Trudeau accuses Legault of ‘attacking’ English Canadians to protect French

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On a recent trip to Montreal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Quebec Premier François Legault of attacking English Canadians and pitting people against each other.

CJAD’s Aaron Rand asked Trudeau what he has to say to Montreal anglophones voting in the coming LaSalle—Émard—Verdun byelection who feel the federal Liberals have let them down.

“First of all, I understand that feeling,” Trudeau responded. “They see a government in Quebec City, the Legault government, that has decided the best way to protect French — which is something that I agree with, yes, we need to protect French — but Legault has decided the best way to protect French is to attack English Canadians. And that doesn’t make any sense.”

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Trudeau said the most “egregious” example is Quebec’s recent directive that aims to regulate the use of languages other than French across the health and social services network. He also mentioned the Legault government’s “attacks” on English universities, where tuition has been raised 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 isn’t that strong? That’s just wrong,” Trudeau said.

He added his government has been pushing Quebec to put out a new directive on health care and will continue to do so. Provincial French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge, meanwhile, pledged to rewrite the directive in response to concerns expressed by anglo groups.

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Trudeau also accused Legault of wanting a fight.

“He’s trying to pit people against each other,” Trudeau said. “And my commitment to Canadians has always been to try and pull people together. … I’m a proud Quebecer. I’m a proud Montrealer. My mom’s from Vancouver. My dad was a francophone. I get the duality. I get the strength of this town. I get the strength of this province.”

The byelection is to take place on Monday.

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