Tag: francophone
Montreal’s new language policy furthers Legault’s war on a ghost of Anglophone supremacy
Last March, the city of Montreal provided a new guide for frontline workers. The internal guide, obtained by the Montreal Gazette, is titled, “Exemplary Conduct in the French Language: Mechanisms for Informing the Public,” and offers instructions on how government employees should speak to anglophone customers. One sample script reads:[Read More…]
Quebec fines LaSalle College $29.9 million CAD over anglophone student quota
LaSalle College overenrolled 716 and 1066 students in its English-speaking programs in 2023 and 2024 respectively. In response, the Quebec Government imposed a $30 million CAD penalty on the college, forcing the institution to postpone the school year kickoff, initially scheduled for Aug. 25. The cost of such substantial defunding[Read More…]
Bilingualism is not killing French — French is killing itself
The intersection of language and politics has long been a source of contention in Quebec, with the call to “protect the French language” often presented as a sort of political imperative. In spite of the steady growth of Quebec’s total francophone population, concerns of French’s supposed decline have intensified in[Read More…]
Melodies of a lifetime with Claude Dubois
As I pulled into the parking lot of Théâtre Hector-Charland on March 29, eager to see a Québecois musical legend perform, I noticed a bus transporting residents from a nearby retirement home had beat us there. This moment hinted at the crowd that I would find sitting inside, waiting for[Read More…]
Point-Counterpoint: McGill’s decision to pause its $50 million French program
McGill must teach Legault a lesson – Liliana Mason Following the Quebec government’s Oct. 13 announcement of a tuition hike for out-of-province and international students, the McGill administration announced a pause to its $50 million Rayonnement du Français initiative—set to teach both students, faculty and staff French and help them[Read More…]
Bill 96 is not the solution to the Anglo-Franco divide
Starting Sept. 21, Quebec’s National Assembly will debate Bill 96––a proposed amendment to the Canadian constitution that would declare Quebec a “nation” and make French its only official language. The bill has unsurprisingly sparked controversy in a province known for its biculturalism and history of intraregional tension. The English Montreal[Read More…]
SSMU report finds francophone students reluctant to exercise academic rights
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Commission des Affaires Francophones (CAF), released the Report on Francophone Academic Rights on March 26. The report, based on a survey conducted in April 2020, presented the impediments students face in submitting work in French and set forth recommendations to improve[Read More…]
Letter to the Editor: There is no “quest for monolingual domination” in Québec
On Sept. 18, The McGill Tribune published an opinion piece titled “Quebec’s quest for monolingual domination makes healthcare less accessible.” In this article, the author made dubious and confusing links between Bill 10, font changes on information signs at Saint Mary’s hospital, and what he described as “Quebec’s quest for monolingual[Read More…]
Peer Review: Franc-Jeu theatre company displays innovative spirit in Alter-Ego
McGill’s francophone theatre company, Franc-Jeu, has come into its own since its creation two-and-a-half years ago. Its latest production, Alter-Ego, was a testament to the progress that it has achieved over time. Dramatic, emotional, and humorous all at once, Alter-Ego reflected on themes relevant to students. The play explored subjects[Read More…]