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QUEBEC — Quebec Liberal Party interim leader Marc Tanguay is making an ambitious proposal that half the Canadian population be able to speak French by 2050.
To do this, he wants Quebec to become the “flagship of the Canadian Francophonie” and for the federal government to double its targets for French-speaking immigrants.
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The Liberal leader estimates the number of French speakers in Canada currently at 29 per cent (including Quebec).
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In a letter signed by the Liberal leader, he says to “improve the fate of French in Canada, Quebec must notably put pressure on the federal government to increase French-speaking immigration targets.”
Tanguay said these targets must increase from six per cent in 2024 to 12 per cent. “If Quebec, as we see today with the (Coalition Avenir Québec), remains disengaged, it is French in Canada that is in decline and that necessarily has negative impacts on the weight of Quebec within the Canadian federation,” he said.
To increase the number of French speakers, he proposes increasing access to subsidy programs, hosting a forum of French-speaking Canadian cities and promoting the networking of French-speaking entrepreneurs with those from the rest of Canada to access global French-speaking markets.
“What is good for Quebec is good for the rest of Canada and for French-speakers outside Quebec and vice versa,” Tanguay said.
The Liberal leader also calls for the holding of general meetings on the question of French in Canada, which would bring together French-speaking associations, but also economic actors such as chambers of commerce “who are committed to developing a strong Canadian Francophonie”, as well as government agencies.
A committee that produced a report on how to relaunch the party last year said it needed to take care of the Francophonie.
Tanguay also said this is a proposal anchored in the “DNA” of his party and that all “Liberal leaders are concerned about the Canadian Francophonie.”
“That’s what it means to be liberal in 2024,” he said.
The Liberals will choose their next leader in the summer of 2025. The most recent polls show that the party has little support among French-speaking Quebecers. Léger’s latest survey gives them six per cent support among this electorate.
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