Posted yesterday at 1:00 p.m.
I come from a French Italian-Tunisian immigrant family. In 1964, from Marseille, my parents and their four children immigrated to Quebec for the first time. The integration ended in a bitter failure, felt by my mother. Isolation and poor social programs have contributed to this.
Also, at that time, the school system and its influence on religion, omnipresent in school, were significant. In addition, we suffered from hurtful words that only children are capable of, in connection with our Italian-sounding name. The unsaid were in keeping.
If the Italians once suffered ostracism, the French, some because of their attitude, were taxed as “cursed French”. We got both! So far, I almost agree with Mme Bazzo.
The final point that sounded the death knell: the harshness of winter. My mother had reached her quota.
To my father’s chagrin, in the spring of 1965 she returned to France with the four children; my father followed several months later.
In the early 1960s, Quebec had not come out of its torpor. The first stammerings of the Quiet Revolution were emerging.
Second trial
Back in France, my father, mad about Quebec, never let go. He followed the evolution of Quebec, while France was undergoing serious social problems. He managed to convince my mother to come back. In 1970, we landed again in Montreal.
The contrast was striking. Quebec was embarking on a socioeconomic metamorphosis thanks, among other things, to an avalanche of reforms. The post-Expo 67 period had brought an enriching influx of French-speaking immigration. Quebec has opened up to the world; the world has opened up to Quebec. So we found a modern and welcoming society. Certainly, we had an asset, the common language, French.
I come to the present with the election campaign and Mr. Legault’s clumsy phrase about the “violent” in its context. The words used are clumsy, but I understand the Prime Minister’s concerns. Welcoming immigrants en masse, as the federal government is planning, does not bode well.
In recent decades, newcomers have adopted more English. Multiculturalism creates tensions. It does not invite people to live together, rather encouraging them to move towards everyone-their-culture-and-values and to claim.
Immigrating is a shock; we have to accept losing certain points of reference. Integrating means learning the language of the host society. It is a tool and a starting point; you have to go beyond that. Integrating means developing an interest in and respecting the culture, values and dynamics of this society. It doesn’t mean denying yourself; it’s ADDING to what we are and sharing our experience.
I disagree with what Mr.me Bazzo on Quebecers’ lack of love for themselves and their language, their morbid doubt, distrust of the Other, as well as the Prime Minister’s intention to turn certain voters against immigrants.
The time when M’s fatherme Bazzo has immigrated is over. Quebec society is not perfect. Which company is? It is resolutely clear that Quebecers have emancipated themselves: they have taken their socio-economic destiny into their own hands. They found their way and forged their own culture in the North American Francophonie. Long ago, they evacuated the contemptuous spirit of Lord Durham.
Should we improve? Surely. Everyone bears a responsibility. Quebecers prone to abuse their language and use English excessively must pull themselves together and set an example. Immigration is a wealth that goes beyond the economic factor. The government must do more to help them integrate. However, it is imperative that the openness be reciprocal. I have no doubts about Quebecers. Quebec has been good for my family, for me. He never stopped being.
Quebecers have long demonstrated their humanity and their sensitivity to others. I trust.