It is not through insults that we will advance the debate on the protection of the French language.
Of course, it is regrettable that Franco-Ontarian MP Francis Drouin called two witnesses who came to present their point of view to the official languages committee “extremists” and “full of crap”. These totally unacceptable comments, for which the elected official apologized, have no place in Parliament. Final point.
But it is also a great shame that the controversy which has lasted for two weeks in Ottawa has eclipsed the substantive discussion which nevertheless deserves an informed and nuanced public debate.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Liberal MP Francis Drouin
The question constantly resurfaces: does going to CEGEP or university in English mean that a French-speaking or allophone student has a greater chance of continuing their life in English?
Those who believe that English-speaking post-secondary establishments are a vector of anglicization of Quebec often present as evidence a study carried out by Statistics Canada in 20221.
We learn that 23% of French-speaking* graduates who obtained their last diploma in English use English predominantly at work, compared to only 4% for those who completed their studies in French.
The gap is significant, of course. But before jumping to conclusions, we need to give ourselves a little perspective.
On the one hand, there are not many French speakers who study in English and then work in English (around 1% of all French-speaking graduates).
On the other hand, nearly three-quarters of young French-speaking Quebecers who speak English predominantly at work obtained their diploma from a… French-speaking school.
For them, it is therefore not the fact of having studied in English that is in question, but perhaps simply the fact that Quebec’s economy is resolutely oriented towards exports and that English is the language of choice. -everywhere internationally.
So even if we send everyone to school in French until postdoctoral studies, young people will still have to learn English, and other languages, to be effective in many areas of the job market.
Moreover, if young French speakers enroll in CEGEP or university in English, it is in particular because they want to perfect their mastery of the language, according to the Office québécois de la langue française2. This choice does not prevent them from continuing to cherish French. The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who studied at McGill and Oxford, is living proof of this.
But what about allophones?
Looking back at the Statistics Canada study, we see that almost half (46%) of allophone Quebecers who obtained their diploma from an English-speaking educational establishment speak English predominantly at work, compared to only 7% of those who obtained their diploma in French.
Here, the correlation is even more striking between the language of study and the language of work. It is tempting to conclude that school anglicizes them for the rest of their lives. However, there is nothing in the study to indicate that there is a cause and effect relationship. In fact, the opposite may be the case.
Even if allophones must go to school in French at the elementary and secondary levels thanks to Bill 101, an appreciable proportion of those who live in the Montreal region remain more comfortable in English than in French, because the neighborhood where they live or the country where they come from.
In other words, the die may already be cast before they even arrive at CEGEP. If this is the case, we must act upstream instead of putting obstacles in the way of those who want to attend English-speaking post-secondary institutions.
In any case, more and more allophones are studying in French, which is not emphasized often enough.
At university, the proportion of allophones who study in French has increased from 42% to 59% over the past 34 years. And at college, it has climbed from 59% to 70% over the past 12 years, even before the quotas in English-speaking CEGEPs imposed by the Coalition Avenir Québec came into force.
Even more English speakers attend French-speaking CEGEPs, where their number has jumped 35% over the past five years. That’s 500 more young people who prove that we can create bridges between communities.
This is without taking into account that a quarter of young English speakers eligible for primary and secondary school in English prefer instruction in French, Statistics Canada told us this week.3.
This adds nuance to the dark picture that we are so often painted.
Nevertheless, we can do more to promote French.
But before putting the dunce cap on English-speaking CEGEPs and universities, we need in-depth and apolitical studies that will allow us to have a frank, respectful and constructive conversation. Without throwing bad words. Without creating harmful divisions.
It is by identifying the real causes that we will find the solutions that will make a real difference.
* In this text, French speakers, English speakers and allophones refer to those whose mother tongue is French, English or a third language, respectively.
1. Check out the study The working language of graduates from French-speaking, English-speaking or bilingual post-secondary institutions
2. Check out the study French language in Quebec: uses and behaviors of 18 to 34 year olds in 2021
3. Read the article “A quarter of children eligible for school in English do not go”