Is it important to learn French? It depends on your social class.
The recent controversies show a strong trend. If a new Quebecer belongs to the economic or intellectual elite, he will be accommodated in English. But if he comes from a popular background, we will be firm, very firm.
Put yourself in the shoes of an immigrant. You choose Quebec. When you arrive, you want to learn the common language. Even if you have to find accommodation for your family and a school for your children, even if you are looking for a job, you make the effort to take a francization course. For this, you receive $ 200 per week. Little more than social assistance.
And it was worse before the minister responsible, Simon Jolin-Barrette, almost doubled the budget. Despite his valiant efforts, the slope remains steep.
Because how does the state reward these people? With the mediocrity of its bureaucracy. As revealed The duty, immigrants wait several weeks before receiving this check. Sometimes up to three months. Some turn to food banks to keep going. Others drop out, and I understand them.
Still, they will pay the price. With the CAQ reform of law 101, barely six months after their arrival, they will be forced to communicate in French with the state. It’s short, very short.
Of course, they will be able to work in English in Montreal. But if it’s a modest job, they’ll have a hard time climbing the ladder.
The ladder is broken in the middle. Those who start at the bottom, in English, may get stuck there. At the top, it goes faster …
Michael Rousseau, boss of Air Canada, is astounding proof of this. He spent 14 years living in Montreal without speaking French. And without being bothered, even if he now runs a company subject to the Official Languages Act.
It could happen again at CN. This railway company is also domiciled in Montreal and subject to this law. She is about to change boss. And as with Air Canada, until proven otherwise, bilingualism will not be required. We risk hearing the same argument: “competence” takes precedence, which, in the case of a listed company, comes more and more to one thing: to enrich the shareholders. A foreign investment fund promises to be influential in the choice.
The boards of directors decide for themselves what is good for their caste. It is the same reasoning that causes the salaries of top executives to explode in relation to that of their employees.
On the one hand, the modest immigrant must pay the price to learn French. He must consider himself lucky to have been welcomed into our home. On the other hand, the elite citizens of the world impose their unilingualism with this warning: beware, we could look elsewhere …
Does that shock you?
If your name is Ruba Ghazal or Marwah Rizqy, the answer is, “Put some on! ”
Solidarity MP, Mme Ghazal is a Palestinian refugee. She arrived in Quebec when she was 10 years old. She spoke only Arabic. Learning French was not easy. But she struggled in the reception class and obtained a master’s degree in environment, to then make an enviable career in the private sector before entering politics.
Mme Rizqy, Liberal MP, is also a child of Bill 101. Her immigrant mother was a victim of domestic violence. She also took care of her eldest daughter, who had an intellectual disability. But she learned French. By duty. And also because she didn’t really have a choice.
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A few steps from the Mont-Royal metro station, a poem by the late PQ MP Gérald Godin is painted on a facade.
Half past seven in the morning Montreal metro
it’s full of immigrants
it gets up early
that world
it’s full of immigrants
it gets up early
that world
the old heart of the city
would he beat again
thanks to them
Godin was deputy for Mercier. When he succeeded him, Amir Khadir quoted another of his poems.
Do you remember (Godin) / mop pushers / urine collectors / in hospitals / those who have two jobs / one for the night / one for the day / to get to the stake / a pay like of the world
Quebec nationalism is not uniform. A fringe more to the left has always sympathized with immigrants. She wanted to share their struggles and rally them to the cause.
These immigrants also have to work hard to learn our capricious language. When they look at what’s going on at McGill University, they no longer have to understand what exactly their host society expects of them.
This fall, the wealthy university announced the end of its intensive francization courses. The decision was announced without notice. In English only.
The program allowed immigrants and professionals to learn French on campus. It could have been used by CN or Air Canada bosses …
The reaction of the union president, Raad Jassim, to Radio-Canada: “We are in Quebec, a French-speaking province, and our premier aims to respect French-speaking culture. […] I am in cr ****. ”
On this campus, however, others think the opposite. A professor of psychology, Martin Drapeau, told Quebecor that the majority of colleagues in his department do not speak French. Including some who have been working there for 20 years. His conclusion: “The Eaton’s cashier still exists. ”
In fact, this proverbial cashier has changed her face. It is at the top of the pyramid that it rages, with a new condescending morality that English is the true language of diversity. That asking to learn French would be a form of intolerance.
However, an allophone who arrives in Quebec will sooner or later learn another language. Asking him to choose French is to invite him to integrate into his host society.
But that’s too much to ask, one must believe, for those who believe that French is a second class language.