The organization of an “English Week 2023” [semaine de l’anglais 2023] at Cégep Garneau, in Quebec City, startles French language defense groups, who call for resistance to this type of activity and who believe that there should be “a call to order”.
“From September 11 to 15, as part of English Week 2023, the Language Department invites the entire Cégep Garneau community to speak in English,” we can read on the Cégep website.
“So don’t be surprised if your teacher includes English in his class or if you hear people speaking in English around you,” we continue. The important thing is to have fun… in English! »
The concept makes Jean-Paul Perreault, president of the French Impératif organization, jump. “A call to order is necessary,” he says, asserting that “Anglomania is taking hold.” “The job market and the entire public space desperately need skills, knowledge, personnel who will Frenchify the workplace,” he believes. And not the opposite, to promote, moreover, through promotion and valorization activities, the language and culture which erase them. »
He sees an irony in this, considering that the Cégep takes its name from the historian, poet, notary and clerk of the City of Quebec François-Xavier Garneau, who was a driving force in the promotion of French-speaking culture and who was designated a historical figure by the government of Quebec.
We are no longer content with simply teaching English as a second language, we are now teaching “English as a common language, a normal language.”
“It’s a very telling symbol of our relationship with English,” believes Maxime Laporte, president of the Mouvement Québec français. We are no longer content with simply teaching English as a second language, we are now teaching English as a common language, a normal language. »
“Obviously, the priority should be elsewhere,” continues the one who is worried about the younger generation. In its most recent analysis of the census, Statistics Canada indicated that the rate of English-French bilingualism was increasing in Quebec, and that the weight of French had decreased between 2016 and 2021 in the province.
“We would rather focus on the promotion of French and French-language literature, and in particular excellence in written French,” emphasizes Maxime Laporte. I invite students to resist this type of language promotion exercise. Why not organize, for example, a week dedicated to decolonial literature? »
A resolutely French-speaking CEGEP
For its part, Cégep Garneau insists on the fact that all its courses are given in French, with the exception of language courses, and that the Cégep, resolutely French-speaking, “values and promotes the French language in various ways”. All communications are in French, as are the activities, it is claimed.
“Cégep Garneau fulfills the mandates entrusted to it by the Ministry of Higher Education. Among these, that of developing the skills prescribed by the ministerial specifications, we write in an email sent to Duty. Thus, through different activities, the Cégep contributes, for example, to developing English skills. This is what is done through English Week.”
Other thematic events are organized during the year including Philosophy Week, Science Storm and the Human Sciences in Action conference, specifies the Cégep. We take care to specify that there is an activity dedicated to promoting French-speaking culture which is called “L’espace du français”. “Several other activities and actions are being put in place to promote French at Cégep Garneau,” we insist.
The Minister of Higher Education of Quebec should intervene in the face of this situation, Imperatif français nevertheless thinks. “It is certainly not English and Anglo-Saxon culture that need to extend their power, prestige or supremacism in Quebec,” believes Jean-Paul Perreault. To the point of seeing supposedly “French-language” CEGEPs, here Garneau, promoting and promoting it.”
Asked to comment, the Cégep Garneau Student Association indicated in writing that it had no position regarding the “English Week” activity. “However, we invite the student population to give us their comments regarding this situation and we are open to discussing it with them,” says the assistant coordinator, Manouka Roy.