Quebec: Proposal will advance French cause, Marois says

[Harold Schiffman]

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 » *October 21* » *2007
    Proposal will advance French cause, Marois says
    *Philip Authier* The Gazette
Saturday, October 20, 2007

 Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois yesterday defended her arty's new
citizenship proposal which is being crticized by the Liberals and uebec
Solidaire parties because they say it will create two classes of Quebec
citizenship. Marois said in the same way Quebec's Charter of the French
Language - Bill 101 - helped advance the cause of French by sending
immigrants to French schools, so will the new proposal, which says
immigrants who fail to develop a working knowledge of French would not be
allowed to hold public office, raise funds for a party or petition the
National Assembly with a grievance.

One Pequiste told reporters such a policy - which the PQ proposes to put in
place should it take power one day - would be entirely normal. As Taillon
MNA Marie Malavoy noted, if a politician in Spain is required to speak
Spanish, a Quebec politician should be required to speak French. Trying to
take back the hot political identity issue from the Action democratique du
Quebec party, Marois said the francophone majority must stop being afraid of
appearing intolerant or be willing to have their culture and language take a
back seat.

English Canadians can speak of an "us" that is inclusive but when the PQ
does the same, it is accused of intolerance, she said in a speech opening a
one-day meeting of the PQ,s council of riding presidents."Tell me by which
rhetoric would the Canadian 'us' be inclusive and the Quebec 'us'
exclusive?" Marois asked. "In what way is Canadian citizenship more
inclusive than Quebec citizenship?"

The meeting ends today with a news conference from Marois, who also said
it's not because she has put the referendum mechanics issue on the
backburner that the PQ's quest for sovereignty is over.


(c) The Gazette (Montreal) 2007


     Copyright (c) 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks
Publications, Inc. <http://www.canwestglobal.com/>. All rights reserved.


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