What bothers me in the Rousseau affair is not so much the fact that this gentleman does not speak French, but that the Air Canada board of directors has decided to appoint a unilingual person to this position who obviously , does not give a damn about French in the Quebec metropolis. Although the thing is astounding when you know that he lives in Montreal and that he has frequent exchanges with francophones. Despite what he now claims, Mr. Rousseau has no consideration for the Montreal majority!
Initially, we hypothesized that the members of a company with international claims come largely from outside the country and that they are therefore less sensitive to our realities. But no ! Eight of the twelve members of the board of directors are Canadian, including three from Quebec. And the company’s head office is in Montreal. It just goes to show that the reflexes of the colonized have not completely disappeared from the landscape, despite the extraordinary Quiet Revolution which saw French speakers access functions other than those of water carriers or employees of the “Boss”, as had so well received Yvon Deschamps.
Some are surprised that the Quebec independence movement is still attractive despite the excellent standard of living we know in Canada. Part of the answer is here: It’s hard to feel like a citizen of this country when you don’t see any empathy or solidarity from our fellow Anglo-Canadian citizens, but rather a sort of rejection that doesn’t speak its name.
We are also surprised at the alleged virtue that surrounds those who claim to be multiculturalism, a political posture that does not exist in any other country. Anglophones can rest assured that in English Canada, from the second generation, immigrants will speak English. We will obviously praise the original contributions of newcomers, which are real. But it will all end in the ” melting pot Canadian where it will be difficult to find traces of the various origins, other than a few culinary habits and cultural or religious practices which do not completely resist the test of time. Everyone will take more or less the Canadian color. As is quite normal in all host societies.
Except in Quebec. Because here, immigrants come first to Canada, where English has all the prestige given to it by its dominant position in North America and the place it occupies in international trade.
We must not forget to explain this delicate situation to the candidate for mayor of Montreal, Holness Balarama, who seems to think that the two official languages of the country have the same weight everywhere in the metropolis.
We wouldn’t exist if certain friends, apart from the Outaouais, would even find it very relieved. Mr. Rousseau, perhaps the first.