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QUEBEC — Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois attacked Premier Jean Charest on Tuesday for his accusation that she has chosen to “poison” the debate on the accommodation of newcomers to Quebec.
Mr. Charest published a letter in several of the province's newspapers Tuesday in which he urged Quebeckers to be open to minorities.
One of his main targets in the letter is Ms. Marois, who recently tabled a bill in the National Assembly aimed at forcing immigrants to learn French before they can run in elections.
It would also have forced immigrants to pass a French test to get Quebec citizenship.
Mr. Charest's minority government rejected the bill, calling it harsh and regressive.
The PQ leader told a news conference in Quebec City on Tuesday that Mr. Charest is trying to “demonize” her and that he should be debating the issue in the house, not the media.
Well-known lawyer Guy Bertrand, meanwhile, told provincial hearings on reasonable accommodation for religious minorities that the French language is threatened by linguistic accommodations.
The separatist lawyer said in Quebec City that English and multiculturalism are threatening French, and that immigrants must accept the French language and integrate into the French majority.
Commission co-chairman Charles Taylor told Mr. Bertrand that the hearings are related to religious accommodations for minorities and are not about language.
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