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Alliance Quebec (AQ) was a group formed in 1982 to lobby on behalf of English-speaking Quebecers in the province of Quebec, Canada. It began as an umbrella group of many English-speaking organizations and institutions in the province, with approximately 15,000 members. At its height in the mid-1980s, the group had a network of affiliated anglophone groups throughout the province. However, a prolonged decline in influence, group cohesion, membership and funding ultimately led to its closure in 2005. == Early years — constructive engagement: 1982–1989 == The Parti Québécois (PQ), a party that supports the sovereignty of Quebec and the dominant use of French in most areas of public and business life, won a majority in the Quebec National Assembly (the province's legislature) in 1976. The vast majority of Quebec anglophones (i.e., Quebecers who speak English as a first language), who at that time made up approximately 13% of Quebec's population (see Language demographics of Quebec), did not support this party. Some anglophones formed local lobby groups to promote federalism and argue against new laws such as the Charter of the French Language (also known as "Bill 101"). After the Parti Québécois was re-elected in 1981, several of these groups (notably the "Positive Action Committee" and the "Council of Quebec Minorities") joined together in May 1982, as "The Alliance of Language Communities in Quebec" (or "Alliance Québec") in an effort to gain more influence and to start a province-level dialogue between linguistic groups. AQ's ideology reflected a desire to promote the rights and interests of the English language community while recognizing there were legitimate goals being pursued by the provincial government in promoting the French language, such promotion having strong support in the majority Francophone population. Alliance Quebec's best-known accomplishments from its earliest years included: * Alliance Quebec’s first success was to lobby the PQ to amend Bill 101. In 1983, the Charter of the French Language was amended (Law 57) to recognize in its preamble to the Charter of the French Language the institutions of the Anglophone community in Québec, abolish language testing for people educated in Quebec and widen the use of English in Anglophone communities and public institutions. * Alliance Quebec also worked to get English language health and social service guarantees. As a result in 1986, Law 142 was enacted which compels regional authorities to draw up programmes for access in the English language to health and social services throughout Quebec. * With the financial support and legal leadership of Alliance Quebec, Bill 101’s prohibition of English language signs was challenged in court. In 1988, in its decision Ford v. Quebec (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that the prohibition of all other languages but French on public signs and posters and in commercial advertising was in opposition to the freedom of expression but opened the door to the clear predominance of French. This solution was ultimately adopted by the Government of Quebec and prevails to this day. The group had widespread grassroots volunteer activity in its early years. It formed at least 20 regional chapters, including 8 in the anglophone neighbourhoods of Montreal. The federal government subsidized AQ in an effort to promote minority official language groups in the province, providing it with most of AQ's budget ($1.4 million in 1986). Similar funding was provided to French language groups outside Quebec. In addition to AQ's regional chapters, six federally funded anglophone groups outside of Montreal became affiliated with AQ and sent delegates to its annual convention. Affiliated Quebec anglophone universities, CEGEPs and health and social service institution and community associations were also allowed to send delegates. Institutional members brought AQ substantial public policy expertise and participated in the policy formulation process. By the end of the 1980s, AQ claimed to have 40,000 people on its membership list〔 (including members of regional associations affiliated with AQ, such as the Townshippers' Association). This led to critiques that people who did not renew their memberships were not removed from this list and that the actual number of dues-paying members hovered around 5,000.〔Graeme Decarie, CJAD 800 radio (August 1989); see also (Prosperi ) at p.59.〕 Many of Alliance Quebec's founders were active in the Liberal Party of Quebec, the main opposition party while the PQ was in government. The Liberal Party of Quebec won the provincial election of 1985, and many of AQ's initial leaders were recruited to work for the new government. Several of AQ's highly educated and bilingual early staff members went on to become Liberal cabinet ministers in later years, such as Thomas Mulcair, Kathleen Weil, and Geoffrey Kelley (Jacques-Cartier), while others served as MNAs—Russell Williams (Nelligan), Russell Copeman (NDG). While this initially gave AQ strong lobbying contacts within the government, the departure of many of the group's founding leaders eventually hurt the group. Some have argued that the 1985 election was the beginning of a decline in influence of Alliance Quebec, as English-speakers believed the new government was friendlier and so the need for AQ was lower, while the Liberals had more connections with English-speakers than the PQ and so relied less on AQ to transmit their points of view. The group also faced criticism, almost since its founding, that it was not aggressive enough in its demands. In December 1988, AQ's offices were destroyed in a case of arson. Then-president Royal Orr sued Le Journal de Montréal and Tele-Metropole, for falsely reporting that he was the "prime suspect" in setting the blaze. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alliance Quebec」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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