MONTREAL | Éric Duhaime urges Anglophones to “assert their balance of power” and respect their historical rights by voting conservative. In power, he would get rid of Bill 96 on the pretext that it divided Quebecers.
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In a bilingual speech at the Institut du Courtage in Montreal, the Conservative leader reiterated his party’s opposition to Bill 96, specifically for derogating from 38 articles of Quebec’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He had already promised at the beginning of the summer that he would never use the devaluation clause.
Today he proposes protecting French while respecting the historic rights of the Anglophone community. To do so, he intends to “reject Law 96” and return powers in the area of immigration.
Photo Gabriel Cote
Éric Duhaime reiterated his opposition to Bill 96 before the Institut de Brokerage in Montreal on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.
He believes the decline in French is due to the French-speaking majority not properly integrating newcomers into their “language community”.
The Conservatives therefore want to implement a stricter selection process for immigrants to ensure that the newcomers integrate more easily into the francophone majority. They also want to improve the measures for learning French.
“I know my speech today will shock some on both sides, both in English and in French,” he said, before declaring that he advocates “a nationalism that wants to be positive and inclusive”.
Everyone needs to realize that French is the common language in Quebec, the conservative leader believes. But on an individual level, bilingualism is, in his opinion, “a wealth”, even “the best thing in the world”.
So Éric Duhaime does not want to discourage francophones from studying in English, for example at Cégep, but he does want to encourage anglophones to turn to francophone schools.
Call for Vote
The best option for Anglophones would therefore be to send conservative MPs to the National Assembly, according to the leader of the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ).
“Anglophones have an interest in being part of a larger alliance with Francophones who share core values,” he said.
“You’ve been hostage for too long to the Quebec Liberal Party, a party that took you for granted (…) and on the other side a CAQ that doesn’t listen to you and doesn’t hear you,” added Mr. Duhaime.