QUEBEC — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments about the way the CAQ is treating Quebec’s English-speaking community have drawn the ire of the Legault government.
In a posting on social media and later meeting reporters, the minister of the French language, Jean-François Roberge, said Trudeau is spreading falsehoods in suggesting anglophones might not be able to get health care in their own language under Quebec’s language laws.
“This is simply not true,” Roberge said. “He should explain himself. I think he doesn’t understand. It was simply false.
“He (Trudeau) said that it’s not possible for the English-speaking community to access health care in English. He didn’t know what he was talking about.”
In a message on X, Roberge added: “I would have expected better of a prime minister than an attempt to divide people by repeating a false piece of news. Nobody will be refused health care because they don’t speak French.”
Roberge was reacting to comments Trudeau made on a Montreal radio station last week in the leadup to the federal byelection in the riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun on Monday. He was asked to comment on the feeling some anglophones have that the federal Liberals have abandoned them.
Trudeau said he understands how the community feels. “They see a government in Quebec City, the Legault government, that has decided the best way to protect French — which is something I agree with, yes, we need to protect French — but Legault has decided the best way to protect French is attack English Canadians.
“And that doesn’t make any sense.”
Trudeau added that the most “egregious” example is the recent directive aimed at regulating the use of languages other than French in the health and social services network. He added that the Legault government also “attacks” English universities by increasing tuition for out-of-province students.
“The idea that someone’s going into a hospital for a test or something, anxious they might have cancer or anxious they might be sick, and is going to have to be worried about whether or not they can get treated in English because their French is not that strong. That’s just wrong.”
He said Ottawa has been pressing Quebec to clarify the directive that touched off the controversy. Roberge has already agreed to rewrite it to clarify the government’s intentions.
Roberge noted that three Quebec ministers have signed an open letter saying English services will always be available and nobody will be asked to show their English-language eligibility certificate to get them.
And last week, MNAs unanimously adopted a Quebec Liberal motion saying no such certificates are necessary. It also called on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to ensure that all directives to the health-care system are “clear and explicit on this subject.”
But in the radio interview Trudeau accused Legault of wanting a fight with anglophones.
“He’s trying to pit people against each other,” he said. “And my commitment to Canadians has been always to try to pull people together.”
Reaction to the comments, which the Liberals posted on social media two days before the election, was swift.
Besides Roberge, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet denounced the comments, saying Trudeau clearly was trying to “galvanize” the anglophone vote in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun and maybe other English Canadians by denigrating Quebec.
X.com/philipauthier