The Parti Québécois government does not have a monopoly on improving French in Quebec, Liberal Leader Charles Milliard said Friday at the National Assembly. He was reacting to comments from Culture and French Language Minister Pascal Bérubé, who has accused him of being soft on defending Quebec’s official language. Speaking at a news conference on the last day of a caucus meeting, Milliard said he supports most of the measures proposed by French Language Commissioner Benoît Dubreuil, who concluded that Bill 96, adopted by the CAQ government, won’t be enough to reverse the decline of French. The day before, Milliard had declined to say clearly whether he supports renewing the notwithstanding clause to protect Bill 96 from court challenges, something Bérubé has criticized him for. The Liberal leader also opposes applying the Charter of the French Language to vocational training and adult general education. But Milliard said he is just as committed to promoting French and that his position is just as “legitimate” as the PQ’s. “(The Péquistes) in no way have a monopoly on the situation and the improvement of French in Quebec. The days of thinking that are over,” he said. “We will stand firm on this until the end of time. (...) We are committed to increasing the quantity and quality of French in Quebec. (...) Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.” He said some provisions of Bill 96 “don’t work” and that critics need to be heard. “Have they (the PQ government) heard the complaints, among others, from entrepreneurs across the regions, and from immigrants too, who think that learning French in six months is unreasonable?” The Liberal leader defended his 35-measure plan, presented during the election campaign, and said he wants to start by “instilling, from the youngest age, a love, an interest, a passion, a desire to know French.” His $380-million, four-year plan would, among other things, make reading a national priority. Last June, the French Language Commissioner spoke about the previous CAQ government’s desire to extend the Charter of the French Language to vocational training and adult education. The CAQ argued the measure would move 27,000 students from the English-language system to the French-language system. Dubreuil said at the time that his team had analyzed the segments where French had declined the most over the past 20 to 25 years. “The decline is mostly among university graduates, so among tradespeople, French is doing much better,” he concluded at the time. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a logic to intervening.” - By Patrice Bergeron - This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 13, 2026
