Candidates voice their opinions on Bill 96

Candidates voice their opinions on Bill 96

At the candidate forum hosted by CHIP 101.9 on September 6, the five representatives present were questioned on their stance regarding Bill 96, the CAQ government’s recent overhaul of the province’s language laws. They were each asked to state whether they supported the new law, as well as if there was any aspects of it that they would like to change.

Mike Owen Sebagenzi of Quebec Solidaire said that while he supported some aspects of the bill, he thought the worst part of its implementation was the CAQ and others blaming immigrants and English-speaking communities for the decline of French.

André Fortin of the Liberals said that the bill has a massive impact on English-speaking Quebecers and added that “saying the contrary is thinking people are fools.”

Conservative Terrance Watters began his response in French, stating that the decline in French is directly due to a “lack of integration” by immigrants into francophone culture. He added that encouragement and help are required for successful integration, not coercive measures.

Corinne Canuel-Jolicoeur defended her party’s legislation, pointing to the fact that her husband is an anglophone as proof that she takes the concerns of English-speaking Quebecers seriously.

Pierre Cyr of the Greens said that the issue with the law was that it was created by one party, without much consultation with the other parties. He said that with a proportional representation voting system, more people would be able to provide input.

The full video of the forum will be available shortly on our website.