Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois promised Sunday to crack down on what her party calls the erosion of the French language in Montreal, a move she says will serve to preserve a relative linguistic peace in the province.

"Some people are angry now because they can see there is an erosion of French … and if we don't stop that … we could break the linguistic peace," Marois told a news conference at the end of a two-day national council meeting.

The Opposition leader laid the blame for the anger at the doorstep of the Liberals and Premier Jean Charest, whom Marois blamed for inaction when it comes to questions of language and culture.

"Inertia and inaction also produces opposition, objections and social problems," Marois told reporters. "Right now I think Mr. Charest is sending a very bad message to Quebecers."

Language Minister Christine St-Pierre was quick to dismiss Marois's comments as "demagogic."

St-Pierre said the government is very pro-active in promoting French and will continue to do so. She noted in a telephone interview that the Liberals had increased funding allocated to Quebec's French-language watchdog office and courses for immigrants.

In a fiery speech to about 500 party members in Montreal, Marois also slammed the Supreme Court of Canada for striking down Bill 104, which the government had introduced to close a loophole in the language charter that allowed students access to English-language education after a short stint in a private school.

The court has given Quebec one year to come up with an acceptable compromise to the law, which was originally struck down by the provincial appeals court two years ago.

Marois told party members that the decision of the highest court in the land, which she referred to as "another nation's court," was outrageous and served to undermine Quebec and its protection of the French language.

And Marois promised to renew and reinforce Bill 101, the province's language charter, if the separatist party ever returned to power.

Adopted 32 years ago, the bill made French the language of the majority and helped to craft language rights for everyone in the province. Marois said the legislation, which stirred controversy initially, is now a source of pride.

She said repeatedly that it might be time to beef up the legislation, all while respecting the rights of the English-speaking minority.

Montreal is ground zero for the PQ language battle, where members lamented during the weekend meeting that the use of French is in decline.

"More and more, we see businesses operating in English, businesses asking candidates to be bilingual," Marois said. "The objective is to stop this erosion of French and allow French to take its rightful place."

Party members from across the province spent the weekend debating issues related to language, immigration and identity — but fell short on firm policy announcements or which way party brass was leaning.