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This office, which would report directly to the National Assembly like the auditor general does, could conduct research on the status of the roughly 800,000-member minority language community. The work of the office would ideally inform government policy and proactively head off the kind of collateral damage to English-speakers’ interests seen in recent legislation. Such efforts would be helpful no matter which party is governing Quebec.

Now, an anglophone affairs bureau’s day may have finally come. Couillard, who rebuffed the proposal in the past, is reported to have been more receptive.

The English community is also getting a boost from an unlikely source. Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée said he would create an anglophone liaison office if elected. Lisée has been courting English speakers, urging those frustrated about being ignored by the Liberals to try voting for the PQ in 2018, hoping they will be reassured by his pledge not to hold a sovereignty referendum in a first mandate. While few are likely to be wooed, Lisée’s support for the anglophone affairs office puts welcome pressure on Couillard to act.

The fact that it took more than two years for the QCGN to have its first in-person meeting with the premier is a sign of how much the Quebec Liberals are taking the anglophone community for granted. And the community’s need to mobilize against unacceptable aspects of the government’s agenda is an indication of how out of touch with their concerns the Liberals have been as a result.

Anglophones have a long history in Quebec and an important role to play. Setting up an office to look out for their interests within the government bureaucracy would go a long way in recognizing this.