Election season looms, meaning a new bout of promises from Quebec’s provincial parties. And is almost always the case, the Parti Québécois is using Anglophones and immigrants as a way to get support from Quebecers.  

At the PQ’s yearly policy convention, a slew of new regulations were proposed, specifically targeting minorities in Quebec. 

First, funding for English CEGEPS will be cut if the PQ is voted into power next year. 

This is being done to deter French-speaking students from attending English CEGEPS. 

Because God forbid young Francophones master a language a majority of North America speaks and reap the benefits of being bilingual. 

Under the proposed new rules by the PQ, any student in an English CEGEP will need to pass a French exam before being able to graduate, reports CBC. 

To make English CEGEPS less appealing to students, the PQ also wants to add more English courses to existing French curriculums. 

Admittedly, that last bit is a step in the right direction. The rest, though, is just a thinly-veiled attack on Anglophones all in an effort “to protect the French language,” which is pretty much what any Quebec politician says when targeting specific groups. 

Arguably more troubling is the way the PQ wants to infringe on the religious freedoms of immigrants and religious minorities in the province. 

A new platform proposed by the PQ is all about secularism, focusing on religious attire…again. 

Taking a slightly softer stance than the Charter of Values, the PQ’s new plan is to ban civil servants from being able to wear religious attire. 

Explaining the new position, a PQ representative said the the ban on religious garbs would include police officers, judges, prison guards, teachers, and daycare employees. 

It’s (somewhat understandable) that more militaristic civil servants would be banned from wearing overt religious symbols and clothes, they have a uniform. 

But teachers and daycare workers? 

For many students, educators are mentors. Being able to see a teacher wearing a hijab or burka proudly, without fear, is an entirely positive experience. It is also provides an opportunity for children to see a religious minority removed from negative lenses, thus dismantling harmful stereotypes. 

All this move towards increasing “secularism” is infringing on the rights of immigrants and religious minorities in the civil workforce while propagating subversive racism. 

Altogether, it’s pretty clear what the PQ is doing: attacking the rights and freedoms of Anglophones and immigrants to bolster more support for the party. 

Because in Quebec, targeting groups who aren’t white Francophones gets you more votes. 

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Honestly, it’s not the most surprising. This is the Parti Québécois, after all. It’s just scary that after all these years, and in this day and age, these types of tactics still work.