Congress of the PQ: the funding of cegeps, English-speaking vote

Photo By Toma Iczkovits
The delegates of the Parti québécois, gathered in congress will have to decide on a gradual decrease of funding of cegeps, English-speaking.

Patrick Bellerose

Saturday, September 9, 2017 12:11

UPDATE
Saturday, September 9, 2017 12:16

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The delegates of the Parti québécois, gathered in congress will have to decide on a gradual decrease of funding of cegeps, English-speaking.

The controversial proposal has been adopted in the workshop and will be submitted to the plenary on Saturday or Sunday.

All delegates will therefore have to pronounce on the following wording : “to ensure that the funding of cegeps, English-speaking meet priority needs of the community’s historic English-speaking and therefore it is gradually aligned on the demographic weight that is proportional to this community.”

This amendment amends the main proposal filed by Jean-François Lisée last winter.

Divergent interpretation

For Marc Laviolette, an ardent defender of the French language, the adopted amendment means that the funding of cegeps will decrease with time, regardless of the level of attendance. Jean-François Lisée, he said rather yesterday that the reduction in funding would be done by attracting more young people to the French-language network.

“Attracting more French-speaking, it’s going to have an effect on the funding, but the proposal, what it says is that it will decrease with time. The text is clear, everyone is able to read the French”, has ruled Marc Laviolette shortly before the vote.

In the end, the amendment means that the funding of cegeps, English language would be reduced by approximately half to match the demographic weight of the anglophone community history, he says. Marc Laviolette considers that the reduction should be done on a ten years.

The president of the electoral district of Beauharnois also says it is confident that the leader of the parti québecois will apply the measure if it is adopted by the congress. “Mr. Lisée, what he has said is that he was willing to live with this resolution, entrusts Marc Laviolette. It is a compromise.”

The hardening of the activist base has been heard by the caucus last night. The parliamentary leader of the PQ, Pascal Bérubé, highlighted Saturday morning that the party “sends us constant messages, and then you listen to them”. It clarifies, however, that the “discussions” continued and that “the congress is not finished”.

Membership card

In the morning, the delegates adopted an increase in the price of the membership card, which will rise from$ 5 to$ 10 annually. Members may also renew their dues for three years at a cost of$25.

Before the vote, a member of the executive has argued that the increase in the price of the card member, as well as the possibility to collect the levy for the three years immediately, will make an entry of money to the party that needs them.

For his part, the member for Marie-Victorin, Catherine Fournier, had called on the delegates to vote against the proposal. It is estimated that the increase in the cost of the card might leak from “20% to 25%” of the members in his district. Some activists “lose a meal” to pay their annual dues, she pleaded