French-Canadians victims of 'soft ethnocide,' says report partly funded by PQ

MONTREAL - A report funded in part by Quebec's governing party says francophones across Canada are the victims of a soft ethnocide.

The study was conducted by a Quebec independence group with the help of partisan funds from political parties — including the Parti Quebecois.

The project is based on the input of 1,200 people across the province.

The report's authors say it identifies 92 ways in which the Canadian system hinders Quebec's development against the interests and values of Quebecers.

The first obstacle on the list says Ottawa has allowed anglophone provinces to commit "soft ethnocide" on Acadians and the French-Canadian minorities.

The director of the independence group behind the project says the French language has been systematically eliminated across Canada since the start in the 20th century.