During their May 19, 20 and 21 convention in Drummondville, bloc activists will discuss a proposal to oblige the party’s parliamentary wing to take action to ban Quebec’s official language law.

If adopted, this proposal will go beyond the agreement reached between the Quebec and Ottawa governments on this issue. Last March, talks between Canada’s official languages ​​minister, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, and Quebec’s French language minister, Jean-François Roberge, enabled a compromise that ensures the law will be: restrictive, like the law of Quebec for business.

This ended the Bloc Québécois project in negotiations between the federal Liberals and the Avenir Québec coalition to prevent Quebec-based federal companies from circumventing the French language charter.

When we saw that there was progress and an agreement with Quebec, we said, “We will compromise to support the official language law.”Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said in an interview with Radio-Canada before adding thatShe is very imperfect and [que] The burden of proof for this agreement lies between Quebec and Ottawa.

” We claim and insist: Quebec’s language regime should depend only on Quebec. »

In addition, the proposal being discussed at the Congress proposes going even further in the defense of the French language. The Bloc Québécois aims to be the voice of Canada’s francophone minorities in Ottawa by promoting the idea that the Official Languages ​​Act should aim to protect and promote francophone communities outside of Quebec and the Acadian communities.

First vote of confidence

Like Justin Trudeau’s Liberal troops, who held their first convention since the pandemic last weekend, the bloc is gearing up for its first major family reunion in four years.

At the last party congress, Yves-François Blanchet had just been appointed leader and the party was in the process of being completely rebuilt. Since then, the Bloc Québécois has gone through two elections and its membership has doubled, from 16,000 to 30,000 in four years.

In addition, for the first time, Yves-François Blanchet will be subjected to a confidence vote by his activists. He surrenders to the exercise with serenity. I know it’s going pretty well, but I don’t have any expectations for the number eitherhe said.

Even if it doesn’t smell like elections, the chef is planning a summer tour of the province under the motto All over Quebec. And the attacks are already very sharp, especially in the language file.

As Minister Joly says, “We will insist more on Quebec nationalism,” not because we believe in it, not because we like it, but because we hope to gain electoral gains. It’s cynical! introduces Yves-François Blanchet.

In a speech he delivered to some 3,000 liberal activists on Friday, the foreign minister addressed Quebecers directly, telling them that it was not the leader of the Bloc Québécois who was allowing record investments to protect French people in Quebec and beyond would Canada, since his party has already announced that it will vote against the last budget presented by the Liberals.