The format of a My Take is 150 words – no more, no less – to express an opinion on a different topic each week. This week’s topic was the Bill 96 protest.
It’s been a year since Bill 96 was introduced and it’s well on its way to being passed. In the eleventh hour, we’re seeing a public protest come together on the streets of Montreal and other actions here and there, but in general voices of opposition have been spending the last 12 months on behind-the-scenes actions.
The challenge is that without more visible advocacy, the counter argument from the government every step of the way has been that a “silent majority” of Quebecers have no problem with the bill.
It’s a very convenient defence, because unless you happen to be keeping a registry of everyone who speaks out against the issue, defenders can lean on some ambiguous, but supposedly superior, number of people to argue that they’re right and you’re wrong.
There’s no guarantee that speaking up will change anything, but staying silent certainly won’t.
