A few days ago, Andres (fictitious name) told me that he will not be able to stay in Quebec to have his permanent residence there, following a change in eligibility for his Quebec Experience Program ( PEQ). Andres has been my best friend’s roommate since 1er September 2022. He moved to Quebec in the summer of 2022.
Originally from Latin and Francotropic America, he chose to settle in Quebec to have better living conditions. He started learning French on a regular and diligent basis in 2017. He had to make the hard choice to leave his family in the hope of finding a better future here in Quebec. From Monday to Friday, he studies full-time in the master’s degree in engineering (where he obtained the highest grade in his class). He also works part-time and, on Saturdays, he takes francization courses.
Upon arriving in Quebec, Andres made the conscious choice to live with a French-speaking family and a roommate to fully include himself in Quebec culture and familiarize himself with the different accents that enter and leave their large house. He always tries to find the right words in French to make himself understood.
He asks questions about our national history, agrees to discover Quebec music, he even dared to embark on our rigodons! He has made a polyglot girlfriend who always encourages him to speak to her in French. He laughs at our boring puns, goes out on Saturday evenings to meet people who speak French, chats late at night to talk about the news, plays board games with the whole family in French. He even put on his skates and took our crazy carpets to face the cold.
It seems to me that surviving the winter, cultivating a curiosity for the French language and meeting Quebecers are already good signs of integration… By accompanying him in his apprenticeship, I for my part learned to be more proud of my language and my culture. I am not him, but I am exhausted for him, so studious, so hardworking and so social, who is told, a year before the end of his gestation, that his fight will not end as he thought.
In my head, it’s as if he was in a relationship with Quebec, which promised to co-create a child with him, but which, on the date of arrival, said to him: “Ah yes, you know, I want a child with you… But, finally, I changed my mind. You still have to do something else to prove to me that you are a good father…”
You’ve been working hard every morning for more than two years to be accepted and finally not getting any positive results. Ok, maybe indeed we are trying to define ourselves as a people and the law could potentially help us keep our language, but why penalize someone like Andres who has tried so hard?
Forced to change province or country in a few months, Andres may not have the motivation to continue to cultivate French, which he was beginning to appropriate; the new language of his new love, of his new friendships, of his future joys and sorrows.
Collectively, aren’t we moving away from our goal of saving our language? The new Quebec experience program could have provided for a caveat that would have allowed it to continue its commitment to temporary immigrants rather than forcing them to leave indirectly.
Yes, after his master’s degree, Andres can still study in French if he really wants to stay in Quebec, but it will cost him $15,000 in tuition fees per year. And that will not prevent him from living in insecurity that the eligibility criteria may change again in two or three years (because the criteria, yes, have already changed twice in three years) and thus run the risk of misfortune to have his permanent permit denied.
My Quebec is sharing, caring listening, ecology, creativity, French and honesty. Mon Québec also knows how to take responsibility for its commitments. For me, that’s what Quebec is, because I embody it. Just like Andres embodied in the last few months. I know people who were born in Canada living in Quebec for several years, but who do not even try to say “bonjour” to me in French…
To them, I have to speak English to make myself understood and they are Quebecers. Andres overcomes his frustration at not always being understood by continuing to speak French. He could have chosen to surround himself only with English speakers when he arrived in Montreal, but no. Because Andres chose to be Quebecer. We measure the success of a project by the effort and commitment put into it.
According to the interviews I listened to, the father of Quebec multidisciplinary artist Adib Alkhalidey was never able to speak or understand French. In my opinion, he is still a Quebecer, because he put in the effort and the commitment necessary for his children to learn French and integrate into Quebec. Adib is for me the example of a cultural permaculture. If we had closed the doors to his parents, we could not have counted on this Quebec gem.
So it is for Andres and thousands of other failed hopefuls. I’m not saying accept everyone, I’m just saying reconsider our strategy and at least stand up to defend our past commitments. A few more years and Andres could have radiated by saying: “I am a Quebecer, tabarnak de tabarnacos”, but our social project in our large household will not see the light of day.
Signed with love, Mounia Guessous and the Ramdam family: ” Mi casa are you casa »