CALEB NICKERSON
CAMPBELL’S BAY
March 14, 2019
Last Thursday, a handful of people met in the cafeteria at St. John’s School in Campbell’s Bay to discuss issues affecting the English-speaking community in the region.
Hosted by the Regional Association of West Quebecers (RAWQ), a non-profit advocacy and skills training organization, the majority of the discussion was led by Executive Director Linton Garner.
He went over the role his group plays in supporting Anglophones in Quebec, from offering free French classes, to putting out a TV show and newsletters.
“The English-speaking community throughout Quebec has complained for years that they did not have access to French second-language training,” Garner said, noting that the RAWQ’s classes have been immensely popular. “People would have to pay for it even though they were born here.”
He also went over some of their recent advocacy work.
“This last summer we presented to the Senate panel on the modernization of the Official Languages Act,” Garner said. “Where we expressed our deep concerns about the role of the Official Languages Act in Quebec and that seemingly the presence of the Official Languages Commission has been much less than it has been for Francophones outside of Quebec.”
“We have not felt that the Official Languages Commission has always been that supportive of the English-speaking community when it comes to language rights,” he continued.
Garner explained that the RAWQ is also a strong proponent of English-language school boards, and was skeptical of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ)’s planned changes to the province’s education system.
“Not only are our populations diminishing in our schools, because of diminishing enrolment, we’re now being threatened with the idea that school boards will be eliminated and replaced with what they call regional centres,” he said. “The English-speaking community has a very different way of orienting itself in the education milieu. We have a much larger involvement of parents within school boards and the education system.”
Once Garner finished speaking, the floor was opened to attendees to share their concerns.
Allumettes Island farmer David Gillespie spoke of issues dealing with provincial organizations that only correspond in French, and many around the circle had similar stories.
Shawville resident Robert Hodgins spoke of his concern for business opportunities and youth employment in the region being stifled by restrictive language laws.
