After a decision to revoke funding for the expansion of Dawson College in Montreal, the Quebec National Assembly put out a petition calling on the government to reverse its decision.

The expansion had been in the works for almost seven years in collaboration with the Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur to relocate its healthcare programs to a new location.

The English-language CEGEP is suffering from a space deficit of more than 11,500 square . . .

metres, as mentioned in the recent petition posted on the QNA website.

The project was well underway and was completed and approved in accordance with the rules set by the Société québécoise des infrastructures. It was also said that the Dawson College project was among the priority projects listed in the Act respecting the acceleration of certain infrastructure projects, adopted by the National Assembly of Québec in December 2020, according to the petition.

The reasoning behind the change was explained in a February press conference when Premier François Legault was asked why his government stance around the expansion of Dawson College has changed. Legault explained there is a limited capacity for infrastructure and there are many projects in other colleges that also need attention.

“I think that if we have to choose priority, it’s better to expand French colleges before adding capacity to Dawson,” Legault said.

The Quebec Community Groups Network held a webinar on Feb. 23 to discuss the Quebec government’s recent decision to cancel plans for an expansion of Dawson College and delved into how it is impacting the college. The talk was moderated by QCGN Board Secretary Matt Aronson.

Former Director General of Dawson College, Richard Filion explained that the project of expansion had been well underway with people hired to do all sorts of work such as architects, consultant, engineers. He estimated that around five million had already been spent on the expansion project just to get it where it is now.

“So obviously, when we heard that the government had decided to pull the plug on the project, we were not only disappointed we were angry,” he said.

For the past four years, Tim Miller, Dawson faculty member from the Physiotherapy Technology Department, pointed out that he was part of a team dedicated to develop the building design and work with the architects and engineers to design the first phase of this building, providing their students with the tailored space to help them offer patient care before they graduate.

“Without this tailored space we won’t be able to provide the students with this type of training to help the healthcare system upon graduation,” said Miller.

The Minister of Education also suggested, to solve their space issues, Dawson can rent some space. But Miller added that it won’t make for a conducive environment to work in because it wont allow for proper collaboration for the students.

Miller explained that if built, the new facility would not only provide a student space, specialized laboratory and health science space, there was also discussion of offering services to the public. This may include geeting a blood test, a physical, getting an Xray, an ultrasound or a physiotherapy treatment, but said “We don’t have this space right now.”

“So it’s not a long term investment. It’s an immediate payback that you’d be able to provide Quebec society with these services upon us entering the building.”

Geting some insights of how students are fairing, Alexandrah Cardona was invited to speak as well. The current President of the Dawson Student Union, noted the CAQ government promote the idea that there’s a division a large distinction between the francophone and anglophone students and their needs, but highlights that the average Dawson student is bilingual.

“That does not undermine the use of the French language on campus. It certainly does not impact the cultural identity of the cultural fabric of the individuals of the community,” said Cardona.

Filion added, “what is troubling is that it’s done under a political arguments that are just aiming at increasing the divide between French and Anglo in Quebec.” As a francophone himself he said, “this is unacceptable to me.”

The independent advocacy group called Task Force on Linguistic Policy have also been vocal about the issue.

THE EQUITY spoke to the Chair, Colin Standish who said, “It’s quite shocking to see a premier quite overtly say that it was because they wanted to privilege one linguistic group over another.

He called the decision “prejudice” based on linguistic background.

He explained that through administrative practice the latest decisions to cancel projects at Dawson College is an implementation of the proposed Bill 96 “by other means.”

The task force is asking for the complete withdrawal of Bill 96. “It’s been studied before the committee, but even making minor modifications or even major ones are not acceptable, that it really is just that bad,” he said. “Its effects will be detrimental to all Quebec so we want them to withdraw it.”

Anyone interested to sign the petition has until April 11 to do so. At the time of publication, the petition was signed by about 9606 people. To access it visit https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-9477/index.html

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