Sandro_Bit
New member
http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/...50&jsdisabled=false&polluid=63411094302&q1=c2
The Quebec government has introduced legislation that would toughen the province's language laws, in response to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.
But the Opposition Parti Québécois is attempting to block the formal tabling of Bill 103 with procedural wrangling.
Bill 103 sets out new rules for admissibility to English public schools in the province, and includes penalties to deter parents from using private institutions to qualify their children for enrolment in the public education system.
It is Quebec's latest legal attempt to legislate who can attend English-language schools in the province.
Quebec's previous language education law, Bill 104, was adopted in 2002 under heavy criticism because it closed a prior legal loophole once used by those without English education eligibility who wanted English schooling for their children.
Under Bill 104, Quebecers could no longer earn eligibility for their children through private schools, which angered a small group of parents that challenged the law all the way to the Supreme Court.
The highest court ruled last fall that Bill 104 is unconstitutional and "excessive," in a decision hailed as a major victory for English rights in Quebec.
On Wednesday, Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre introduced her government's legal response to the SCOC ruling to great protest at the national assembly.
Bill 103 also proposes tougher penalties for a wide range of infractions against Quebec's French language charter, and amends Quebec's charter of human rights to include the notion of the "primacy" of the French language.
Quebec's strict language laws require the majority of children in public schools to attend French-language institutions unless they meet a long list of criteria, and can provide a "certificate of eligibility" for going to school in English.
The Quebec government has introduced legislation that would toughen the province's language laws, in response to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.
But the Opposition Parti Québécois is attempting to block the formal tabling of Bill 103 with procedural wrangling.
Bill 103 sets out new rules for admissibility to English public schools in the province, and includes penalties to deter parents from using private institutions to qualify their children for enrolment in the public education system.
It is Quebec's latest legal attempt to legislate who can attend English-language schools in the province.
Quebec's previous language education law, Bill 104, was adopted in 2002 under heavy criticism because it closed a prior legal loophole once used by those without English education eligibility who wanted English schooling for their children.
Under Bill 104, Quebecers could no longer earn eligibility for their children through private schools, which angered a small group of parents that challenged the law all the way to the Supreme Court.
The highest court ruled last fall that Bill 104 is unconstitutional and "excessive," in a decision hailed as a major victory for English rights in Quebec.
On Wednesday, Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre introduced her government's legal response to the SCOC ruling to great protest at the national assembly.
Bill 103 also proposes tougher penalties for a wide range of infractions against Quebec's French language charter, and amends Quebec's charter of human rights to include the notion of the "primacy" of the French language.
Quebec's strict language laws require the majority of children in public schools to attend French-language institutions unless they meet a long list of criteria, and can provide a "certificate of eligibility" for going to school in English.
