Indigenous students at Quebec’s English-language CEGEPs are speaking out about changes to their post-secondary education under the province’s language reform, warning they are being set up for “failure.”
The directors of five English CEGEPS — John Abbott, Champlain Saint-Lambert, Heritage, Vanier and Dawson — issued Wednesday a video where students from different communities describe their experiences.
They also published a letter outlining their concerns and asking for the Quebec government to do “deeper consultations” with Indigenous communities and find solutions.
Quebec’s sweeping language law, known as Bill 96, aims to bolster the French language in the province. It was adopted in May 2022, though the provisions have come into effect in waves within post-secondary schools.
Bill 96 limits enrolment at anglophone junior colleges and mandates those students take more French classes to graduate.
Under the legislation, CEGEP students without an English eligibility certificate, which gives them the right to enroll in anglophone elementary and high schools, must also pass a French exit exam.
The five CEGEPs argue Bill 96 has “harmful and unjust effects” on Indigenous students, many of whom arrive at “English colleges with low-level French or no French.” Many of them also do not have an English eligibility certificate from Quebec’s Education Ministry.
“There are an estimated 300 or so Indigenous students in the anglophone CEGEPs in Quebec, which is higher than ever before. Subjecting them to Law 14 creates a significant barrier for these students to access post-secondary education,” the letter reads.
Cameron Biron studies at John Abbott College on the western tip of Montreal. She is from the small Cree community of Wemindji on the east coast of James Bay.
“In my community, French isn’t offered. No one learns French,” she said in the video released Wednesday. “A lot of us aren’t introduced to it at all.”
There can be a “huge education gap” for Indigenous students who are coming to Montreal for the first time, according to Biron. There are the additional challenges of being away from home and experiencing a culture shock.
“Adding French on top of that, it’s impossible,” Biron said. “You’re setting up all your students for failure.”
Angela Ottereyes, a Cree student from Waskaganish who attends Montreal’s Dawson College, said she finds it “so unfair” for the province to impose Bill 96.
As she learns more French, which is her third language, she said she’s starting to forget her own.
“They’re talking about preserving their languages. But what about ours?” Ottereyes says in the video.
Quebec Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry and Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière defended the language law Wednesday.
They say the government has eased some of the provisions for Indigenous students, notably by exempting some from the French exit exam if they meet certain conditions.
French classes are still mandatory, but Déry says Indigenous students can enroll in the level that best reflects their proficiency.
“Every time we implement a new measure, we find a solution,” Déry said, adding she is “sensitive” to the issues of Indigenous students.
— with files from Global’s Franca Mignacca and The Canadian Press