There is real life and there is politics.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
In real life, my French-speaking grandmother, Marielle Gohier, fell in love with an Anglo-Irish man from Montreal in the late 1930s. Both being Catholics, the union was acceptable to their family.
My grandfather Hackett became a pilot and joined the Canadian air force to fight in the Second World War.
In politics, at that time, many nationalist movements agitated Europe and tore the continent apart.
Various countries proclaim themselves superior to their neighbors, or victims of historical wounds, or invent imminent threats to their collective survival: the communists, the Jews, the bourgeois and the anarchists.
Groups are pitted against each other, and power is concentrated in the hands of political strongmen.
In real life, my grandmother Gohier comes from a bourgeois and well-to-do francophone family near Saint-Sauveur, but lived in Westmount for a long time (like Jacques Parizeau). His parents own land in the Laurentians, and lived a good life, full of comfort.
In politics, the Quebec nationalist discourse rarely mentions these Francophone success stories, which were nevertheless numerous. Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s father, Charles-Émile, was one of those businessmen who made his fortune at the start of the 20th century.e century by building gas stations with several French-speaking colleagues.
He will marry Grace Elliott, from a mixed Scottish Quebec family. The Scottish community has been established in Quebec since the 17e century, and has always had close ties with the French-speaking majority.
The biases of the nationalist discourse
In nationalist discourse, we prefer to say that Francophones were victims of Anglophone capitalists and industrialists, forgetting the conservatism of the Catholic Church, illiteracy, rural isolation or corrupt politicians like Duplessis.
We prefer to remember the old ladies at Eaton’s who refused to serve Francophones and every little anecdote of “Bonjour-Hi” received in downtown Montreal, to the thousands of daily warm and respectful interactions between Anglophones and Francophones everywhere Province.
In real life, my grandparents shared everything. They went through ups and downs, like any married couple. Their two children learned French in the 1950s, and continued to speak it with their mother until the end of her life in 2003.
My father and my uncle both married English speakers in the 1970s. They speak English with their children at home, but French in the office. They have lots of good francophone friends, but also anglophones and immigrants.
In real life, politics does not interfere with their friendships. But in politics, these are only “anecdotes”, as François Legault would say.
In real life, any family that lives in Quebec for more than two generations will end up educating their children in French. They have no choice because of Law 101: a success that ensures the sustainability of our beautiful language.
But, in politics, we draw an increasingly gloomy portrait of the situation, and we are told that we are going to disappear, like the French speakers of Louisiana.
In real life, the Italian, Greek, Portuguese and North African communities speak excellent French and are among the most polyglot in North America. But, in politics, the CAQ says they don’t speak French at home, and are therefore a source of concern for our society.
In real life, Montreal from the 1800s to the 1970s was much more English-speaking than it is now. Since 1971, 600,000 Anglophones have left Quebec.
But in the nationalist discourse, we reject the idea that French has been able to progress in Montreal, and we always want more bills.
In politics, as soon as you think you hear a little more English in the central districts of Montreal, around McGill and Concordia, you press the “panic” button.
We don’t know if they are tourists or summer students who will return to Ontario in the fall, but it’s still English, and we say we’re threatened.
In real life, Anglophones and Francophones in Quebec collaborate and work together, toast, fall in love and marry.
But in politics, we continue to scare people, to divide and categorize for partisan purposes.
Dear Quebecers, beware of nationalism and politics.
Let’s stay in real life. As my grandmother would say, “Don’t worry about the Anglophones: anyway, we’re all going to marry them off. »