The British community is planning a rally against Bill 96 in downtown Montreal

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The rally will take place at Place du Canada, near the intersection of Peel St. and René-Lévesque Blvd., at 5:30 p.m., Thursday.

Author of the article:

Jason Magder • Montreal Gazette

Publication date:

May 25, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 13 comments Thursday’s rally will be the second anti-law demonstration this month. A march ahead of the bill drew thousands to downtown Montreal on May 14. Photo: Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press

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Leaders of the English-speaking community in the province have vowed to speak out loud and often against Bill 96, which was passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday.

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They have planned a rally for 5:30 pm on Thursday at Place du Canada near the Peel St. and René-Lévesque Blvd. in the center.

The law, which will be passed in stages over a three-year period, aims to update and strengthen the French-language charter known as Bill 101. The law has been criticized by Anglophones, allophones and local communities who are concerned about radical changes affecting immigration. , education, healthcare, business, municipalities and the judiciary. They are also concerned about the increased powers given to the provincial linguist to search and seize without the need for an order, among other measures.

“We are very concerned about the erosion of the rights of all Quebecers introduced by a government that seems to be more interested in collecting political points for the upcoming elections than in good governance,” said Matt Aronson, a spokesman for the Quebec community. Group network. “We hope that citizens will recognize that this bill is a bad law, and we hope that provincial and federal politicians will do something about this bad law before continuing.”

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Aronson said Thursday’s rally was the first of many actions the community planned. The rally was organized by Quebecers against Bill 96, which was created by QCGN, the Association of English Parents’ Committee, the Association of English School Councils of Quebec and the Quebec Federation of Home and School Associations.

Prime Minister Francois Lego defended the law, calling it “responsible and moderate” and saying the government must take action to protect the French language.

The city of Côte-Saint-Luc also sent a notice in its bulletin to citizens on Wednesday, urging them to join the protest.

“We have made our position very clear,” said Mayor Mitchell Braunstein. “We are very much against the bill and we have great concerns for the residents not only of Côte-Saint-Luc, but everywhere, including the Francophones.

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The Kanawake Mohawk Council issued a statement Wednesday night vowing to fight the law, which the council said showed “complete disregard for all indigenous peoples as separate and living peoples in our traditional territories.”

The Council said it was developing plans to combat implementation and would announce those plans in the near future.

“We will not lie down until the Quebec government takes another blow to pull our future out from under us,” said Grand Leader Kahsennenhave Sky-Dir. “We stand ready to continue to fight against the imposition of this legislation in any way our community deems necessary. Quebec’s actions to continue the adoption of this bill, despite our concerns, have put our relations in a very tense state and forced us to assess whether the discussions so far have been bona fide.

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Thursday’s rally will be the second anti-law demonstration this month. A march ahead of the bill drew thousands to downtown Montreal on May 14.

Meanwhile, CEGEP will begin diligent work to prepare for the implementation of the law, which will take effect from the school year beginning in 2024, and enrollment restrictions will take effect from the 2023 school year.

“We need to start planning, almost immediately, for the implementation of this bill,” said John McMahon, director general of Vanier College. “It’s a very complicated process.”

Enforcing the law is difficult for CEGEP, as there will be students with two different requirements: students in French and allophones, who have to take three of their core French courses, and Anglophones, who can choose to take three core courses in French. French, or three additional French second language courses.

This means that changes have to be made in over 30 programs, which will require a change in the requirements of the course as well as the teaching staff.

“We will continue to express our concerns (to the government) about the implementation date,” McMahon said. “Two years may seem like a long time, but we don’t think it’s enough. We lobbied for this date to be changed to at least 2025.

jmagder@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jasonmagder

1. Tap here for more information on Bill 96

2. With Bill 96, passed by the National Assembly, Lego preaches the unity of Quebec

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