Canadian census figures show a decline of French in Quebec and the rest of Canada, creating a shock wave.
I fear, however, that the disruption will, as usual, be short-lived. Prime Minister Legault hastened to show concern by congratulating himself for having passed Bill 96, thus making believe that he was right to strengthen Bill 101.
In fact, it failed to take essential measures to truly protect the French language.
Prime Minister Trudeau maintains his reservations about Bill 96 out of concern for Francophones outside Quebec.
Dominique Anglade is not alarmed, being more concerned with attracting English-speaking customers than protecting Quebec’s identity.
If Gabrielle Roy was still alive, she could write: Between hypocrisy and unconsciousness.
The situation of French in Quebec has been worrying for decades and the results of the census should not come as a surprise.
willful blindness
Linguistic experts and serious demographers strive to make our decision-makers and the population aware of the decline of French year after year without much noticeable effects on citizen mobilization or in legislative texts.
Many prefer to believe the false prophets and the pro-assimilationists who trivialize the situation by denying the evidence or by pretending that it is temporary.
The most discerning already mentioned, in the early 2000s, that the battle for French was lost in the rest of Canada.
When New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, elects a unilingual Anglophone Premier and when Canada appoints a Governor General who does not know French, we must stop believing in the myth that our presence in Canada ensures the vitality of French outside Quebec.
On the contrary, our maintenance in the Canadian federation becomes the assurance of a quiet disappearance.
The CAQ’s summer propaganda was empty of content, apart from the glorification of François Legault. It did not lead to any spectacular achievement. We won’t remember much!
What assessment?
The CAQ unveiled its slogan, Continuons, in this atmosphere. But what does she want to continue with such a meager balance sheet?
Faced with the pandemic, Quebec has the worst performance of the Canadian provinces.
When it comes to ethics, the CAQ is even more lax than the Liberals.
In terms of humanist sensitivity, recent statements by Minister Fitzgibbon show a party more concerned with corporate profits than with human life.
Laws on secularism and language are proving sieves that will not stand the test of reality.
In terms of education, the CAQ wears rose-colored glasses despite the apprehended disasters.
In health, it wants to innovate by considering yet another structural reform.
Even the readers who scold the criticisms of Mr. Legault and the CAQ do not show any achievements worthy of mention, preferring to stick to prejudices.
Will we really continue to fall asleep?