Hey ! Youhoo! This way ! We are still here!
Posted yesterday at 3:00 p.m.
Hello, Anglos here, your fellow Quebecers speaking the language of Nick Suzuki, a whopping 13.7% of the population, according to Wikipedia. What do we have to do to get some of your attention in this election campaign?
Yes, we sulk, we apologize. We have never been so insignificant in Quebec. There was a time when we tipped the balance of power in favor of our side in elections, there was a time when we decided referendums. We were somebody, and we were respected. “Money and ethnic votes”, does that mean anything to you? It was us.
Ah, the good old days, when the Anglos, powerful and feared, were in the news. Right now, we’re invisible, far from important, and we only exist as an afterthought…much like the PQ.
The value of our votes plummets faster than a cryptocurrency wallet stocked with non-fungible tokens. Prime Minister Legault went so far as to erase us from the CAQ site and, flagrantly arrogant, he will be absent from the debate in English (as well as Paul St-Pierre Plamondon… especially after the previous paragraph). If it weren’t for Éric Duhaime and his fervent opposition to Bill 96, Anglos would be as much ignored as a platter of soft raw vegetables at Martin Picard’s sugar shack.
Protest parties
But do not say above all that we do not make efforts! There is not one, but two parties of English-speaking protesters trying to extract enough votes from the Liberals to have one or two deputies in the National Assembly. Sounds crazy? In 1991, that’s also what we thought of the Bloc Québécois, but see how far it got them! They defend the rights of Quebec in Ottawa, and receive a large pension from Canada when they have finished making legs of it. The election of a candidate from the Canadian Party of Quebec and/or the Bloc Montreal risks stirring up the cage of a dominant CAQ, like the big, colorful and noisy bad guys in a wrestling show.
But even these parties are viewed by the majority with nonchalance and shrugs. The only Anglos who really piss people off are well-known entrepreneurs who live south of the border, like Brian Hannasch, CEO of the Quebec chain Couche-Tard. (Suggestion: What if we created a linguistic balance program, like when we offset with carbon credits? Each Hannash would balance out a Manon Brouillette, formerly of Videotron, and now CEO of the Verizon Consumer Group in New Jersey.)
So who are the Anglos? Frankly, we are like you… or almost. We have accepted our fate and our position. Basically, an Anglo who still lives in Quebec is integrated. As a people (we leave the word “nation” to you), we are atrociously docile. Our dissidents don’t even protest that much. No STOP camouflage on the panels; if we are unhappy, we take advantage of a long weekend to pack up and start our business elsewhere.
That said, it’s not easy to be an Anglo-Quebecer today. We understand that you are concerned about the future of French, but we cannot accept that the English language is treated like an ugly scar that must be erased, like an enemy language that must be silenced. But stop blaming us!
We are like you! We are parents who simply want their children to have a good education. We are patients who simply want to understand the prognosis explained by their family doctor… if we can find one.
We are not the bad guys; we are not guilty. If you are looking for a scapegoat, blame the sirens of the internet and the media machine that is the United States instead. Sorry, Mr. Legault, but Bills 21 and 96 won’t carry the weight in cyberspace or in the land of Uncle Sam. cool will always want to speak English, and will find a way to do so. English will become a contraband language: the more it is taboo, the more attractive it will be. I foresee the future of English in Quebec: spoken mysteriously in opium dens and printed in underground backrooms like a fascinating forbidden fruit, sold at a high price.
Which brings me to my main point — you know how you feel when you think of the French language? That she is vulnerable, that she must be protected, that there are great evil forces working to destroy her? I’ll let you in on a secret… that’s EXACTLY how we Anglos feel about English in Quebec! We have so much in common. We are in the same boat, but rowing in different directions on Lac du Respect.
I offer you one last little thought: we are a microcosm of you. Or, expressed in a more empowering way, you are a macrocosm of us. There is a little bit of you in us and of us in you… so much so that I have included 46 words common to French and English in the 869 words of this text (try to find them all!). Well, it’s not 13.7%… but it’s very relevant.