It’s December 6, 2000. At Hull City Hall, the Larose commission hears presentations on the situation of French in the Outaouais. The Comité d’action francophone du Pontiac (CAFP) bears witness to the difficulty of living in French, and even to the outright discrimination that Francophones sometimes experience in this predominantly English-speaking MRC. His spokesperson notes in conclusion that the Francophones of the Pontiac have often called for help, but in vain. Then he launches to the stewards: “Let’s hope this time will be the right one! »
At the end of the testimonials, Gérald Larose salutes the persistence of Francophones in adversity. “We are made strong! » he thunders in a high point. Big applause. Except that the Larose report did not propose anything to counter anglicization in the Pontiac or the Outaouais. Nor elsewhere in Quebec.
The CAFP published shortly after the excellent study by Luc Bouvier, The sacrifices of goodwill. History of the Francophones of the Pontiac. Bouvier brilliantly describes the why and the how of the assimilation that is rampant in this magnificent corner of Quebec where, linguistically speaking, one would think oneself in Ontario. He, too, underlines the persistent inaction of our senior officials in the face of this state of affairs.
The Company Piece by piece and National Action have just reissued this indispensable book, enhanced with new census data. We learn that, in the Pontiac, the anglicization of Francophones went from 8% in 1971 to 16% in 2016. And that bilingualism has climbed to 85% among Francophones, while it stagnates at 28%. among English speakers.
The 2021 census confirms these trends. The Pontiac then had 5,737 Francophones according to mother tongue, but 4,691 according to the current language used at home, which represents an assimilation rate of 18%. Bilingualism has reached 88% among Francophones, but still languishes at 27% among Anglophones. English remains the common language of the Pontiac.
Let’s also look at the whole of the Outaouais, which includes the City of Gatineau, its peri-urban RCM of Collines-de-l’Outaouais and the rural RCMs of Papineau, La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau and Pontiac. Since 2001, the weight of French, the language of use, has fallen there from 79.9 to 73.9%, i.e. a loss of 6 percentage points, of which 3.2 in favor of English and 2.8 in benefit from other languages. The Outaouais is therefore becoming anglicized. Quickly. A demographic increase in Papineau, 93% French-speaking, however, compensated for the assimilation of French-speakers in Pontiac and La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau. The anglicization of the Outaouais is thus propelled by that of the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Gatineau. More specifically, by the anglicization of its urban core, the City of Gatineau.
Gatineau is becoming anglicized with a vengeance. Since 2001, the weight of French, the language of use, has fallen there from 83.1 to 74.5%, i.e. by approximately 9 percentage points, of which 5 in favor of English and 4 in favor of other languages . And it is accelerating. The English-speaking population grew 1.6 times faster than the French-speaking population in 2001-2006, 3 times faster in 2006-2011, 7 times faster in 2011-2016 and 27 times faster in 2016-2021.
After the separatist jitters passed, Gatineau attracted immigrants from English Canada with cheaper housing than in Ottawa. But the continued rise in the gains of English through assimilation contributes just as much, if not more, to its anglicization. The rate of anglicization of Francophones in the Gatineau CMA has risen from 1% in 2001 to 3% in 2021, or even 5% among 25 to 34 year olds, an upward dynamic similar to that on the island of Montreal .
Bilingualism in Gatineau has evolved in a similar fashion. Between 2001 and 2021, it increased from 66% to 68% among French mother tongue speakers, but fell from 63% to 55% among English speakers. Among young adults aged 20 to 39, it reached 82.3% among Francophones, but plummeted to 52.8% among Anglophones. This 30-point gap indicates which language is becoming increasingly common between Francophones and Anglophones in Gatineau.
When Trudeau senior bulldozed the heart of what became the new city of Gatineau, Mayor Marcel D’Amour asked his constituents if they were in favor of bringing federal buildings to Hull and strengthening its French character. . Two obviously antagonistic perspectives. At least the elected municipal officials pretended, then, to be concerned about French. Today, only the interests of the developers count. Gatineau is reduced at full speed to a simple extension of Ottawa. Trudeau Sr.’s vision is coming true.
Law 96 proclaims, on paper, French as the common language of Quebec. But it contains nothing to undermine the status of English as a common language de facto between Anglophones and Francophones. Above all, no new Quebec clause to inconvenience future Michael Rousseau. Strictly nothing, what, to stop the anglicization of the Outaouais. That’s a lot of sacrificing goodwill.
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