Toula Drimonis: With tuition scheme, CAQ accelerates race to the underside

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The Quebec authorities’s choice to exorbitantly increase tuition charges for out-of-province college students has all of the hallmarks of the CAQ’s crass political opportunism and wedge politics. The choice is embarrassingly provincial, exhibits a restricted grasp of the hundreds of thousands universities contribute to the native economic system, relies on monetary half-truths, and motivated by a bad-faith crabs-in-the-bucket mentality that, as soon as once more, makes Quebec seem like a nasty wager for these occupied with transferring or investing their time and money right here.

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This authorities appears to continually conflate the safety of majority rights with the deliberate disrespect of, properly, everybody else. Premier François Legault’s obsessive must outline the “proper” sort of Quebecer welcome to stay, work or examine right here has given delivery to Invoice 21, Invoice 96, the PEQ fiasco, making an attempt to throw out 18,000 skilled-worker purposes within the midst of main labour shortages, dog-whistle politics contributing to xenophobia and masquerading as authentic immigration insurance policies, and now this.

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And each time the CAQ pulls these strikes — which appear to virtually by no means contain any consultations or financial impression research — Quebec’s repute suffers just a bit bit extra.

If there’s a monetary imbalance that exists between French-speaking and English-speaking establishments, we must always rectify it with out partaking in a race to the underside. Presently, there’s loads of disinformation and confusion floating round concerning these charges. College directors say the numbers quoted by the federal government are inaccurate and current a false picture of hoped-for outcomes. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be the primary time the CAQ has been caught not having finished its homework. This authorities appears good at improvising simplistic options to complicated issues in its quest for straightforward votes.

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There are much more proactive methods to incentivize French-language acquisition, retain graduates and redress inequities — ways in which don’t needlessly divide Quebecers, deal with college students as political pawns and compromise world-class tutorial analysis. As an alternative, we’re kneecapping long-established, top-tier establishments whose out-of-province college students contribute a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} yearly to our economic system. However I suppose it’s straightforward to persuade your self that it’s OK to rob Peter to pay Paul when deep down you don’t imagine Peter is a part of the “we” that deserves defending.

Damaging English-language establishments’ viability and promoting it as “French-language safety” is deeply disingenuous. The projected earnings funnelled to French-language establishments aren’t even assured. What is assured is what these financial engines and innovation hubs carry Quebec by way of expertise, analysis, vitality, range, worldwide connections and advantages to native economies. College students don’t stay off air for 4 to 5 years. They eat, they spend on items and providers, they work and pay taxes, they increase Quebec’s profile internationally. Sherbrooke’s economic system positively depends on Bishop’s college students to outlive. How precisely does English threaten that group?

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As an alternative of measures compelling extra francophones to check right here, we’re hobbling English universities. As an alternative of working with McGill to grasp the way it brings in spectacular alumni donations, we’re dismissing a Quebec success story just because it’s an English success story. The CAQ seems to be so consumed by wedge politics it’s unable to see the establishments penalized by this transfer are additionally Quebec establishments.

This myopic choice renders invisible and unimportant those that communicate and love French however who studied in English universities. It hierarchizes Quebecers and concludes that some are price extra. And it utterly ignores the 1000’s upon 1000’s of English college grads who fell in love with Quebec, who stayed and constructed lives right here, elevating French-speaking youngsters, who, in flip, may also contribute to Quebec. There are much more of them than this authorities appears to comprehend.

Legault mentioned the change represents “yet one more gesture to reverse the decline of French in Quebec.” Nonsense! All it does is make Quebec seem insular and sectarian, tired of outsiders. Maybe that was the aim in spite of everything.

Toula Drimonis is a Montreal journalist and the writer of We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada. She will be reached on X (previously Twitter) @toulastake

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