(Montreal) French language solidarity manager Ruba Ghazal wants companies to do more to preserve French in Quebec and a specific plan for the Montreal region.
Posted at 12:29 p.m.
Laurie Trottier The Canadian Press
The member for Mercier sent two requests to the Minister of French Language, Jean-François Roberge, on Sunday and hopes that they will be included in the action plan on the future of French.
On January 27, 2023, the Coalition Avenir Québec announced the creation of an Action Group for the Future of the French Language. The action plan was supposed to be presented last fall but has still not been published.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ruba Ghazal explained that protecting French largely concerns the working language and that companies must take part in “this collective effort to Frenchize.”
This requires the introduction of a mandatory francization program paid for by companies and offered to their employees during working hours.
According to Ms. Ghazal, this program could, to some extent, be incorporated into the “Law of 1%,” which forces companies to invest the equivalent of 1% of their payroll in training their workforce. The idea would therefore be to “add an additional share that employers pay for implementing franchising in their companies,” she explains.
Québec Solidaire believes that the courses offered free of charge through the Francisation Québec platform cannot meet the needs of all immigrants.
“When people arrive in Quebec, they want to support their family, find a job and often, between a French course or a job, they will of course prefer to work,” claims Ms. Gazhal. They don't necessarily have the energy, mental and familial availability to take classes outside of work hours. »
Montreal specific requirements
While Ruba Ghazal called the situation of the French in Quebec unacceptable, she also stressed that the situation in Montreal is worse than elsewhere and that “a more significant change of direction” is needed.
The Solidarity deputy therefore reiterated her wish that the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) should set up a specific office for the specific problems of the metropolis.
Appropriate measures could then be initiated. “It would perhaps mean offering more support hours, more inspections and more presence from OQLF staff in Montreal than elsewhere where the needs are less noticeable,” mentions Ms. Gazhal.
In her opinion, it is important that measures against companies are not just coercive measures. “We need to support them much more to ensure that the situation is resolved and the French-speaking face of Montreal is preserved for as long as possible,” she adds.