Newcomers to conform to Quebec values under newly adopted Bill 84

On Wednesday, the Quebec National Assembly adopted Bill 84, an act enforcing newcomers to conform to Quebec’s ‘common culture.’ The Quebec national integration model are based on the province’s values of democracy, secularism, and the protection of French as the official language in Quebec.

“It comes from a lot of efforts that the government is putting in making the population believe that immigration is a threat to our values, a threat for the housing crisis,” said Laurence Guénette, a spokesperson for human rights advocacy group la Ligue des Droits et Libertés.

“It kind of suggests that immigrants are not adhering to these values,” Guénette added, saying it is fueling an anti-immigration rhetoric in the province.

La Ligue des Droits et Libertés mobilized several other community groups to halt the bill since its presentation in February, believing the model to be assimilatory.

“We don’t go with assimilation,” said Quebec Minister of Immigration Jean-François Roberge. “We want all newcomers and all Quebecers to be able to speak French, to know our institution, to know our values. But, we want them to contribute to the culture.”

Roberge hopes the bill will encourage immigrants to engage with other Quebecers and learn about Quebec’s culture. He also believes it will help prevent the creation of more enclaves, which he says are ‘bad for social cohesion.’

“If we all go in the same way, we will facilitate the integration,” said the Immigration Minister. “We will help them learn our culture. We will help them learn French. We will help them feel at home here.”

Montrealers seem to be fine with the bill, as long as it doesn’t impose on their human rights.

“You go to St-Hubert St., all the people speak Spanish. Or [in Parc-Extension], all people are speaking another language,” said Walid Chbichib, a Tunisian-born Montrealer. “Why you don’t learn another language from the country that will give you a life?”

Another Montrealer saying, “You have to be able to talk to the people that is around you. So, if you have to learn a new language, you have to learn a new language if you want to be understood.”

While Kayla Driscoll, a Vancouverite staying in Montreal for her studies, said, “Secularism, but with freedom of religion, that is fine to me.” Before adding, “Coming to a new country is so difficult. You already have all these struggles of not being able to understand basic interactions.”

La Ligue des Droits et Libertés’ Laurence Guénette is even more worried about the timing of its adoption, after Education Minister Bernard Drainville recently presented Bill 94, which will ban religious symbols, including turbans, from schools.

“It’s not a bill that will help advance human rights and diversity in Quebec,” said Guénette.