By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative
A petition to exempt Indigenous students at Heritage College and other English CEGEPs across the province from being required to take a French exit exam has garnered nearly 2,000 signatures.
The petition urges the CAQ government to exempt Indigenous students from Bill 96, which became Law 14 when it passed in 2022, and forces all non-English eligibility certificate holders to take a three-hour French exit exam to graduate.
Heritage College argues that many of its Indigenous students do not have an English certificate and says the province’s new law is stifling those who want to pursue a higher education.
“Our biggest concern is that we are a public institution, and we are restricting access to students,” said Heritage College director-general Terry Kharyati.
The petition was launched by Dawson College in Montreal, but every English CEGEP across the province is now supporting it.
“We are encouraging people to read the petition,” added Kharyati. “We’re not asking anybody to sign it. We’re just saying, ‘This exists.’ Get informed and then make decisions.”
Law 14 requires that anyone attending English CEGEPs without an English eligibility certificate must take the province’s French-language exit exam in order to graduate. Heritage College academic dean Lisa Peldjak said that the school’s Indigenous students who don’t already have their certificates likely won’t get them, as the Ministry of Education is only giving the certificates to those who are still in high school. Those who apply after they’ve graduated are being denied.
“The process is quite onerous for our Indigenous students,” added Peldjak. “It also can be viewed as disrespectful because they’re actually, once again, having to fight for their rights as Indigenous Peoples. And it’s not ‘fill out the paperwork and you’re exempt.’ Not everyone is being exempt.”
The petition states that the Act Respecting French, the Official and Common Language of Quebec, known as Bill 96, “requires Indigenous students with little or no knowledge of French to take additional French courses beyond their abilities, thereby compromising their chances of academic success” and acts as a “deterrent for Indigenous students in their pursuit of post-secondary education.”
Last spring, five English CEGEPs, including Heritage, unveiled a series of emotional videos from Indigenous students, who argue in those videos that Bill 96 was unfairly penalizing them and their chances of receiving a higher education.
“In my community, French isn’t offered. No one learns French. A lot of us aren’t introduced to it at all, and they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep up,” said John Abbot College’s Cameron Biron, a Cree student from Wemindji, in one of the videos. “I came here willing to learn French…but after the bill, it’s too much. I feel like it’s being forced upon me. It’s putting my education at risk.”
The five English CEGEPS penned a letter last year to Premier François Legault, urging the leader of the CAQ to minimize the impact of Bill 96 on Indigenous communities.
“In the absence of a satisfactory response from the relevant departments, and with limited time before the school year begins, we are compelled to make our concerns public,” states the letter, signed by the directors of Dawson, Vanier, John Abbott, Champlain and Heritage colleges. “Due to the urgency of the situation, we were forced to make this decision as a last resort. We are concerned that our current Indigenous students will be unable to earn their [diploma of college studies], and that the many Indigenous students, who will begin their studies this fall, will face numerous obstacles.”
Kharyati agrees, and said that, when you “add another layer” to an already complicated application process, it acts as a major deterrent for Indigenous students to apply to college.
The petition can be found online at: https://shorturl.at/ec9Pn.