this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023

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Quebec hikes tuition by 30 per cent for McGill, Concordia, imposes French requirement (www.winnipegfreepress.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Oh, Montreal business owners are going to be all over this. And it would matter, if Legault cared what Montreal thinks.

It's like Doug Ford and Toronto (or Hamilton): they know the cities won't vote for them, and they get more engagement from riling up their reactionary base than trying to govern for the whole province, so fuck them urban elites, amirite? I mean, they're only the economic engine of the province...

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Can't wait to hear arguments from those who have deluded themselves into believing this is about protecting Quebec's culture.

Because its totally not about pushing anglophones and other minorities out of the province. We all know that Papa Legault just loves them. /s

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

The tuition hike I fully disagree with (to be frank I think tuition should be free for all universities but that's a whole other conversation).

However, I agree with having a French requirement. Québec is a French-majority province, so it makes sense to require French language classes. I attended the largest Canadian francophone university outside Québec (l'Université de Moncton) and a lot of programs had an English requirement (you could get exempted by passing a test, which to be fair I don't know if exemptions will be part of Québec's policy).

Most jobs in New Brunswick, or at least most of those that require a degree, necessitate communicating in English at times, so it makes sense to have an English requirement. Similarly, most jobs in Québec necessitate some French so it makes sense to have a French requirement.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They seem determined to destroy one of the top 3 most prestigious universities in Canada.

[+] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oh no, tuition for Canadians from outside Quebec will cost as much as it does for Quebecois when they study in other provinces!

Okay, so what does that have to with this policy, which only impacts English language universities? High tuition is a problem across Canada, yes, but that doesn't justify unfair or discriminatory policies based around language in Quebec.

Oh no, international students will still pay less to study in Quebec than they would to study in Ontario!

Again, whattaboutism with no relevance to the story being discussed here. Unless you're arguing that Quebec shouldnt be held accountable for this decision just because other provinces have problems as well.

Oh no, the government is finally doing something so French universities in the only French province aren't systematically underfunded!

If you're saying that French language universities in Quebec are underfunded compared to English universities, I'd love to see some data to support that. Because anecdotally, I've attended multiple English schools in Quebec -- including one of the universities cited in this story -- and I can tell you they were far from being well-funded.

And if French universities are comparably or better funded than their English equivalents, yet people still prefer going to English schools, then maybe the real issue may be the quality of education that's available. Or maybe people want to attend university in Quebec without necessarily living and working there afterward.

Also, pretty sure New Brunswick is also a French province; its an official language there.

[+] [email protected] -16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Lol, "better integrate into society" says the province that refuses to integrate into anglophone society which is far larger and more important to international business.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I disagree with Legault but I also disagree with you. Quebec and New Brunswick have no obligation to become English monolingual provinces. But we also shouldn't be discriminating against people based on language (any language) where we can accommodate, especially if it's one of the official languages of the country or province.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

English is also an official language, yet it's perfectly ok for Quebec to discriminate against Anglophones?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Please read what I said again...

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The question was rhetorical. They fucking do, it's an absolutely horrible place for anglophones to live, and Quebec can go fuck itself.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Multiculturalism is when every culture is free to abandon theirs for British ersatzs.

[+] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except at 49 years old, I've never encountered a moment I needed french. The same can't be said going the other way.

[+] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

How many different languages are spoken within a 1000 km of the UK? How large are those communities? How many of the people from other communities also speak English? Ask the same questions for Canada and the answers are 3 with any significant population, less than 10% for one and is spread across two countries while being the official language of the third country for the other, and the vast majority of them for two of the three countries.

The North American anglophone attitude is very pragmatic, as is the British anglophone's. The same applies for the North American francophone attitude, although they like to complain like they aren't a minority, both nationally and across the continent. And if a company from Quebec wants to expand outside the province's borders, requiring their employees to speak French is going to reduce their candidate pool and hence increase their payroll costs, or their leaders are going to have to learn English which, as we've already discussed, they already mostly do.

You and I can talk about what we'd like to see, or how things should be, and we might even agree about it. But this is how things are.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They "can" but it's rather useful as all hell to know English while living in Quebec. It's a struggle to find anyone born in the province who is not bilingual for this reason.

It is very one sided overall.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Je m'en crisse!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

The myopia is strong with this one.