{"id":190379,"date":"2018-11-19T23:16:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T04:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=190379"},"modified":"2018-11-19T23:16:08","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T04:16:08","slug":"quebec-premier-caught-between-language-and-business-with-ontarios-cuts-to-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/11\/19\/quebec-premier-caught-between-language-and-business-with-ontarios-cuts-to-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec premier caught between language and business with Ontario’s cuts to French"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legault said he asked Ford to reconsider during their closed-door meeting. \u201cOf course, he disagreed,\u201d Legault said. (Photo<\/a>: FordNation\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 Quebec Premier Francois Legault travelled to Ontario Monday to talk business with Premier Doug Ford but was instead forced to take on another role \u2014 lead defender of the French language in North America.<\/p>\n

After the Ford government last week announced budget cuts affecting Ontario’s 600,000 francophones, Legault was left walking a fine line between strengthening economic ties with his neighbour and standing up for the rights of a French-speaking minority.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, clearly the fate of francophones in\u00a0Canada\u00a0is concerning to francophones in Quebec,\u201d Legault told reporters after meeting Ford at the provincial legislature. \u201cIt is important to remember where we come from, to remember how this country was formed. So it’s only normal that there is a pretty strong reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Ontario’s decision to cancel plans for a francophone university and eliminate the office of the French language services commissioner, Quebec’s political class and media pundits have seized on it as evidence of a lack of commitment to French speakers outside Quebec.<\/p>\n

Legault said he asked Ford to reconsider during their closed-door meeting. \u201cOf course, he disagreed,\u201d Legault said.<\/p>\n

University of Ottawa law professor Benoit Pelletier, a former Quebec minister of intergovernmental affairs, said any perceived attack on French \u2014 anywhere in the country \u2014 is seen as a threat to Quebecers’ identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe influence of the French language passes through the presence of French across the country,\u201d Pelletier said, adding that there is a \u201cnatural solidarity\u201d among francophones.<\/p>\n

Francophones \u2014 including those in Quebec \u2014 are a minority within\u00a0Canada, and they want to see French flourish, he said.<\/p>\n

If Legault is seen as indifferent to the fate of francophones outside Quebec, he risks paying a political price \u2014 especially after campaigning on a promise to be a strong defender of the French language.<\/p>\n

Veronique Hivon, opposition critic on\u00a0Canada-Quebec relations for the Parti Quebecois, said Legault needs to go further than simply asking Ford to reverse his funding cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things that are fundamental when you are Quebec premier,\u201d Hivon added. \u201cSpeaking loudly and strongly about the French fact … is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She urged the premier to meet Franco-Ontarian groups planning to sue the Ontario government over its decision to let them know Quebec is on their side.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs to say that Quebec is open to all other means to support them in this fight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Legault said Ford is convinced his government can continue to serve Franco-Ontarians after the French language services commissioner role is rolled into the ombudsman’s office. Ford also said the province doesn’t have the money to open a francophone university.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn’t satisfy me,\u201d Legault said on Ford’s arguments, \u201cbut that’s what he told me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legault’s tone suggested he felt he was limited in his capacity to persuade the Ontario premier to change course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI provided all the arguments I could,\u201d Legault said.<\/p>\n

Legault was visibly more comfortable answering questions about business. He said he and Ford decided their economy ministers would meet twice a year in order to increase trade between the two provinces.<\/p>\n

The Quebec premier also said he made a pitch to Ford about the economic advantages of buying more hydro power from his province.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Quebec Premier Francois Legault travelled to Ontario Monday to talk business with Premier Doug Ford but was instead …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":190381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-giuseppe-valiante","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}