Quebec language law 'a mess': opposition

The Quebec government hasintroduced legislation totoughen the province's language laws in response to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.

Bill 103 sets out new rules for admissionto English public schools in the province, using a complex system the government said Wednesday will protect French while maintaining individual rights.

Few will qualify

Under theproposed law, children in private English schools accumulate pointsto help them qualify for a publicEnglisheducation. However, there is no clear number of terms or years that would get a student into the public system.

The point system combines withmore subjective criteria, in which parents would alsohave to explain to the ministry why their child should be admitted tothe English public system.

Education Minister Michelle Courchesne said few will ever qualify.

"There is no length. There is a context, "said Courchesne.

"You have to look at the context of the family. Why would a family choose an anglophone school? Is there a specific reason why a father and a mother would make that decision?"

Historic mistake: PQ

The opposition Parti Qubcois called the bill a historic mistake. PQ members wanted the government to continue banning all non-anglophones from enrolling in English public schools.

The PQ's education critic said the new legislation would only create problems.

"Those criteria will be a mess. It's clear. That's what we are so angry about. It is not helping the situation for anybody," said Pierre Curzi.

It isQuebec's latest legal attempt to legislate who can attend English-language schools in the province.

Latest attempt

Quebec's previous language education law, Bill 104, wasadopted in 2002 under heavy criticism because it closed a prior legal loophole once used by those withoutEnglish education eligibility whowanted English schooling for their children.

Under Bill 104,Quebecers could no longer earn eligibility for their children through private schools, which angered a small group of parents thatchallengedthe law all the way to the Supreme Court.

The highest court ruled last fall that Bill 104 is unconstitutional and "excessive" in a decision hailed as a major victory for English rights in Quebec.

On Wednesday, QuebecCulture Minister Christine St-Pierre introduced her government's legal response to the Supreme Courtruling to great protest atthe national assembly.

Bill 103 also proposes tougher penalties for arange of infractions against Quebec's French language charter, and amends Quebec's charter of human rights to include the notion of the "primacy" of the French language.