Nat M.
I am no stranger to Bill 101, and in my previous post I shared some of the struggles that I faced as an English-speaking student in a French school. My saving grace, if I may say so, was the ability to attend an English CEGEP upon graduation from high school. If I did not have this choice I know deep down in my heart and soul that I would not have pursued post-secondary education and would not be the teacher that I am today.
Attending an English CEGEP was a form of liberty for me as I was finally able to be myself after years of trying to blend in. I found my voice after what seemed like a lifetime of being mute.
This is why my anger rises when I listen to the never-ending discussions and debates on the extension of Bill 101 to CEGEPS. It is nauseating to read about the attempts of the Parti Quebecois to block funding in Dawson, the province’s largest anglophone CEGEP. When my former Vanier CEGEP classmate and Montreal MP, Emmanuella Lambropoulos, said that she did not believe that the French language was in peril, she stepped on toes and stirred the pot.
But the reality is that the PQ fears for the future and it seems like in a very desperate attempt to control the public, they are scrambling to extend the language law.
However, I truly think that if it ever does get approved we will have a higher drop-out rate and a higher rate of unemployment and/or social assistance.
There are too many anglophone and allophone students in my special education classes struggling to get by in their classes. Brilliant minds with so much to say, unable to express themselves in school. And then my colleagues look at me in awe when I say they are intelligent and tell me not to expect much out of them because they “can’t even read a paragraph without stumbling”.
How can we expect these students to attend a French CEGEP when they have so many difficulties in high school?
I truly believe that one cannot appreciate a language if it is being shoved down their throat. A person cannot see the beauty of it when it is forced upon them.
When people travel to Paris, they strive to learn to speak the language.
Why is this not the case in Quebec?
Food for thought.
References
Authier, P. (2020, October 22). PQ fails in bid to take Dawson, McGill off off list of Quebec infrastructure projects. Montreal Gazette. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/pq-leader-wants-dawson-off-list-of-quebec-infrastructure-projects
Fletcher, R. (2017, September 8). PQ debates extending Bill 101 to CEGEPS, daycare. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/3729868/pq-debates-extending-bill-101-to-cegeps-daycares/
Reynolds, C. (2020, November 22). Angst around French language boils over in Quebec, as politicians wan of ‘decline’. CTV News. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/angst-around-french-language-boils-over-in-quebec-as-politicians-warn-of-decline-1.5199752?cache=xceuacapshbcr%3FautoPlay%3Dtrue
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Authier, P. (2020, October
22). PQ fails in bid to take Dawson, McGill off off list of Quebec
infrastructure projects. Montreal Gazette.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/pq-leader-wants-dawson-off-list-of-quebec-infrastructure-projects
Fletcher, R. (2017, September
8). PQ debates extending Bill 101 to CEGEPS, daycare. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/3729868/pq-debates-extending-bill-101-to-cegeps-daycares/
Reynolds, C. (2020, November
22). Angst around French language boils over in Quebec, as politicians wan of
‘decline’. CTV News.
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/angst-around-french-language-boils-over-in-quebec-as-politicians-warn-of-decline-1.5199752?cache=xceuacapshbcr%3FautoPlay%3Dtrue
