Jolin-Barrette births Bill 96

Thursday’s big news is Simon Jolin-Barrette’s new French language law, Bill 96, An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, which Les Perreaux tweets is 100 pages long. It seems likely the next few news cycles will be given over to analyses of the thing.

Update, again quoting Perreaux: “The bill limits enrollment in the English part of the college system (CEGEPs) to 17.5% of the student population. English colleges will also give priority to students qualified to study in English under the rules for grade school.”

Another update: On CBC radio, Jonathan Montpetit notes one of the big claims made in the bill: a demand to change the Canadian constitution.

In tangential news, Rima Elkouri reports in La Presse that the test given to postulant immigrants here comes from France and uses a lot of terms and references specific to Hexagonal French and life in that country.