Canada: English and French Language Policies


Figure 1.--Here we see some French Canadian boys in 1945. There is no indication as to where the photograph as taken, but we would giess somewhere in Quebec.

Language politics are quite involved in Canada. We notice that th Federal Government inits official publications, prints them in English and French. I'm not sure when that began, probably in the 1960s. Povincial Governments can adopt thir own language policies. These policies are important as they affect matters such as the language of instruction in schools. Québec has established French as the official language. Most other provinces have established English as the official language. New Bruswick is officially bilingual. Precisely what the official language means and actual regulations concerning implementation of that policy vary widely from province to province. HBC does not fully understand the issues involved, but Canadian readers have provided some insights.

Federal Government

Officially, any Federal Institutions are OFFICIALLY bilinguial. e notice that th Federal Government inits official publications, prints them in English and French. I'm not sure when that began, probably in the 1960s. Québec is OFFICIALLY French and other provinces (ROC) are OFFICIALLY English. But, in each province, there are linguistic minorities protected by FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. The Federal Government is responsible for protecting those rights.

Provincial Governments

Povincial Governments can adopt thir own language policies. These policies are important as they affect matters such as the language of instruction in schools.

Manitoba

Manitoba actually took steps to discourage the use of French. French language advertising signs were prohibited. Look at the Manitoba school with Gabrielle Roy. [HBC does no know who Gabrielle roy is.] It was a French class embedded in an English-language school with an school board with only Anglo-Protestaant members. In Québec, the Catholic Chuch was strong enough to resist any kind of assimilation. Elsewhere, it was a disaster. After the Louis Riel hanging [HNC does not know who Louis Riel was], English-speaking Canadians invited Ukranians or Scandinavians to move to Manitoba. This was O.K., but at the same time, the only place for French speaking Canadians to emigrate to was the United States. It was forbidden to go to west for new settlements because of Riel's Batoche [HBC does not know what this means].

New Brunswick

There is only one OFFICIALLY bilinguial province in Canada: New Brunswick.

Ontario

Ontario laws don't forbid French as was done in Manitoba. So Ontario don't forbid French because there could be a violent backlash from Québec. No, the opposition is clever. I wrote how the bureaucratic steamroller is functioning. The problem with Québec is that like french Cartesianism, things need to be clear like a french garden. Remember the United Nation position of France about Iraq. Things need to be clear. [HBC does not agree that clarity was the reason for the French opposition.] As to the question so often asked "What Québec wants ?", Québec answered. The Catholic Chuch disappeared without bloody fights because the Church offered no exciting alternatives to " La Révolution Tranqquille" in 1960. If too much nostalgic of the past, It will happen the same thing to Canada. But too many Quebecers want the cake and eat it too. In is not with a credit card that we can be independant. It needs to be like our ancestors who were aginst any kind of consumerism. It is a long way to stop living with useless dreams. In Ontario, a place like Ottawa is bilinguial officially with Federal Institutions but nothing obliges the Provincial Government to apply a politic of bilinguialism. A good example is the recent Montfort Hospital case which needed a judgment from the Supreme Court of Canada to stay French. I don't think a french speaking can be cured in french at Toronto or elsewhere in Canada.

Québec

Québec has established French as the official language. The English minority, however, has constitutionnal rights that protect Anglophone culture in Québec. For example, a child of parents who were educated in Eglish can go to Anglophone schools. This includes all those people who went at English-language schools before "Loi 101"/Law 101 (1976). Since that law, every immigrant children from any part of the world is required to attend French schools so the 80 percnt French majority in Québec will not be diluted. English schools are not ghetto schools. They are well funded by the Provincial Government which provide these schools generous [?subventions]. All things being equal, French schools in the ROC are not so well funded.

French-speaking Population

I am not a specialist on these questions but I know that in Ontario, French will be used by provincial institutions " if the local population of French speakers s high enough. Bcause the French population in the ROC is not concentrated in one city like in Montréal, it is really hard to organize schools and some like in Manitoba are closed because with such rules, assimilation is reducing the French-speaking population. Even if a century ago Manitoba had a French majority, it is not the case now. When a minority culture is not protected, language can disappear rapidly. This happened not only in Manitoba but also in the New England state in America. One million French Canadians who émigrated in Massachussetts, Maine, and Vermont during the 19th century are now assimilated into the American melting pot. [HBC note: Many sociologists use the term "melting pot" in describing the United States, others contend that "salad bowl" is a more accurate discription.] An interesting anecdote about the United States. A French speaker went to work in a Lowell, Massxchussets factory . His name was "François Roy". On returning to Canada, he changed his name by "Frank King". It was during those time when assimilation was still the mainstream. Jack Kerouac was the last of the Mohicans. I don't know if it is the place here to discuss such a controversial issue. Québec used laws to protect its language and institutions. Nobody will do it for Québec, as history has tolds us.

"It is so easy to learn English" we are told. But you cannot keep living your cultural institutions with a majority who promotes its own values as the best in the world. And if your child from Québec moves to Calgary, his children will have to go in an English-language school like any foreign immigrants. I don't think French is so much praised in the west where Chinese is the second language. Just to tell you that things are not so simple in Canada . But Europe seeking for a new identity is not ready to put their differences in a garbage bag. I do understand that the Québec case in annoying for many nostalgics of any kind of empire, British or not. There is a coming new wave for letting little countries not only survive but contribute for a better world. The best case to offer is Iceland, the best country in the world for living standards. They were a Danish colony until 1944. They are only half a million and they are independant. Why not Québec with 7 millions french speakers? We are just 40 miles from New York state border, but Canadians and mainly Quebecers feel they are perceived as living at the North Pole. For long, there was a myth called "infantilization of Quebec" . Quebecers don't called themselves French Canadian as it was before 1960. Now, there is Québec and Quebecers. To be conscious of that, it needs to destruct some myths about this theocratic or old-fashioned State called Québec. The reality of Québec is not Tourism even if it counts. These is certainly a place to open on Ontario political status with the so called bilinguialism on your site. I am not a specialist nor an expert but as a citizen, I do my best as my Normans ancestors did to get the best when having to adapt. That is why Québec is a peaceful country. That is why we still have our institutions. That is why we still speaks French. Liberty is this. No more. No less.

Spanish-speaking Population in America

One of our Canadian readers believe that the language issue is the same for Spanish speakers in the United States. You cannot protect Spanish language or institutions in just doing some fiestas for tourism. [HBC note: Some might argue that Latin American institutions failed to provide a decent living which is why the immigrants have come. Which raises the interesting question of does America haved the same responsibility to safeguard the culture of immigrants as Canada has to safeguar the culture of domestic French population.] It needs more like at least bilinguialism in California or Texas. It is not the Spanish language which is threatening: it is Latino culture. You cannot crush Pablo Neruda To get "peace of mind", it needs more than centralized power assimilating every difference.

Michel Coron









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Created: August 1, 2003
Last updated: 7:36 AM 10/11/2007