second class citizens. You are being held back by your own leaders, and you are encouraging them to continue! How they cannot see that is beyond me. Aren't these the same people who got fed up with the catholic church holding them back?
It's time to work towards ending this now, for the good of everyone in this province. Despite being a native french speaker, I'll be happy to do all my work in english from now on. All emails, all communications, all meetings: english. I'll only be hiring people who speak english, good luck enforcing that one.
The separatists and language fanatics can thank me later, after everyone's rights are restored.
Lâchez pas, vous allez les avoir les maudits anglais!
"The best part is that these politicians will all send their kids to private English colleges..."
DeleteExcellent point, Souche. After all, the first PQ cabinet contained people who went to Ivy League or well-renowned schools such as Harvard, Cambridge (Jacques-Yvan Morin), London School of Economics (Parizeau), MIT (Yves Bérubé), Columbia (Claude Morin), Boston Hospital ("Adolf" Laurin), etc.
That's the separatist way: "Do as I say, not as I do", "These laws are for thee, not for me." Goddamn hypocrites. Then again, the supposed federalists govern the exact same way. Bourassa proved that on two separate occasions. Goddamn hypocrites, the whole stinking lot of them!
...and, of course, Mr. Blackface himself is pretty much supporting Bill 96 if his recent responses to reporters' questions are any indication. He had his primary and secondary education in French at private schools but had the benefit of an English-speaking mother.
DeleteMay 24, 2021
DeleteI've got news for you, Tony. I don't know if you watch Question Period, but I do most weekends. It finally got interesting talking about Bill 96. The shock, albeit mild, is that Erin the Tool and the NDP leader (read: Tool #2) with the slovenly beard is OK with all this. Naturally. An election is imminent and nobody wants to risk losing Quebec votes (as if French Quebec is going to vote for a guy with a turban--Bill 21, remember?) If Thomas Mulcair couldn't rally the franco troops, Singh never will! Too bad, he speaks French well, but if it's a choice between a Québécois leftie and a Sikh leftie, you know how the chips are going to fall--it's a no-brainer, at least not in Quebec.
Here's one section of Bill 101 that Bill 96 seeks to amend that I'd like to see happen:
ReplyDelete“29.5. In its actions abroad, the civil administration shall promote and assert the value of French. It shall do the same in its actions in Canada, where it must play a leading role with francophone and Acadian communities.
"For those purposes, the civil administration shall promote, in particular through the establishment of partnerships, common actions enabling the optimization of resources at the disposal of Francophones and the development of French and supporting the growth of those communities."
Nice precedent.
Perhaps a province like Alberta -- in retaliation for Quebec's refusal to allow oil pipelines through the province -- will be inclined to subsidize private English language schools in Quebec in order to allow students who otherwise are not eligible to attend English publicly funded schools to get an English language education.
Tony, I think you don't remember what John James Charest did when he was premier, the two-face that he was.
DeleteI believe it was called Bill 104, a law to plug the loophole of "ineligible" students from going to private English schools, if I'm correct. That Jason Kenney would subsidize private English schools is absolutely ridiculous. Alberta is right now in a heap of financial trouble what with the U.S. cancelling the keystone pipeline and the almost-assassinated Governor of Michigan trying to cut off the oil flow of the pipeline under Lake Michigan.
I'm sure he'll come up with a reciprocal piece of legislation that will be to Quebec's detriment.
Tony, an afterthought re what you wrote above: Yes, I read Article 29.5. I reckon the Quebec government will support the Acadians, Franco Ontarians, and other "French Canadians" when pigs could fly.
DeleteAs I recently pointed out, I knew a Franco Ontarian from North Bay that got into fistfights with his cohorts from the other side of the Ottawa River; too, in Michel Gratton's book he devoted a whole chapter to life in a seminary school that their town "Père" pestered is parents to enroll. That was about 40 miles away in an Ottawa River north shore town, Papineauville, where he faced endless ridicule and was berated not only by fellow students, but by the school's "frères" as well.
In addition to the OQLF, the Bill introduces the creation of a Minister of the French Language, a ministry he will preside over (per Article 14: government departments must be designated by their French names alone) the Ministère de la langue française (read: The Ministry of Cancel Culture, because from what I can decipher of it, that is EXACTLY its objective).
"Brais also praised Quebec as a jewel in North America, with a European-style culture distinct from the rest of Canada.
ReplyDeleteWe are different, we are not coming from Saskatchewan... Have you been to Saskatchewan? It's almost the United States,'' Brais said.
She also denounced Ontarians as people who only watch American TV."
This is correct only if we follow the pequiste "reductio ad absurdum" logic where culture is reduced to one element - the language. If we apply a wider definition of culture, then the francophones are watching American TV too, only in French. Quebec tv is a copy of American tv and like American tv it panders to the lowest common denominator.
By no means is Quebec culture a European-style culture. Quebecker is an American who speaks French. French expats who live in Quebec can attest to it. There is a gulf the size of the Atlantic ocean separating a Quebecker from a Frenchman culture-wise
"Legault continues to pedal a false language narrative that has the effect of casting blame on the English community for the lack of effort in Quebec's francophone community to safeguard its own language"
If Legault's logic is that the francophone community is failing because the English language is too "attractive" then he's barking up the wrong tree by targeting the "English community" of Quebec. He should be protesting in front the American consulate in Montreal about this. That would be a tough target that would require courage to go after, but at least it would be the right target.
But for the sake of argument, assume that the tiny English community of Quebec is the cause of the attractiveness of English - what would Legault expect them to do? Work hard to be less attractive for the sake of the Francophone community? "Uglify" yourself to be less attractive? What kind of demand would that be? I'd like to see Legault walk into the American consulate to make that demand.
adski: I recently found my copy of Michel Gratton's "French Canadians". In his last chapter, Gratton gives his version of the two solitudes. What Brais wrote above was the standard Quebécois answer about the rest of Canada.
DeleteI'm surprised about his analogy of Saskatchewan. Despite their small population, they have a good French school program out there. I remember "Adolf" Laurin applauding their efforts all those decades ago, but he still wouldn't allow English speakers from there to go to English schools in Quebec before the Canada Clause struck down that part of the original Bill 101.
As for Ontario, now that I've been an Ontarian longer than a Quebecer (and am damn happy and proud of it), I admit my Canadian TV watching is predominantly American. I watch about 3 hours of CBC TV during the week, and most of that is hockey games during the season. I've seen little else because little else impresses me; besides, PM Pussy has his pocket in the CBC. Lousy programming, and their newscast is practically his advertising campaign. THAT'S why I watch little Canadian programming.
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ReplyDelete