Why is Quebec’s language fight taking on English students?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, Quebec’s CAQ government has spent years tightening laws around languages in the province, with a stated aim to protect French as its predominant language. Their latest attempt, doubling the tuition paid by out-of-province students attending universities in Quebec, has led to anger, condemnation and protests in the streets.

Alyssia Rubertucci, a reporter with CityNews Montreal, says one of the policy’s stated aims is to change the linguistic makeup of downtown Montreal.

“The language minister just says it’s a problem that tens of thousands of people arrive and leave without mastering French, and they say that it creates an anglicizing effect on the metropolis,” says Rubertucci.

So why target Canadian students this way? Will it work to achieve the government’s aims, or could the new policy have consequences nobody has considered?

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