On January 30, the Coalition Avenir Quebec put forward Bill 84 which intends to establish a new integration model of newcomers to Quebec society, with the goal of prioritizing the preservation of Quebec culture, values and language.
This bill would require an amendment to the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with the goal of moving the province away from Canada’s multicultural model towards an interculturalist one. As opposed to the federal multicultural model, which, according to Roberge, does not encourage enough unity under one national identity, Quebec would turn towards a model which is more in line with Quebec’s distinct culture and provincial identity.
With a significant emphasis on the integration of newcomers, this bill will focus on promoting values such as gender equality, secularism, and civil law traditions as “vector[s] for social cohesion.”
Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister, Jean-François Roberge, has criticized the federally-endorsed multiculturalist model for creating conditions amenable to cultural “ghettos,” that is a society divided into groups that are “not interested” in values of the Quebec society. The goal of the bill is therefore to create a cohesive society with a unifying set of cultural and social values.
Roberge stated that this bill would enact “mechanisms to ensure” the “moral duty” of newcomers to integrate and adhere to Quebec culture.
That said, what these mechanisms will be, how cultural adherence will be determined, according to what standards, and by whom, all remain questions to which Roberge cannot yet provide an answer.
One example he provided as to the enforcement of this bill would be the removal of the annual funding granted to organizations and cultural events if they do not adhere to the principles established by the bill. Events that, in his proposal, would continue to benefit from this funding would be those that are open to different ethnicities, and feature artists who would perform “well-known Quebec songs.” He remarked that Quebec culture is “more than just poutine.”
This bill comes at a time when the CAQ is not only lagging behind in polls, but also at a time when the very resources that help the integration of immigrants, like Francization programs, have been downsized, leaving many newcomers without the possibility of learning French. The same can be said of the measures meant to encourage contact with Quebec culture. For instance, free museum entry on the first Sunday of every month has been discontinued.
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) has expressed its concern over the vagueness of the bill, while The National Council of Canadian Muslims has stated that the bill is a “troubling piece of legislation that is designed to force minorities to conform to a very narrow vision of Quebec culture.”
It remains to be seen how this proposed bill will fare in the upcoming months. Already it has been subject to great skepticism and criticism as to its viability and vagueness – especially regarding the manner in which it will be enforced. Roberge stated that it is too soon to share precise details, since his priority is to first pass the bill.