In his column of February 24 entitled “ Anti-Quebec identity », Jean-François Lisée evokes recurring cases of intolerance towards Quebec culture in French-speaking schools in Montreal. In addition to the domination of English in certain circles, it highlights a contempt, conscious or unconscious, towards those who were formerly called French Canadians. For many so-called “native” Quebecers, the reality of discrimination as a minority has recently emerged, mainly due to demographic changes affecting the island of Montreal. However, French Canadians outside Quebec have lived this reality since the beginning of Confederation.
The experiences recounted by Mr. Lisée highlight the fragility of French as an official minority language in Canada. Before the adoption of the Official Languages Act in 1969, French benefited from few protections across the country. In provinces where English dominated, French speakers were victims of social and systemic discrimination. Western Canada, in particular, has long been the scene of persistent Francophobia. If the anti-Francophone and anti-Indigenous repression of the Métis of the Red River and the execution of Louis Riel remain the most notable examples, other acts of persecution against the Francophone minority followed.
Little known in Quebec, an openly Francophobic Ku Klux Klan has enjoyed a certain popularity in Canada. Its influence in Alberta and Saskatchewan in the 1920s and 1930s was such that it led to the election of its members to the Canadian Parliament. Cross burnings and threats made within French-speaking communities were commonplace. In some more serious cases, arson attacks have targeted buildings in these communities. Many KKK sympathizers later joined the Nazi cause at the dawn of World War II. Let’s imagine a world where Germany defeated the United States!
Another example of discrimination concerns the school system in Manitoba. Until the 1940s, the Manitoba government sent inspectors to ensure that French was not used as the language of instruction in French-speaking communities. Students had to hide their French books under the classroom floor. The assimilation of French speakers was then a deliberate policy. What should we call the intentional destruction of a people’s cultural heritage?
These examples add to the daily injustices that any French-speaker who grew up in the West at that time can bear witness to. Although many English Canadians disapproved of the violent practices of the Ku Klux Klan, a tacit indifference toward the treatment of French speakers reigned. This public acceptance of anti-Francophone sentiment has fostered a toxic climate. The after-effects of this climate are often still perceptible in the French-speaking communities of English Canada.
As the child of Fransaskois and Franco-Manitoban parents who went into exile in Quebec so that I could live in French, reading that young Francophones in Montreal are victims of discrimination and contempt rekindles deep pain in me. If we want to promote a vision of Quebec that encourages diversity and living together, we must denounce all forms of discrimination. The history of francophones outside Quebec should remind us that the francophone minority in Canada has not been, and will never be, completely free from harm.