“The toll of our reprimands against him is too heavy”: the French Quebec movement criticizes Valerie Plante

The Movement Québécois Française (MQF) strongly criticizes the work of Valerie Plante from the point of view of protecting the French language in the capital.

“The toll of our reprimands against him is very heavy,” MQF president Maxime Laporte said in an interview with LCN.

The latter particularly regretted the desire of the City of Montreal to rename the Latin Quarter to the “Francophone Quarter”.

“Article 1 of the city charter of Montreal states that it is a French-speaking city,” asserts Mr. Laporte.

He also criticized French Quebec movement president Valérie Plante for siding with McGill and Concordia universities against Quebec's desire to limit the number of Canadian students at university institutions in Montreal.

As for the French language promotion committee, it achieved few tangible results, as Maxime Laporte points out.

“There was an uncosted business plan, and there was a report that seemed to me outdated,” says the MQF president.

“In general, it has been two years since the establishment of this famous Commission on the French Language in Montreal, and yet the situation continues to deteriorate in terms of the vitality of the French language. So, we want more than just measures, more than just empty slogans. He adds: “We want something concrete and serious.”

Mr. Laporte would also like the Montreal mayor to clearly position herself in favor of the Quebec government's goal of reversing the decline of the French language.

“We would like them to make a firm and concrete commitment to putting an end to institutional bilingual practices in city administration and communications,” he says.

As for the rest, Maxime Laporte says that he is happy with the positions and exit of the Legault government, but he remains well aware that there is still “a long way to go.”

“If the goal, as set by this government, is to reverse the decline of the French in Quebec, especially in the metropolitan area, then unfortunately we are still far from the goal, and we are going backwards,” he concludes.

To watch the full interview, watch the video above.