PQ urges francophones to stay in Montreal

Jean-François Lisée suggests lower property taxes

The Parti Québécois said it is working on a plan to keep francophone families from moving out of Montreal in order to preserve the language.

PQ candidate Jean-François Lisée said the French language is in jeopardy in Montreal and that more French speakers may leave the city.

"We can try to come up with ways to make the decision to leave Montreal much more difficult," said Lisée.

Though the PQ doesn't have a concrete plan to stop the exodus of francophones toward the suburbs, the party plans to look at ways of making it easier to own property in Montreal.

He said "the francophones are in peril of losing critical mass in Montreal. We need to do something about that."

Lisée said the PQ also wants immigrants to integrate into the French community as opposed to the English.

In addition to expanding language law Bill 101, he added that the party would modify the immigration application by adding a question about the individual's language spoken at home.

As it stands, people are given more points if they have knowledge of French. The PQ wants to give even more points if these people speak French at home.

"We'll give a premium to those who already live in French," said Lisée.

He said this plan isn't meant to scare the anglophone community and that he would be the first to prevent an exodus of English-speaking Montrealers.