MONTREAL—Squeezed for space, Montreal’s Dawson College has for years been planning an expansion of its medical technology department that would include a clinic to serve the community and train its students. But after promising in 2020 to fast-track $100 million for the downtown school, the Quebec government suddenly reversed course last week, saying the money would be better spent on Dawson’s French-language counterparts in the junior college system, known as CEGEPs. That decision sparked dismay in the anglophone community and accusations the government wants to shore up its nationalist base ahead of this year’s election. In the legislature Thursday, Premier Francois Legault said he stood by the decision to cancel the funding for Dawson. “Is it better ? to expand francophone CEGEPs before expanding anglophone CEGEPs? At the CAQ, we think it is,” Legault said, referring to his Coalition Avenir Quebec party, which continues to dominate the polls. The Coalition …