Quebec's plan to bolster French language sets up Kahnawake students to fail, educators warn

Having spent years working as a guidance counsellor in her community's schools, ArleneTeiohserahte Horne speaks glowingly about the younger generation in Kahnawake and their potential.

"I have so much faith in our youth," Horne said.

She includes inthat vote of confidence her grandson and granddaughter, who are both in high school, gearing up to leave the Kanien'keh:ka territory on Montreal's South Shore to go to CEGEP.

"We're trying so hard in Kahnawake to push our children to get a better education. We want our own doctors;we want our own nurses;we want our own scientists. We have such creative people," she said.

Horne is worried those goals will be derailed by the Coalition Avenir Qubec government's planto bolsterthe province'sFrench-language law, and she warnsit could set uphundreds of young people in Kahnawakefor failure.

For Horneand many others, a major point of contention is a recent amendment to the proposed Bill 96which would force students attending English-languageCEGEPsto take three courses history or geography classes, for examplein French.

This change was originally proposed by the Liberal Official Oppositionand unanimously adopted earlier this month by the legislative committee studying the bill.

Days later, after an outcry from CEGEP students themselves and from college administrators who were not consulted about the amendment, the Liberals walked back support for their ownproposal, asking theCAQ governmentto do away with it.

WATCH| Mental health consultant in Kahnawake explains how Bill 96 would hurt Indigenous students:

Mental health consultant concerned for Indigenous students in face of Bill 96

2 years ago

Duration 0:47

Fran Kaherihshon Beauvais, a mental health worker in Kahnawake, is concerned for Indigenous students in face of Bill 96 which will legislate mandatory French courses in CEGEPs. "It's going to put them back," said Beauvais.

'Where is the respect?' Horne asks

So far, both Premier Franois Legaultand Simon Jolin-Barrette, the minister responsible for the French language,appearunwilling to scrap the amendment.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Jolin-Barrette said Bill 96 was crafted in a manner to make sure "none of the bill's provisions infringe upon the inalienable rights of First Nations and Inuit to maintain and develop their traditional languages and cultures."

"We also madesure to facilitate access to learning the common language by giving college students the tools to thrive and participate fully in Quebec society," the statement read.

However, Horne, anelder, sees the bill as yet another unfair hurdle for children in her community, many of whom do not speak French.

"You may as well tie their hands behind their back," she said, before switching from English to French.

"Believe me, I'm not against the French language. I speak Mohawk. Je parle franais un peu, et je comprends un peu. [I speak and understand French a little.]I worked in the city, so I have great respect [for the French language]. But where is the respect that should be coming back to us?"

Horne says she's written a letter to the Kahnawake Mohawk Council, and she isurging othersin her community to speak up so the Quebec government takes notice.

Fran Kaherishon Beauvais, a mental health consultant withKahnawake Community Services, is among those calling on the CAQgoverment to reconsider the amendment that would compel all English-language CEGEP students to do more courses in French.

"We have our students that are marginalized already,'' said Beauvais.

''We've already been through so much trauma, multigenerational trauma especially when we're looking at our own languages and not knowing who we are and not being able to be fluent in our own languagesbut yet we have to become fluent in a foreign language that is not ours."

Adding to 'emotional toll'

Having to take mandatory Frenchcourses already represents a major obstacle for some non-francophone Indigenous students, according toTiawenti:non Canadian, co-ordinator ofDawson College's First Peoples' Centre.

She says there are about 100 Indigenous students at Quebec's biggest English-language CEGEP.

With French as theirsecond or even third language, many students often have to take one or several not-for-credit French courses in CEGEPjust to get to the level where they can take classes for credit, she said.

Canadian said the recent amendment to Bill 96 would add to an already heavyburden and hurt students' morale.

"Many of them are already taking five French courses," she said. She said if Bill 96 is passed as is, some students would have to take as many as eight courses in French to get through CEGEP.

"It's really hard to fail a course when you've tried your all. So through no fault of their own, they're going to be put at a disadvantage for courses that wouldn't necessarily be in French otherwise."

Ultimately, Canadian said, the proposed law willhurt students and thecommunities many of them wish to serve.

"If Indigenous students are less likely to graduate from CEGEP, then they're going to have a harder time going into these health professions, and they're not able to return to their community to practice what they've learned," she said.

"So this bill is going to have lasting negative impacts on economic futures of Indigenous communitiesnot just our students now, but well into the future."