Libman: For anglos, Liberal duff shot on language par for the course

As a nod to us amateur golfers — psyched about the start of the new season — Liberal Leader Charles Milliard could probably use a mulligan after his duff shot last week.

Bill 96 and the language debate are hazards for the Quebec Liberals trying to gain francophone support without alienating their core anglophone constituency. The party had been gaining momentum under their new leader, but that seems to have stalled — thanks to Milliard’s muddled messaging on language, and also the growing sense of gravitas around new Coalition Avenir Québec Premier Christine Fréchette.

With the Quebec election fast approaching, many anglophones anxiously hoping for a Liberal party comeback — weary after years of the CAQ’s obsession with language and identity politics, and fearful of the Parti Québécois’ pledge to hold another referendum — were left agitated by Milliard’s Bill 96 comments last week. 

In 2022, the Liberals had voted against the beefed-up language legislation, calling it “flawed by numerous measures that go too far and, at best, deliver no real protection to the French language,” and highlighting the law’s denigration of Quebec’s English-speaking community.

With the Quebec election fast approaching, many anglophones anxiously hoping for a Liberal party comeback were left agitated by Charles Milliard’s comments last week, notes Robert Libman.  John Kenney / Montreal Gazette

Milliard, however, has said he supports most of Bill 96 and would only tweak aspects related to bureaucratic rules for small and medium-size businesses and the burden on immigrants to learn French in six months to obtain government services. For many anglos, this position falls short but is grudgingly tolerated as a seemingly necessary evil to give the Liberals a fighting chance at winning.

What irked most anglos last week was Milliard’s statement, when pressed by journalists, that to maintain Bill 96 he would re-apply the notwithstanding clause, which allows the government to pass laws that override fundamental freedoms (under review every five years).

After anglos reacted, Milliard tried to nuance his remarks by saying he “maybe” would re-invoke the clause, if necessary, which only led to confusion and accusations of flip-flopping.

With time, laws that override individual rights and freedoms — passed by nationalist governments and opposed by the Liberals in opposition — have become encrusted as part of the narrative of protecting Quebec’s identity. So it seems with Bill 96. If someone questions it or the use of the notwithstanding clause, they are deemed to be against the protection of French.

But what if Milliard took the high road on Bill 96 instead of playing along with nationalist language orthodoxy?

During the 2014 election campaign, Phillippe Couillard was attacked for saying it’s “a great advantage for anyone to be bilingual,” even factory floor workers. Opponents in the PQ and CAQ expressed disbelief at what they deemed a weak defence of the French language. Couillard subsequently won a solid Liberal majority. 

Milliard could have seized the opportunity to promote unity and show leadership. He could have explained that not renewing the notwithstanding clause in 2027 would not nullify Bill 96 — it would just remove the shield and allow the courts eventually to duly analyze the law.

If provisions of the bill were found to violate rights, he could then decide to modify those clauses, redraft the law or even invoke the notwithstanding clause at that point — in the way it was intended to be used, and not pre-emptively to circumvent charters of rights altogether.

His inspirational message to Quebecers would have been: We’re better than that. How positive! How refreshing!

Yes, ardent nationalists may have hollered, but individual Quebecers are tolerant, particularly when important issues are explained rationally rather than caricatured as symbols.

Milliard could also have pivoted away from Bill 96 and the notwithstanding clause by proposing tangible measures to protect French via education, attacking dropout and illiteracy rates and ensuring wider availability of French courses for immigrants — concrete steps that the broader population could get behind.

Instead, it was par for the course for a party that too often takes the anglophone community for granted. 

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Robert Libman, Special to the Montreal Gazette

Robert Libman is an architect and planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, mayor of Côte-St-Luc and a member of the Montreal executive committee.

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