Good idea, CAQ says of Liberal proposal but we thought of it first – Montreal Gazette

"It's something that has been on my radar," says Christopher Skeete, the CAQ point man on anglo affairs.Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

QUEBEC An anglophone MNAs bill to make free French language training available to all Quebecers makes sense and will be studied, Premier Franois Legault said Wednesday.

Liberal Gregory Kelleys proposed legislation, Bill 590, seemed to spark a turf war for anglophone votes with the Coalition Avenir Qubec government saying it was already working on the idea as part of its own outreach to the community.

Im very open the the idea, Legault told reporters as he arrived for question period at the legislature.

He said Christopher Skeete, the CAQ point man on anglo affairs, met many anglophone groups in the last year all through Quebec. The main suggestion that was coming, again and again, was ensuring that French lessons were offered to anglophones and not only immigrants.

So were really looking at that. It makes sense.

Kelley, the MNA for Jacques-Cartier, rose in the legislature Wednesday to table his one page bill, which proposes to amend the Charter of the French Language to establish free French instruction services for every person in Quebec.

Opposition MNAs are not allowed to table bills that commit the governing party to spending, so the bill leaves the actual application details to the government.Nobody has costed out the idea beyond the preliminary stage.

The first response came from the minister responsible for the French language, Simon Jolin-Barrette, who told Kelley in the legislature that the government welcomes his suggestion.

He said Skeete already had this idea following his recent tour of Quebec to meet anglophone groups.

He said Kelleys idea will be considered and allowed to percolate as the government prepares its own action plan on the French Language Charter, due in the winter of 2020.

Undaunted, Kelley said there is no real reason to wait.

Lets not just look at the bill lets adopt it, Kelley said. Its time to be bold.

Later, at a news conference, Kelley said the governments own Secretariat for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers where he worked before being elected already has the needed data on the issue from a similar tour of anglophone groups conducted by the Liberals before they lost power to the CAQ.

Theyve had a year to do something, to table something that is concrete, and they have not, Kelley said. This is something Ive been thinking about for a while. This is something people are asking for.

But in the battle for anglophone affections, Skeete had a response at the ready.

Its something we have been focus-grouping to see what the reception would be, Skeete told reporters. Its not new; its not novel, but its a good idea.

The biggest concern I had was: Are people going to think were trying to assimilate the English-community? So I wanted to speak with various groups before proposing the idea. Its something that has been on my radar and I have been saying it for weeks with you guys.

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Good idea, CAQ says of Liberal proposal but we thought of it first - Montreal Gazette