PQ's Lisée says English-language students would be able to 'test out' of proposed French CEGEP requirement

Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée says English-language students who speak French well would be exempted from his party's proposed requirement that they spend one session at a French-language CEGEP.

The trick would be to pass a test, he told CBC Montreal News at Six anchor Debra Arbec in a one-on-one interview Wednesday.

"They can test out," he said. "If their French is very good, they can test out and not do it."

The party's proposal, he said, is aimed at keeping young Anglos in Montreal.

"They are terrific in their field of study, but then they get into the job market in Montreal, and they feel that Quebec society failed in giving them proper tools to read the memo, write the memo — they're not up to par."

It is not acceptable, he said, that anglophones who grew up in the province are heading to cities like Toronto. A higher level of proficiency in French, he said, would provide them with equal employment opportunities.

"If we want to get all students up to par — equal to their French counterparts — the best thing to do is have immersion in the last semester."

If this program was put in place years ago, he said, it would have prevented a "number of these youngsters" from leaving Quebec.

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With files from CBC Montreal News at Six