QCGN outraged at Quebec tuition hikes for out-of-province Canadian students
Posted October 18, 2023 5:39 pm.
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) says it is alarmed and outraged by the recent announcement from the Francois Legault government that the province will raise tuition fees for out-of-province students.
“Premier Legault says he is trying to preserve and promote the French language in Quebec, and that is a goal we support,” said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the QCGN, in a statement.
“But it is now clear this government has concluded that the most effective way to support French is to curtail English and English-language institutions to the greatest extent possible.”
READ MORE: Defending tuition increase, Premier Legault says survival of French language at risk
The QCGN claims the move will stop young talented people from coming to the province and will force young English-speaking Quebecers to leave the province.
“This assault on English universities – effectively doubling regular tuition for students from outside Quebec who want to study at McGill, Concordia, or Bishop’s – is only the latest and most blatant expression of the government’s efforts,” said Martin-Laforge.
The QCGN says since 2018, Finance Minister Eric Girard — who is responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers — has been very silent on major issues involving English speakers, including Bill 96.
“While the CAQ’s measures in general, including the hurtful Bill 96, may be aimed at the Montreal region, they also bring collateral damage to the nearly 250,000 English-speaking Quebecers who live outside the metropolis. We all pay a heavy price for the CAQ’s obsession with hearing ‘Bonjour/Hi’ in downtown Montreal,” said Martin-Laforge.
“How else can one explain Minister Girard standing by in silence while his cabinet colleagues deny English rights and access to services, penalize English institutions like universities and CEGEPs, and publicly denigrate the very sound, the very presence of English in a cosmopolitan, world-class city?”
The QCGN is also calling on Girard to explain his intentions for the English community within the province.
