Liberal Hélène David, the MNA for the Marguerite-Bourgeoys, submitted the re-amendment on Wednesday as a compromise to Coalition government bill Avenir Québec (CAQ) during a review committee of the proposed legislation. However, members of the CAQ committee voted against it, including the party minister in charge of the dossier, Simon Jolin-Barette, whom Liberal MNA leader David Birnbaum called “absolutely sad”. “We had a compromise that the CEGEP leadership told us could work, that the minister knew it could work and said no,” Birnbaum said. Jolin-Barette, the French language minister in Quebec, had asked for more time to ponder the Liberals’ proposal and consult with the CEGEP, but the PQ refused and called for a vote on Thursday. Political analyst and former Liberal MNA David Hertel said the CAQ had no choice but to vote no so as not to appear polite in defending the French in Quebec. “Five and a half months away from the election, the CAQ does not want to be labeled with it because their main vote is the French-speaking nationalists.” The English Parents’ Association said on Thursday that none of the proposals were acceptable. “We will not accept anything other than the complete abolition of this amendment, it has no place in bill 96”, said the president of the association Kathi Korakaki. The Liberals’ original proposal proved unpopular with CEGEPs and non-French speakers alike, with opinion polls suggesting that support for the idea had waned since the idea was first introduced. The Parti Quebecois abstained from voting after leader Pascal Beroube said it was not his job to rectify the Liberals’ chaos over the party’s key figure last week. The Liberals offered their “mea culpa” after acknowledging that it was wrong in February to propose an amendment to the three basic French classes in bill 96. – With files by Andrew Brennan of CTV News Montreal
