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QUEBEC

France has been “humiliated” once again by the Quebec government, according to the French daily Le Figaro.

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The Paris-based newspaper had harsh words for Premier Philippe Couillard after he said France will pick up most of the tab for Quebec’s mission to Paris and Bordeaux, March 2 to 6.

Borrowing a phrase from the Journal de Montréal, Le Figaro described Couillard’s “royal voyage,” mostly on French taxpayers’ dime, as a slight to France.

“After humiliating the French government by tripling the tuition fees for French students in Quebec, against all expectations, Philippe Couillard adds insult to injury by inviting six ministers on his trip; du jamais vu,” a brief in the conservative newspaper said on Wednesday. “In Quebec, every penny counts!”

Carole Poirier, the PQ’s international relations critic, accused Couillard of “ransacking Quebec’s historic relationship” with France, and demanded that he apologize to the French.