The provincial Liberal Party is trying to reverse a controversial amendment to Bill 96, the province\u2019s language law overhaul, that their own MNA introduced. The change at the heart of the situation would mandate that anglophone students at English C\u00e9geps (those eligible to attend primary and secondary school in English) take three courses in French.<\/p>\n
As\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in the Montreal Gazette, the changes were originally limited to allophone or francophone students attending the facilities, that is until Liberal language critic H\u00e9l\u00e8ne David insisted on an amendment that would remove the exemption for anglophone students.<\/p>\n The move was\u00a0blasted<\/a>\u00a0by the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des c\u00e9geps, with President Bernard Tremblay stating that it \"will have a catastrophic effect and amounts to discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n Tremblay explained to the Gazette that he estimated that 35 per cent of students don\u2019t have sufficient French skills to pass these additional courses. Students are already required to take a French second-language course, but as the bill stands right now, it wouldn\u2019t count towards the total of three.<\/p>\n CHIP 101.9\u00a0spoke<\/a>\u00a0with Pontiac MNA and Opposition House Leader Andr\u00e9 Fortin about Bill 96 two weeks ago, and while he did discuss the change to C\u00e9geps, he didn\u2019t mention his party had insisted on the amendment in the first place.<\/p>\n Speaking to CTV News earlier this week, Fortin offered a \u201cmea culpa<\/a>\u201d and Liberal leader Dominique Anglade admitted that they should have consulted with C\u00e9geps before introducing the amendment.<\/p>\n When asked why they didn\u2019t consult with any of the stakeholders involved, from parents to the C\u00e9geps themselves, Fortin said that the amendment was brought in as a way to avoid the government imposing Law 101 on C\u00e9geps.<\/p>\n\n