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QUEBEC — Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil has torn to shreds a Coalition Avenir Québec report recommending that all newcomers to Quebec take mandatory French classes.

The report — penned by CAQ culture critic Claire Samson and released on Thursday at the National Assembly — argues the French language in Quebec is losing ground, and 200,000 new Quebecers don’t speak it because of government “laxness.”

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Samson argued it is newcomers’ “right” to be supported immediately upon arrival to Quebec. She recommended raising the weekly allowance newcomers can claim while taking the classes to $200 from the current $115, and extending it from 32 weeks to 72 weeks.

She said currently, many women are cut off from society and can’t help their children with school because they are not given proper access to French-language classes.

“The report is not substantiated by expert opinions,” Weil fired back. “It’s obviously a politically-charged report based on foregone conclusions.