“Supporting the English-speaking community in West Quebec”
Nouvelles
Réforme de la loi 101 : accueil mitigé en Outaouais
"Pour les étudiants qui ne souhaitent pas se limiter au Québec pour leurs perspectives d'emploi, le bilinguisme est essentiel et le projet de loi pourrait restreindre les jeunes dans leurs choix de carrière, selon Arthur Ayers."
Court rejects government appeal, Bill 40 remains suspended for Quebec English school boards
"The Court of Appeal judged that the public interest is better served by protecting linguistic minority rights over implementing the law in the English educational sector — at least until the full case can be argued in court."
Poll: 40% of Quebec businesses wanted new hires to speak English
"The 75-page report reveals that 62.9 per cent of businesses in Montreal and 32.2 per cent of those outside of Montreal made competency in English a requirement or asset, for a total of 39.8 per cent provincewide."
Radio Noon Montreal with Shawn Apel: Free French classes for all - A good idea?
RAWQ Executive Director, Linton Garner joins Shawn Apel and Liberal MNA Gregory Kelley as they discuss free French classes for all.
Montreal Gazette: Anglo MNA aims to make free French language training a right for all Quebecers
“I think we can all take a step forward and all agree that language is important and the right to training should exist for every person who lives in Quebec no matter where you live or what your background is.”
Official Languages looking into French-only GST form complaint
Hampstead lawyer Harold Staviss filed a complaint last month with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL), saying that a Quebec-based corporation filing Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax returns cannot obtain the necessary forms and documents in English...
Kathleen Weil is sworn in as Minister responsible for relations with Anglophones
Big news in the shuffle was Couillard’s decision to act on a promise he made in June to give the anglophone community a greater voice in his government. After announcing last June that he would create a secretariat for relations with the English-speaking community, Couillard added the minister Weil.
Weil described the decision as historic and said she has heard the opposite view because organizations like the QCGN have been asking for a minister for years...
Montreal Gazette: Francophone minorities outside Quebec fear Bill 40 could hurt them
“If the English-speaking community was to lose all or a part of their constitutional rights to manage education, franco-Canadian groups could suffer repercussions".
Swift reaction from Quebec parents, students to province’s back-to-school plan
"Though masks will be mandatory in school common areas for kids in Grade 5 and above, they will not be required inside those classrooms. During a press conference Monday, Quebec Health Director Horacio Arruda claimed that wearing a mask all the day is difficult for kids."
Loi 96: «un pas dans la bonne direction» et des bémols, selon Impératif français
"Pour le président de l'Association régionale des West Quebecers (ARWQ), Arthur Ayers, qui qualifie cette réforme de «costaude», il y a lieu de laisser la chance au coureur.
Si l'organisme accueille favorablement certaines mesures, il avertit que d'autres, par exemple en ce qui a trait à l'administration publique ou aux restrictions dans les cégeps anglophones, pourraient avoir pour effet pervers d'isoler une part de la population.
La possibilité pour des municipalités de perdre leur statut bilingue, par exemple Chelsea, agace aussi l'ARWQ, qui estime que les décisions en ce sens devraient revenir aux autorités municipales, «qui connaissent leurs besoins»
«Quand on impose des limites, quand on pousse vers l'unilinguisme français, c'est là que ça devient un peu une insularité. Notre philosophie, qui est celle d'une majorité de gens de la communauté anglophone, c'est de promouvoir le bilinguisme, d'avoir des compétences dans les deux langues. [...] Il faut toujours être vigilant. Est-ce que le français est vraiment en recul? Dans certains domaines, ça semble être le cas, mais dans d'autres, non. C'est difficile à dire, tout est dans les nuances», dit M. Ayers."
