How to maintain linguistic harmony
So, still feel good about the Liberals’ majority win on April 7?
If you’re a member of a minority group in Quebec, you’re probably feeling a lot less anxious than you were when the PQ was running things.
Well, I wouldn’t get used to that feeling, because it likely won’t last.
This is probably what will happen: After a period of relative linguistic peace, anglos will begin to overlook Quebec’s Charter of the French Language. Things in Montreal will become a bit more English, less French. Alarmed, francos will put their collective foot down, causing anglos to retreat out of fear that additional new legal measures will be taken to rein in the use of English.
The problem is Quebec anglos tend to forget who calls the shots in this province. Here’s who doesn’t: anglos and allos, who are outnumbered by francos by a margin of 8 to 2.
How else could the language charter have come into law? The ones calling the shots wanted it. Anglos, representing about 10 per cent of the population, are, to put it bluntly, overpowered. It’s mathematics.
And here’s some more math: If the general view in the French-speaking population is that English is gaining ground at French’s expense, then we’re back to fretting about where they’re going to cut English next.
That’s why my message to anglos who think things are a little more anglo-friendly lately is this: Keep your eyes on the road. Don’t take anything for granted; don’t take what you see now to mean something it doesn’t.
Just because the Liberals beat the PQ on April 7 doesn’t mean that French’s importance in Quebec is somehow diminished. Or that French Quebecers are less keen to protect their language.
If anything, with the Liberals at the helm, French is higher up on the endangered list. It is being watched more closely.
As you read this, hardliners are waiting in the bushes to see if anglos in their carelessness and nonchalance unwittingly help foster a new linguistic turmoil.
Look what happened a couple years ago with the L’actualité article that suggested that young anglos don’t care about the state of French in Quebec.
In a recent commentary in The Gazette, federal Tory MP Maxime Bernier said Quebec needed to embrace more English. That made me cringe. Why? Not because I wouldn’t want to see English more embraced, but because it’s simply not realistic to expect such a thing in a province whose majority has a deep-rooted aversion to becoming anglicized.
This doesn’t mean that most French Quebecers are not willing to accept some English. They’re not naive. They know that English is a fundamental presence in North America and that Montreal is a thriving, vibrant city in great part because of its diverse makeup.
But there is a tipping point with English i n Quebec, which is why I believe that the secret to long-term peaceful coexistence between us is this: maintaining the right linguistic balance. It’s about hitting the sweet spot, that very real meeting point where we can all live comfortably with each other.
I have about as much patience for a French Quebecer who thinks anglos are not real Quebecers as I do for store clerks in Montreal who can’t speak French. If you live in Quebec, being able to communicate in French is a no-brainer.
Here are other things I believe exist in the sweet spot: If you want to buy a métro ticket, do it in French. If you want to buy beer at a dépanneur, do it in French. If you want to buy tires at a garage, well, you get my drift.
And consider this: If there’s no language crisis, then there’s no language crisis to answer for. No defence mechanism kicking in and hitting back. No impetus to revisit the language laws. And no need for the PQ ever to hold power again.
Think about that. If there’s no language crisis, and with public support for sovereignty on the wane, the PQ will cease to matter at all.
And anglos and allos won’t have to feel so anxious anymore come election night.
It’s all about that sweet spot.