Since the unveiling of the Quebec government’s advertisement on the decline of French, many people have reacted by saying that they are attacked in the way they speak. Thus it is said that the government would target “the young people” from whom they would be taught.
Several representatives of French Canadians outside Quebec have seen an offensive against their language. Once again, these communities revealed to us their propensity for division between the French-speaking peoples of America and their inability to target the real culprit of the decline, namely the Canadian regime. It is always easier to make Quebec the scapegoat for all problems than to face the truth.
If French Canadians outside Quebec really imagine that Quebecers take pride in their accent and their vocabulary, they should learn that the harsher reality is that Quebecers are barely aware of their existence. This ignorance is the result of a definitive marginalization of French Canadians outside Quebec caused by Ottawa’s insane immigration policy. Outside of Quebec, francophones no longer have any political future worthy of the name, that’s the sad truth.
Acculturation
The use of anglicisms is not testimony to a unique and rich way of speaking. On the contrary, it reveals an acculturation which alienates a people and makes it foreign to the fertile sources at the origin of its birth. This acculturation sooner or later leads a people to its definitive assimilation, like the French Canadians of New England or the Cajuns of Louisiana, of which only a few admirable traces remain.
It must be said, those who absolutely insist on repeating their Anglicisms demonstrate a laziness that condemns American French to mediocre Creole. Defending French necessarily means learning to speak it well and correcting errors. Saying “insane”, “taste”, “chill” has nothing beautiful, even less edifying. Would we have seen Baudelaire or Nelligan use such words? The French language implies a culture, a history and a harmony that must be respected if we truly value its heritage and its beauty. Learning Anglicisms to better neutralize them should be done in high school, something the Quebec government should have thought about long before its advertisements.
Verbal nationalism of the CAQ
There is another thing to note in this grotesque comedy. While the Quebec government lectures ordinary mortals, it finds itself unable to take minimal action to guarantee the survival of French. The strictly verbal nationalism of this government looks more and more like a concealed collective resignation.
Thus the Government of Quebec refuses to extend Bill 101 to CEGEPs, even though it constitutes a minimal action for the future. The government is also unable to confront Ottawa over its migration policy of demographic drowning. He also preferred to finance the McGill empire in a colossal way and let UQÀM crumble into a pitiful state. It will also never do anything in the face of the very clear predominance of English in fields of research and work of great reputation, such as artificial intelligence or computer science.
Every time we touch on real business, this government bends down and collaborates with the assimilationist aims of the Canadian regime. Small comic advertisements will not change anything and are only used for the moment as window dressing.
Photo provided by Philippe Lorange
Philippe Lorange, Master’s student in sociology – UQÀM