The charter of Montreal may say that it is “a city of the French language”, it is clear that this is less and less true, and the administrations that have succeeded in the town hall have not is doing a lot to fix it.
Former PQ leadership contender and historian Frédéric Bastien believes Denis Coderre is most likely to improve things, recalling his vigorous defense of French during his time as sports minister in Ottawa, which he opposes to Valérie Plante’s multiculturalism and her taste for English. During his visit to To have to Wednesday morning, we asked Mr. Coderre with insistence what he intended to do concretely to contribute to the integration of immigrants. As a local government, Montreal has a role to play, he said, but his explanations were confused to say the least. Of course, French gives Montreal an “extraordinary cachet”, but we must also take into account the “added value” brought by diversity and the “English reality” in which we live in North America. We must not have a “reductive vision” of a metropolis and above all avoid succumbing to the “provincialism syndrome”.
Like the mayor, Mr. Coderre wants all municipal services to remain available in English to those who want them. He therefore demands that bilingual 311 telephone service be excluded from Bill 96.
He maintained that Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette now agrees with this request. Verification done, it is not. The only exceptions are those required by health, public safety or “principles of natural justice”. Nothing to do with library schedules or tax notices. Only Native people and native English speakers will be able to receive all services in English beyond the six-month transition period.
Specifically, Mr. Coderre does not agree with the criterion used to determine who will be entitled to services in English, namely the provisions that already govern access to school. According to him, francophones, who were once hurt by the Durham report, should be able to understand that anglophones cannot accept such a narrow definition. We do not really see what the relationship is, but would be English-speaking all those who claim to be. Like in the good old days before Bill 101.
Those who believe that the return of Mr. Coderre to the town hall would help to slow down the decline of French are therefore likely to be disappointed. Saint-Sulpice councilor Hadrien Parizeau, who is part of the Coderre team, passed a motion last June providing for the creation of a Montreal French language council. “His mandate would be to ensure that we have strong action plans on language, in the institution, but also on the integration of newcomers,” he explained.
According to him, the Action Plan for the enhancement of the French language 2021-2014, presented by the Plante administration last March, is a simple “sheet to promote actions that were already underway”. It is true that the proposed measures are in no way coercive, but Mr. Parizeau will have to ask his leader to explain to him how bilingualism in municipal services constitutes a “strong action plan on language” and will promote integration of immigrants. It should be noted that at no time during his interview with the To have toMr. Coderre, moreover, did not consider it useful to allude to advice on language.
He finally realized that his refusal to reveal before the elections the list of clients who had allowed him to pursue a lucrative career as a consultant during the past four years risked costing him dearly, but the memory of the secretive mayor who had tried hiding the failure of Formula E is not the only danger that awaits him.
His chances of winning depend essentially on the support he receives from the English-speaking community. The latest Léger poll gives him a 10-point lead (38% against 28%) over Mme Plant among Anglophone voters, while the mayoress is the choice of 48% of Francophones, 12 points more than Mr. Coderre.
It is imperative for him to recover some of the 14% support for Balarama Holness among English speakers. Of course, he quickly dissociated himself from the suicidal idea of a referendum on the linguistic status of Montreal put forward by the leader of Mouvement Montreal. He simply proposes that the metropolis remain bilingual, without the word. It is better to keep some things quiet.