A Montreal mother was shocked and angry when she saw what her 11-year-old daughter was learning in school about Quebec's French language history.
Selina Richard has taken issue with one page of her daughter's social studies workbook focusing on Bill 101, known as the Charter of the French Language, which made French the official language of the province.
Richard says the workbook oversimplified the anglophone reaction to the bill by suggesting only anglophones disapproved of the Charter and, as a reaction, moved out of the province.
"If they're going to teach it, why not say, 'Some Montrealers had this reaction.' Why would it have to be the anglophones? My father is French-Canadian. His reaction to Bill 101 was … he was appalled."
But that wasn't Richard's only concern.
She was also upset about a workbook question on Bill 101, which asked, "In what region of Quebec is the French language the most threatened?” The answer -- provided by the teacher and approved by Quebec’s Ministry of Education -- was: "Montreal, because it has the most immigrants."
"It's selective. It's framing. It's exclusionary," said Richard.
Jack Jedwab, executive vice-president of the Association for Canadian Studies, agrees the lesson in the workbook is oversimplified. He called for more nuance in the school's lessons on Bill 101.
"It can't be taught properly if it's not situated within a context and there's more balance. It happens that within this particular way of presenting it, there's very little balance, which results in generalizations and will end up possibly misleading students," he said.
While the workbook says some anglophone groups went to court over Bill 101, history doesn’t end there, Jedwab added.
"In those days, back in the '70s, Bill 101 did call for unilingual signs and it was contested," said Jedwab. "The outcome was that the court said that it's going to be French predominance. That's what Bill 101 is today."
The Commission Scolaire des Trois Lacs told CJAD radio that that it's up to the school to approve their teaching material.
"Teachers teach historical facts without making judgements, and it is out the question to practice discrimination in any form," said the school district.
But that's not enough to address Richard's concerns. She said she wants the workbook "re-evaluated by the minister of education, corrected and … parents (made) aware of this.
"This blow out is because parents need to know what their kids are learning."
With files from CTV Montreal's Cindy Sherwin
