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Some anglophone leaders have criticized the minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, saying he has been silent on issues affecting the community.
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The minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers wants to make something clear: he’s not a “lobbyist” for anglophones.
Eric Girard, also Quebec’s finance minister, told a closed-door meeting with about 40 McGill University students his role is to keep communication lines open between anglophones and the Coalition Avenir Québec government.
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He ensures “when we do legislation, we remember that 15 per cent of the population needs to be taken into account. But do I go into cabinet and say: ‘Well, the English Montreal School Board told me to say this’? No, I’m not a lobbyist.”
A McGill-trained economist, Girard has been criticized by the Quebec Community Groups Network.
The coalition of anglophone groups says he is 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.”
Girard has sidestepped questions from reporters regarding the government’s recent decision to target Concordia and McGill universities with new tuition measures.
Girard reminded the McGill audience that ministers are bound by cabinet secrecy. While there may be “intense internal debates” behind closed doors, ministers “cannot contradict the official position.”
He said he’s not fazed by criticism.
“If I read the Gazette, for example, and I want to get depressed, I’ll see how they evaluate my job as (the) representative of the English-speaking community of Quebec,” he said.
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“They’ll say this minister doesn’t do anything for English-speaking Quebecers. They’ll give me a D-minus or three out of 10. And so these people would like me to repeat what they’re writing in their paper and I will not do that. That’s not how our institutions work.”
Girard was at McGill for a 70-minute “fireside chat” at which he was asked questions by the university’s president, Deep Saini. Only McGill students and campus reporters were allowed to attend.
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In December, Saini said the tuition changes were “catastrophic” for McGill, calling them a “direct attack” on English institutions.
Starting in the fall, students from the rest of Canada who come to Quebec to study in English must pay $12,000 in tuition — a 33-per-cent hike. French proficiency requirements are also being instituted. And the province is clawing back more of the fees paid by international students.
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Most out-of-province and international students who come to Quebec study at English institutions.
New McGill and Concordia scholarships, in part funded by alumni, will cancel out the increase for many students from other provinces.
But both universities have reported steep drops in applications. At McGill, there has been a 20-per-cent decline in demand from out-of-province and international students, Saini said.
Girard defended the tuition changes. The government wants to increase funding for French universities and protect the French language in Montreal, he said.
“Is French threatened in Montreal? It depends on what perspective you’re taking,” he said. “If you’re taking a 50-year perspective, the answer is No. Montreal is more French than it was 50 years ago.”
Quebec language laws helped change that, in part by compelling children of immigrants to attend French school, he said.
“But French in North America will always be threatened and the (English-dominated) digital transformation of our world is increasing.
“If we do nothing, (Quebec’s) society of 9 million people in a sea of 500 million people — French — will disappear, so we have a responsibility.”
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Girard said “it’s very important that McGill and Montreal prosper, so we have an obligation to find common ground and compromises.”
He noted the government originally planned to set out-of-province tuition at $17,000, but settled on $12,000 after listening to feedback.
As Girard spoke, a small group of students staged a loud protest outside the venue, blowing whistles, ringing bells and playing music.
They were among 11,000 Concordia and McGill students on a three-day strike to protest against CAQ education policies.
“The tuition hikes are being passed as part of a budget under the guise of redistributing finances,” said Chloe Mayes, a Concordia sociology and anthropology student.
“But we believe that’s a sort of thin cover for general neoliberal austerity where they’re gutting our public institutions and reducing our access to education,” she said.
Mayes said she’s concerned about Concordia’s future because it’s in “the midst of a financial crisis and the drop in enrolment only makes that worse.”
McGill geography student Emily Hardie noted Girard was there to talk about economic policies and how he as an alumnus contributed to Quebec’s development.
“I think that’s extremely ironic because he’s been completely silent about (the tuition) issue, which is going to disastrously affect McGill.”
She noted the school has imposed a hiring freeze, warning the tuition changes could cost it up to $94 million per year.
ariga@postmedia.com
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