Bill 103 : Collective Rights and the Declining Vitality of the English-speaking Communities of Quebec

The first part of this brief deals with the declining vitality of the English speaking communities of Quebec (ESCQ) and the strength of the dominant Québécois francophone majority in the Province. We argue that a key premise of Bill 103 is based on the erroneous notion that the French language and its speakers are threatened in the Province of Quebec. This false premise brings the current government to draft Bill 103 with regulations making it virtually impossible for Allophone and immigrant children to be approved as pupils in the publicly funded English schools of the Province. As the past Education Minister Michele Courchesne stated on June 3rd 2010 “I won’t deny that the objective (of Bill 103) is to have as few as possible (approved)”.