François Legault doesn’t even know how to defend Bill 96

The Chair of the Quebec Community Groups Network Marlene Jennings has criticized Premier François Legault, asking him how he can support democracy for Ukraine during the ongoing invasion by Russia, yet at the same time suspend the “rights and freedoms of ALL Quebecers” with Bill 96.

Legault responded flippantly to the tweet with one word: “Really??”

Vraiment?? https://t.co/qUwEPnLs4I
— François Legault (@francoislegault) February 25, 2022

While Jennings’ analogy is clearly pretty extreme, Legault’s reply makes it clear that he believes Bill 96 is beyond reproach — especially given the fact that, seven minutes later, he essentially responded the same way a second time.

“Comparing the defence of the Ukrainian people with the defence of French in Quebec. Really?”

Comparer la défense du peuple ukrainien avec la défense du français au Québec.
Vraiment? https://t.co/qUwEPnLs4I
— François Legault (@francoislegault) February 25, 2022

François Legault doesn’t even know how to defend Bill 96

Jennings, a former federal Liberal MP, has since deleted this morning’s tweet, but expressed the same criticism on Twitter yesterday.

Bill 96 has gained much criticism since it was first tabled, particularly for its limiting of access to legal and health care services to non-French-speakers, and for extending language laws to English CEGEPs, which were previously untouched by Bill 101. The update to the French Language Charter was also packaged with a notwithstanding clause to protect it from legal challenges.

A study by the Angus Reid Institute last October found that Anglophones and Francophones in Quebec were diametrically opposed on Bill 96. Francophones typically believe that Bill 96 is about protecting people who speak French; Anglophones believe it’s about punishing those who don’t.

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