As usual, anglophones are being used a wedge in Quebec. This policy, which will hurt the scientific community and discovery, was almost solely designed by a government looking to boost its popularity after a disappointing score at a by election. Worst, it was announced a few days before McGill was supposed to lanch a plan and funding to boost French language on its campus, which has been cancelled since given the financial implications of this new measure. Sadly, I guess it’s what politics has become in Canada at every level and from every parties. Using whatever wedge to be popular no matter the costs
It's not about coherent policy; it's about screwing the anglos, or being seen to try. Identity politics, no different than Trudeau on guns or Scott Moe on pronouns, and just as pointless.
This discriminatory tuition hike follows up on the cancellation of the expansion of the Dawson campus (“this money should go to French CEGEPs”) and Bill 96 by limiting access to Anglophone CEGEPs for Francophones. There is a pattern of ‘levelling down’ here. Instead of making Francophone institutions more attractive, they punish Anglo institutions. Always more as a political wedge than as matter of good governing.
My youngest is at Concordia. She will be able to finish at the present tuition charge. But I’ve met quite a few people in her program from out of province. Many of them stay in residence in first year. My daughter was in Grey Nuns at $800/mo for a room. (It was pretty big. She’s in fine arts and needs space.) I think she would have gone to OCA, NSCAD or even Sheridan or UO if she was applying now. Contrast that with Concordia’s journalism school. When I taught there, it was very rare for students to be from outside Montreal. I think some programs will be hit harder than others. And Bishops could really get whacked:30% of its students are Canadians from outside Quebec. I can only see this as an attack on Montreal, which is the bogeyman of Quebec xenophobia.
Very glad to see you jumping on this. What is becoming clearer every day with Legault and his government is that they have come to the conclusion that the only real way to protect and promote French is to reduce the presence of English, especially in Montreal. Think of Bill 96. Think of unanimous motions in the National Assembly condemning the use of "Bonjour/Hi" in stores in the Montreal region. Now, consider that the premier himself has said anglophone university students are a threat to French in Quebec («Quand je regarde le nombre d'étudiants anglophones au Québec, ça menace la survie du français»). This is all in the cause of protecting his massive base outside of Montreal from encroachment by a newly reinvigorated Parti Québécois, which he is determined to suppress, at all costs, apparently.
Thanks for providing these details, Paul. I live in Ottawa and my daughter is working through a gap year, with the intention, until last week, of attending Concordia in Sept 2024. Two of her friends in her cohort are in first year at Concordia. My daughter is now trying to decide between starting at Concordia in Jan 2024 to be grandfathered in to the current rates, or attending an Ontario or Nova Scotia school in September. Paying double the Ontario rates to go to school in Quebec is not an option.
A subtlety that others have not expressed; we are trying to discourage her from going to Concordia in January as we feel it is likely that the undergraduate programs there will precipitously decline with the drop in incoming students, affecting her experience in her senior years.
The point that English university undergrad programs could begin to decline even before the new regs take effect, and that the decline could accelerate once they do is an interesting – and depressing one.
I wonder if in fact what will happen is that McGill et al end up with only the most bottom of the barrel students who couldn't get in anywhere else, but can afford to pay. It will I suppose be interesting to see if the ROC responds in kind by penalizing students coming from Quebec with higher tuition.
As someone who paid extra to ensure that my kids could function in French, despite growing up in Calgary, it is my understanding that many families in Quebec correspondingly wish for their children also to be able to function in English, as well as in their native French.
it seems to me that Quebec has largely achieved separation, without actually separating. There are few areas where they lack control, but yet they still realize the benefits of large net fiscal transfers from the federal government. Unfortunately it appears some of the challenges that actual separation would create are creeping into the current "friends with benefits" arrangement with the ROC. For example, I believe Quebec's unemployment rate is quite low - ie they are way beyond full employment, suggesting perhaps that that their economy is being limited by an inability to access qualified personnel. It is interesting to wonder if this is in anyway related to their language policies.
I find it somewhat funny that the G&M had a whole article last night summarizing saddened and outraged readers responding to this policy.
Legault may get away with legislating down the English language in the workplace or one's ability to wear the veil in the public sector but he has another thing coming if he thinks he can touch the closest way for English Canada's elite and striver kids to have a real campus experience and find themselves in the historic downtown of a bohemian city!
To be clear, this is indeed incoherent and punitive of a policy. Incoherent and punitive is what you get when ideology meets the machinery of government.
I see you managed to get at least a few words out of our very quiet president. I came to Concordia to experience Montreal culture- which includes language, which the government subsidizes. You are correct in that my tuition in Ontario would actually be cheaper, but with the subsidized French language courses and lower rent (quickly becoming equal) it works out.
If Legault wants to protect or even *cough cough* promote (now there's an idea) the French language he could better advertise or even increase the language course subsidy.
My Father, although a bit of an outlier, studied as an étudiant libre at Laval law in Quebec City to learn French. He has done countless media interviews, presentations, and communications in French over the years, none of which would have happened if tuition was 2x the price.
I think you have Legault wrong in your opinion that he ever gets things right. Maybe here he'll get it right by leaving things alone.
I have been slow to comment. As a parent of a soon-to-be McGill grad, and an “allophone” who left Quebec, I have views. In agreement with your concerns Paul, and other comments such as non-applicability of these changes to students from France and Belgium. I wonder though, what might another McGill grad, who is the current PM - and his fellow McGillian backers - have to say about this? The same silence they have given us on Bill 96? Ah, the pundits will tell me, “it’s our Constitution and higher ed is a provincial jurisdiction... yadda, yadda...” Selective silence on minority rights is not a good look on our current federal government. I know it is a complex time and foreign policy is absorbing the federal Cabinet. But if the PM has time to attack Alberta on the pension issue, what about this one? Why the silence?
Usher's piece ends by situating the spiritual seat of the Laurentian elite at McGill and says this policy will put an end to that. I did take the PM's vapid letter to Alberta — if you're going to defend the CPP, begin by putting *any information at all* into what is, after all, supposed to look like a correspondence with a fellow head of government — as picking the easiest fight among many on offer. David Lametti was ginning himself up for some kind of fight on Quebec's bills 96 and 21; one wonders what his successor is thinking these days.
Indeed Paul, Alex Usher is the key source on this whole mess - his latest this morning is worth a read for anyone wanting to get into the weeds on this issue. The key quote from Alex is worth underscoring here: “Because for the CAQ, the money argument is a rationalization, not a rationale. They want fewer Canadian anglophones in Montreal, period. ...For the first time in a while, it seems like standing up to the CAQ for minority language rights might be a vote winner...”
Politics in Canada is now a question of creating wedge at what ever costs, including on minority rights, no matter the party of the level government. This new stupid measure from Québec is not that different than the ridiculous pronoun thing or the war against wokes. All these measures are developed to gain political capital on bashing on minority rights. The Alberta pension proposal is another ridiculous proposal that shouldn’t deserve air time. It is a wedge designed by Smith to create an additional fight against the federal government. By responding to Smith, the PM just help her to continue to push her non-sense.
The problem for Concordia is compounded by a fiscal crisis that is already quite dire. Here is the budget projection for the next fiscal year. https://www.concordia.ca/about/administration-governance/office-chief-financial-officer/2023-24-budget.html There was likely hope among administrators that the CAQ government would come up with some extra cash to help Concordia navigate a future characterized by years of accumulating deficits, or even a recognition that the university is underfunded when compared to its French-language counterparts. To put it mildly, that hope has been misplaced. To put it less mildly, by blowing a potential $100-million hole in the university's finances on top of everything else, Concordia's very existence is brought into question. If the university does manage to survive it is certain to be much smaller, much less able to compete for the best and brightest students, and a place where ambition and success are distant memories.
I believe he’s misinterpreted the recent PQ win in the Jean Talon riding. He thinks it was a message to drill down harder on Anglophones. But I’ll bet that win was because the voters were sick of the CAQ, but couldn’t stomach voting for the Liberals or Conservatives either.
The loss of Jean-Talon can in good part be attributed to the CAQ incumbent quitting in a huff so soon after being elected because she was not appointed to cabinet.
This is the first time I have seen this unpacked, but that isn’t surprising given the state of the daily press. (Although I haven’t read Le Devoir yet; typically the announcement was made late Friday, which is what you do to avoid too much analysis. But it’s interesting that the strongest reaction came from the 93,000-strong Quebec students’ union, which called the policy incoherent, improvised and, most importantly, done without any consultation. They already seem to realize this will be devastating for Bishop’s but of course Bishop’s isn’t part of the big bad city that is the motor of the Quebec economy. Anyway, I look forward to the interview with the finance minister.
I should say that Éric Girard sought me out at a Legault campaign stop last year and said nice things about my work. We've been trying to connect for an interview since then; last time I had to cancel because I had COVID. I've also sought an interview with Legault since he was elected in 2018. No luck, though I've been able to ask him questions at scrums.
The other thing I haven’t been able to figure out is the justification for preventing French Québécois from going to English Cegeps. Is bilingualism a threat ?
Its more that bilingualism often favours English in QC (its usually Francophones learning English for economic reasons) and that they are mainly Montreal institutions.
Thanks for this article, and thanks for the focus on Concordia. My team is McGill, and I know how to respond to this government proposal; however carefully stated., it will be this: how badly do you want to destroy the reputation of your best and only world-class university? But Concordia and Bishop's change people's lives for the better just like McGill does. And just like UQAM, UdM and others do. University management is already hard enough without professional politicians taking a half-thought-out whack at it.
None of the discussion or interviews I have seen to date mentions the opposite of what the Legault Govt uses as justification. The number of people educated outside of Qc who then move here to work or practice. The education of these people has been 'subsidized' by the province/state/country where they attended University or College.
As usual, anglophones are being used a wedge in Quebec. This policy, which will hurt the scientific community and discovery, was almost solely designed by a government looking to boost its popularity after a disappointing score at a by election. Worst, it was announced a few days before McGill was supposed to lanch a plan and funding to boost French language on its campus, which has been cancelled since given the financial implications of this new measure. Sadly, I guess it’s what politics has become in Canada at every level and from every parties. Using whatever wedge to be popular no matter the costs
It's not about coherent policy; it's about screwing the anglos, or being seen to try. Identity politics, no different than Trudeau on guns or Scott Moe on pronouns, and just as pointless.
Arrgh I keep sending these out with the wrong banner. This is not, as you'll have surmised, an episode of the podcast.
It’s not? Good. My hearing aids s fine then.
I am looking @t this through the SubStack App and with an iPad I see no reference to a podcast nor anything audio-like?
This discriminatory tuition hike follows up on the cancellation of the expansion of the Dawson campus (“this money should go to French CEGEPs”) and Bill 96 by limiting access to Anglophone CEGEPs for Francophones. There is a pattern of ‘levelling down’ here. Instead of making Francophone institutions more attractive, they punish Anglo institutions. Always more as a political wedge than as matter of good governing.
My youngest is at Concordia. She will be able to finish at the present tuition charge. But I’ve met quite a few people in her program from out of province. Many of them stay in residence in first year. My daughter was in Grey Nuns at $800/mo for a room. (It was pretty big. She’s in fine arts and needs space.) I think she would have gone to OCA, NSCAD or even Sheridan or UO if she was applying now. Contrast that with Concordia’s journalism school. When I taught there, it was very rare for students to be from outside Montreal. I think some programs will be hit harder than others. And Bishops could really get whacked:30% of its students are Canadians from outside Quebec. I can only see this as an attack on Montreal, which is the bogeyman of Quebec xenophobia.
Very glad to see you jumping on this. What is becoming clearer every day with Legault and his government is that they have come to the conclusion that the only real way to protect and promote French is to reduce the presence of English, especially in Montreal. Think of Bill 96. Think of unanimous motions in the National Assembly condemning the use of "Bonjour/Hi" in stores in the Montreal region. Now, consider that the premier himself has said anglophone university students are a threat to French in Quebec («Quand je regarde le nombre d'étudiants anglophones au Québec, ça menace la survie du français»). This is all in the cause of protecting his massive base outside of Montreal from encroachment by a newly reinvigorated Parti Québécois, which he is determined to suppress, at all costs, apparently.
Thanks for providing these details, Paul. I live in Ottawa and my daughter is working through a gap year, with the intention, until last week, of attending Concordia in Sept 2024. Two of her friends in her cohort are in first year at Concordia. My daughter is now trying to decide between starting at Concordia in Jan 2024 to be grandfathered in to the current rates, or attending an Ontario or Nova Scotia school in September. Paying double the Ontario rates to go to school in Quebec is not an option.
A subtlety that others have not expressed; we are trying to discourage her from going to Concordia in January as we feel it is likely that the undergraduate programs there will precipitously decline with the drop in incoming students, affecting her experience in her senior years.
The point that English university undergrad programs could begin to decline even before the new regs take effect, and that the decline could accelerate once they do is an interesting – and depressing one.
I think you are correct as many professors will see the decline coming and look for new jobs elsewhere before getting laid off.
I wonder if in fact what will happen is that McGill et al end up with only the most bottom of the barrel students who couldn't get in anywhere else, but can afford to pay. It will I suppose be interesting to see if the ROC responds in kind by penalizing students coming from Quebec with higher tuition.
As someone who paid extra to ensure that my kids could function in French, despite growing up in Calgary, it is my understanding that many families in Quebec correspondingly wish for their children also to be able to function in English, as well as in their native French.
it seems to me that Quebec has largely achieved separation, without actually separating. There are few areas where they lack control, but yet they still realize the benefits of large net fiscal transfers from the federal government. Unfortunately it appears some of the challenges that actual separation would create are creeping into the current "friends with benefits" arrangement with the ROC. For example, I believe Quebec's unemployment rate is quite low - ie they are way beyond full employment, suggesting perhaps that that their economy is being limited by an inability to access qualified personnel. It is interesting to wonder if this is in anyway related to their language policies.
I find it somewhat funny that the G&M had a whole article last night summarizing saddened and outraged readers responding to this policy.
Legault may get away with legislating down the English language in the workplace or one's ability to wear the veil in the public sector but he has another thing coming if he thinks he can touch the closest way for English Canada's elite and striver kids to have a real campus experience and find themselves in the historic downtown of a bohemian city!
To be clear, this is indeed incoherent and punitive of a policy. Incoherent and punitive is what you get when ideology meets the machinery of government.
I see you managed to get at least a few words out of our very quiet president. I came to Concordia to experience Montreal culture- which includes language, which the government subsidizes. You are correct in that my tuition in Ontario would actually be cheaper, but with the subsidized French language courses and lower rent (quickly becoming equal) it works out.
If Legault wants to protect or even *cough cough* promote (now there's an idea) the French language he could better advertise or even increase the language course subsidy.
My Father, although a bit of an outlier, studied as an étudiant libre at Laval law in Quebec City to learn French. He has done countless media interviews, presentations, and communications in French over the years, none of which would have happened if tuition was 2x the price.
I think you have Legault wrong in your opinion that he ever gets things right. Maybe here he'll get it right by leaving things alone.
I have been slow to comment. As a parent of a soon-to-be McGill grad, and an “allophone” who left Quebec, I have views. In agreement with your concerns Paul, and other comments such as non-applicability of these changes to students from France and Belgium. I wonder though, what might another McGill grad, who is the current PM - and his fellow McGillian backers - have to say about this? The same silence they have given us on Bill 96? Ah, the pundits will tell me, “it’s our Constitution and higher ed is a provincial jurisdiction... yadda, yadda...” Selective silence on minority rights is not a good look on our current federal government. I know it is a complex time and foreign policy is absorbing the federal Cabinet. But if the PM has time to attack Alberta on the pension issue, what about this one? Why the silence?
Usher's piece ends by situating the spiritual seat of the Laurentian elite at McGill and says this policy will put an end to that. I did take the PM's vapid letter to Alberta — if you're going to defend the CPP, begin by putting *any information at all* into what is, after all, supposed to look like a correspondence with a fellow head of government — as picking the easiest fight among many on offer. David Lametti was ginning himself up for some kind of fight on Quebec's bills 96 and 21; one wonders what his successor is thinking these days.
Indeed Paul, Alex Usher is the key source on this whole mess - his latest this morning is worth a read for anyone wanting to get into the weeds on this issue. The key quote from Alex is worth underscoring here: “Because for the CAQ, the money argument is a rationalization, not a rationale. They want fewer Canadian anglophones in Montreal, period. ...For the first time in a while, it seems like standing up to the CAQ for minority language rights might be a vote winner...”
Politics in Canada is now a question of creating wedge at what ever costs, including on minority rights, no matter the party of the level government. This new stupid measure from Québec is not that different than the ridiculous pronoun thing or the war against wokes. All these measures are developed to gain political capital on bashing on minority rights. The Alberta pension proposal is another ridiculous proposal that shouldn’t deserve air time. It is a wedge designed by Smith to create an additional fight against the federal government. By responding to Smith, the PM just help her to continue to push her non-sense.
The problem for Concordia is compounded by a fiscal crisis that is already quite dire. Here is the budget projection for the next fiscal year. https://www.concordia.ca/about/administration-governance/office-chief-financial-officer/2023-24-budget.html There was likely hope among administrators that the CAQ government would come up with some extra cash to help Concordia navigate a future characterized by years of accumulating deficits, or even a recognition that the university is underfunded when compared to its French-language counterparts. To put it mildly, that hope has been misplaced. To put it less mildly, by blowing a potential $100-million hole in the university's finances on top of everything else, Concordia's very existence is brought into question. If the university does manage to survive it is certain to be much smaller, much less able to compete for the best and brightest students, and a place where ambition and success are distant memories.
I believe he’s misinterpreted the recent PQ win in the Jean Talon riding. He thinks it was a message to drill down harder on Anglophones. But I’ll bet that win was because the voters were sick of the CAQ, but couldn’t stomach voting for the Liberals or Conservatives either.
The loss of Jean-Talon can in good part be attributed to the CAQ incumbent quitting in a huff so soon after being elected because she was not appointed to cabinet.
This is the first time I have seen this unpacked, but that isn’t surprising given the state of the daily press. (Although I haven’t read Le Devoir yet; typically the announcement was made late Friday, which is what you do to avoid too much analysis. But it’s interesting that the strongest reaction came from the 93,000-strong Quebec students’ union, which called the policy incoherent, improvised and, most importantly, done without any consultation. They already seem to realize this will be devastating for Bishop’s but of course Bishop’s isn’t part of the big bad city that is the motor of the Quebec economy. Anyway, I look forward to the interview with the finance minister.
I should say that Éric Girard sought me out at a Legault campaign stop last year and said nice things about my work. We've been trying to connect for an interview since then; last time I had to cancel because I had COVID. I've also sought an interview with Legault since he was elected in 2018. No luck, though I've been able to ask him questions at scrums.
The other thing I haven’t been able to figure out is the justification for preventing French Québécois from going to English Cegeps. Is bilingualism a threat ?
Clearly, yes.
Its more that bilingualism often favours English in QC (its usually Francophones learning English for economic reasons) and that they are mainly Montreal institutions.
Thanks for this article, and thanks for the focus on Concordia. My team is McGill, and I know how to respond to this government proposal; however carefully stated., it will be this: how badly do you want to destroy the reputation of your best and only world-class university? But Concordia and Bishop's change people's lives for the better just like McGill does. And just like UQAM, UdM and others do. University management is already hard enough without professional politicians taking a half-thought-out whack at it.
None of the discussion or interviews I have seen to date mentions the opposite of what the Legault Govt uses as justification. The number of people educated outside of Qc who then move here to work or practice. The education of these people has been 'subsidized' by the province/state/country where they attended University or College.