N.B. premier says proposed new 50-50 French program not 'a sure thing'

Premier Blaine Higgs says a new 50-50 model for French-second-language education "never was a sure thing" and he looks forward to getting recommendations from his education minister on what to do next.

Higgs made his comments after two weeks of angry public meetings that saw dozens of New Brunswickers slam his plan to replace French immersion.

"It never was a sure thing," he said of the new model announced in December. "If it was, there wouldn't much point in having consultations. It was a proposal to say 'is there another way that we can achieve better success?'"

The model was described as a "framework" when it was unveiled in December. It would see all anglophone kindergarten and elementary students spend half their day learning English and half learning French.

That's more French than what non-immersion students get now but much less than the existing, optional immersion program.

Higgs also said last fall immersion had to be replaced this coming September, not by the original planned date of fall 2024 — a key point that prompted his previous education minister, Dominic Cardy, to leave the position last fall.

But in recent weeks, Education Minister Bill Hogan and his deputy minister for anglophone schools, John McLaughlin, have said they're open to alternatives.

Hogan said last week that "nothing at this point is written in stone," and McLaughlin told a committee of MLAs the 50-50 model was a proposal but there was no decision yet "about whether to proceed with this model or something different."

Higgs echoed those comments Wednesday.

It was his first chance to respond to the three public meetings in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, which had a total of more than 900 people attending and no one speaking in favour of the change.

"I haven't had a final proposal or a suggestion of next steps," the premier said, adding he'll be meeting with Hogan, McLaughlin, the Progressive Conservative cabinet and caucus to discuss what was said at the public meetings. 

"Then we'll decide, based on the recommendations, what we learned and the recommendations that came out of the department as a result of that."

Progressive Conservative MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason urged the government to "pump the brakes" on Jan. 20 because of the impact of reduced teaching time in English on a new literacy curriculum and on students with learning challenges.

Hogan said last week there would still be time to reopen registration for French immersion this fall if the government opted for that. 

Canadian Parents for French's New Brunswick executive director, Chris Collins, said the group "is very encouraged by the fact there appears to be a softening of the ground" by the premier.

"We're encouraged that there seems to be some change in the posturing," he said.