The obvious decline of French in Canada calls for vigilance. From Bill 96 in Quebec to the revision of the Official Languages Act in Ottawa, the subject is on the agenda.
This discussion is starting to get on the nerves of those who don’t care about the future of French. In recent months, they have made their voices heard, without embarrassment.
I say without embarrassment, because there was a time when political actors in Canada avoided publicly expressing their disinterest (or their disgust) for the cause of the future of the French language. Canada was proud to have two official languages, and denouncing it could be perceived as the rejection of a foundation of Canada. Politicians did not venture there.
Victims
Things have changed. This week, the Premier of New Brunswick went on a crusade against bilingualism, denouncing this practice of requiring proficiency in French for certain senior positions.
New Brunswick is an officially bilingual province. Higgs is not at all. Rather than presenting the thing as a failure on his part for which he should at least apologize, he presents himself as a victim. He has suffered all his life from not being bilingual and he wants to prevent others from going through the same pain. Make us cry!
This week, federal Liberal MPs led by Marc Garneau begged Justin Trudeau not to work with the Quebec government to protect French. They described the difficulties experienced by the English-speaking community of Montreal.
Above all, they made the grossest mistake: comparing the situation of English-speakers in Quebec to that of French-speaking communities outside Quebec. A parallel that does not hold water.
The Anglophones of Quebec have built great institutions that are still there, they can live completely in their language and their language is dominant throughout the continent. Nothing comparable applies to Manitoba’s 45,000 francophones.
So let’s understand that such an outing by Justin Trudeau’s deputies does not express any real concern for the future of English in the west of Montreal. What they express is fed up with Quebec’s efforts to defend French. Purely and simply.
No need for French
Earlier in the fall, senators questioned a Commons committee about the obligation imposed on ambassadors to be bilingual. We question the usefulness of knowing French if a diplomat is assigned to a country where that language is not spoken. We quickly forget that the ambassador is going to represent a country that theoretically has two official languages.
In short, more and more of them in Canada no longer consider French to be an official language of the country. And they are increasingly comfortable expressing their annoyance.
And the weight of Francophones is decreasing in Canada… We haven’t seen everything.