We can prop up French without attacking English: Standish.

by Colin Standish, Co Leader

We can prop up French without attacking English Standish (Member).pdf

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MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Quebec’s language laws are “an assault” on minority language rights, says Colin Standish, Co-Leader of the Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ).

The CaPQ recently took part in a documentary segment, produced by ONFR-TFO, about minority language rights, something CaPQ Co-Leader Myrtis Fossey says do not exist currently in Quebec.

“In our view,” Standish said, “it is a myth that the French language needs to be protected by restrictive laws, punitive laws.”

The documentary segment is a look at the challenges faced by English-speaking Quebecers, as compared with Franco-Ontarians. Fossey points out that Ontario Francophones enjoy progressive minority language rights protection, with the French-language Services Act.

Fossey, whose parents are Greek and English, says that, as such, she was never considered a “Quebecoise.” However, having been brought up and educated in French, she doesn’t identify as either Anglophone or Francophone, but as both.

"My dream for Quebec,” says Fossey, “is a bilingual Quebec where everyone can focus on what really matters, on what is truly important to Quebeckers, apart from language.”