Accessing English Institutions

"Do we want to return to the past and passively look on as our language moves backward? I am proud to live in French like millions of Quebecers."
"The Parti Quebecois is the only party that can strengthen French in Quebec. In particular in the region of Montreal, a retreat accompanied by a lack of vision [alluding to 9 years of Liberal rule] to respond to obvious realities like the Internet, globalization of commercial trade, and the growing place of English."
"The leader of a party that seeks to lead the only francophone nation of North America would like us to set aside what distinguishes us. For him (Liberal leader Philippe Couillard) diversity is a plus as long as it is not our own difference that we are talking about. It is staggering."
"I believe it is normal that when you graduate from a public institution supported by public funds, that people can possess an adequate knowledge of French."
Parti Quebecois leader, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois

YouTube Pauline Marois says 'Non!' to Pierre Karl Péladeau answering a question.

"Bilingualism is not a threat. It is an extraordinary asset for someone. If possible, you should even have a third language. There are more and more jobs where it is important. Even on factory floors, it is becoming increasingly important."
Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard

Philippe Couillard says his campaign is going well, and that's why he was the target of so many attacks in Thursday night's debate. (TVA) 

Paulie Marois's dissonant attacks on the English language within Quebec betray an unhealthy affliction she has in common with the leadership of the Parti Quebecois, hailed by francophones who have been fed a steady diet of fear over the North American prevalence of English, shoving French aside by those living in Quebec whose preferences are clearly averse to the preservation of the French language viewed through the Pequiste vision of delusionary paranoia.

Ms. Marois has engineered an overhaul of the French Language Charter, Bill 101, to be modelled after legislation brought in after the PQ's 2012 election. Which would have those businesses with at least eleven employees obliged to operate in French. Conferring in the process, a mass of red tape and translation of software to labelling of factory stockroom parts. As well, anglophone students studying at French colleges would be compelled to demonstrate French proficiency before graduating with their diploma.

According to the census figures there has been a steady decline in the proportion of people spreaking French on the Island of Montreal ... speaking French at home, that is. And the alarmists claim that the figure will be projected to drop below 50% in a decade. The drop, viewed with such alarm, can be attributable to francophones exiting Montreal and immigrants entering the island whose mother tongue is neither French nor English. Re-elected, Madame Marois promises Bill 101 will be "strengthened" by her new legislation.

Figures and statistics that don't prove their point are not quoted. Such as a 2012 study by Quebec's language watchdog, the Office quebecois de la langue francaise, that 89% of Quebecers primarily operated in French in 2010 representing an increase from 1971 when the number was 83%. Mr. Couillard, for his part, speaks of the importance of the anglophone community in the province, convinced personally that no amendment to Bill 101 is required, an assertion Ms. Marois finds scandalous.

Mr. Couillard, asserted Ms. Marois, was betraying the 'Quebec nation'. A response to that might be represented by a study bearing the title Decline and Prospects of the English-Speaking Communities of Quebec, funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, which states: "Taken together, the chapters in this book tell a sobering story about the decline of this historical national minority in Quebec". The hope of Richard Bourhis, professor of psychology at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal was that the book would "inspire Quebec decision-makers to pay more attention to the vitality needs of Quebec anglophones."

The publication points to the reality of Quebec anglophones losing status, population and institutional support. Encouraging a migration of anglophones out of Quebec. Which may represent a deliberately engineered social migration. The fewer anglophones upsetting the francophone applecart of sovereignity, the better the chance that separation will eventually come to fruition.

Tellingly, an English-language TV station reporter appealed personally to Madame Marois: "My friends and I, our children are all bilingual, they're in university, but they're fatigued by the language debate, and they don't want to stay in Quebec, and we want them to stay. How can you encourage them?"

The considered falteringly awkward English-worded response from the premier of Quebec? "I can't understand that. Because, I repeat, it's a so nice place where to live, and you have access to English institutions."