We will not reverse the trend of declining French in Quebec with advertising, the opposition said. Instead, they are asking the government to improve French teaching.
• Also read: According to the opposition, the public about the decline of French does not have the right aim
• Also read: A government ad that’s “odd and sketchy.”
• Also read: Quebec launches “sketch” advert on French’s decline
At a press conference in Parliament, Solidarity MP Vincent Marissal expressed the feeling that government advertising was unfairly targeting young people.
“Teenagers have many forms of expression. There’s one a week!” he said, claiming to knowingly speak as three of his children are currently teenagers.
The Legault government has invested $500,000 in an Anglicisms-laden ad comparing Quebec to an endangered bird species. The purpose of the video is to raise awareness of the decline of French.
“Targeting teenagers is not the right target. The preachy approach annoys me,” said Vincent Marissal.
The Rosemont member regrets “a certain deterioration in French”, but he believes that the big problem is not the expressions used by young people, but the lack of language teaching in schools.
“We’re leveling ourselves,” he scolded. Do we advertise it?”
Keep in mind that the report on French proficiency in higher education, published last week, says that some CEGEPs are being forced to hire candidates who do not have the required level of French, particularly due to the labor shortage.
The example must come from above
For his part, PQ MP Joël Arseneau agreed that the ad was “visually appealing”. However, he believes that members of the government should take care of the quality of their French before teaching it themselves.
He cited as an example the case of Minister Dubé, who said on Monday that the health network’s columns were being “shaken” instead of saying they were “shaken”.
“The example must come from above,” argued Mr. Arseneau, adding that by extending Bill 101 in particular to the Cégep, it would be possible to stem the decline of French.
For her part, Liberal MP Madwa-Nika Cadet acknowledged that advertising gets people talking, but she believes this is not enough.
“I wonder if young people are really going to say to themselves, ‘Whew, a chance Minister Roberge will call me to order,'” she said.