Quebec’s language crucible
will probably be counted in Montreal, but that isn’t cause for a new outbreak of linguistic alarm
Today is an important day on the demographic front, as Statistics Canada makes public data from the 2011 census on language knowledge and use. Among other things, the figures will probably show a small decline in the share of francophones on the island of Montreal.
If, as expected, it does, this new census infor mation will probably give rise to the usual outcry about the dire situation purportedly facing the French language on the island. We should expect that the provincial government will point to the results as justification for some of the more stringent measures it insists are needed to protect French.
Pessimists over the future of French pay far too little attention to why the percentage of francophones is diminishing on the island, and rarely explain why it is within the island’s boundaries that the majority language’s fate will be determined.
Some observers concede that the ongoing migration of young francophones to off-island suburbs is a key factor in the declining share of French on the island.
But the principal cause for the reduction is the number of immigrants arriving on the island every year whose first language is neither English nor French.
From 2005 to 2009, the mother tongue of more than 80 per cent of Quebec’s 45,000-plus annual immigration was neither English nor French — and most of these i mmigrants settled on the island. Most of them will remain allophones over the course of their life, and therefore their numbers and their population share on the island and across Quebec will inevitably increase.
Without allophone immi- gration, the population of Montreal would probably remain stagnant. That reality needs to be stated more clearly by more Quebec intellectuals and policy-makers.
Successive Quebec governments have attempted to reassure francophones about the demographic change by pointing out that about 60 per cent of immigrants currently arriving in Quebec declare a knowledge of the French language.
But come census time, this fact seems to give way to declarations about the inadequacy of their integration. By integration, they mean that these allophone immigrants are not using French at home. Such observations lead the most cynical among us to think that those who seek to justify more restrictive language measures welcome those allophones whose acquisition of French can be found to be insufficient.
Does the decline in the percentage of francophones on the island of Montreal mean that the use of the French language is eroding — and, inversely, that the English language is on the rise? The fact that allophone immigrants who do speak one of Canada’s two official languages at home are more likely to opt for French than English suggests that the declining share of francophone representation on the island has not meant an increase in the attraction of English.
But some opinion-makers clearly encourage Quebecers to think otherwise, by organizing the data to lump the English-speaking minority into the island’s non-francophone majority.
A survey conducted by Léger Marketing in March found that 43 per cent of Quebec francophones are worried about losing their mother tongue, 20 per cent say they are very worried and another 23 per cent are somewhat worried. But is there a strong rationale behind such personal fear?
The 2006 census showed only one per cent of mother-tongue Quebec francophones used English most often in their homes — language of use in the home being the criterion that most demographers generally associate with language loss. The gap between the actual loss of French and the percentage expressing concern that they will lose their mother tongue suggests that francophones’ linguistic fears are very strongly influenced by messages they hear suggesting their language is on the brink of disappearance.
In his Oct. 12 commentary on The Gazette’s Opinion page (“French predominance and personal bilingualism should be our goal”), Montreal lawyer Julius Grey reacted to a recent exchange of open letters on the page involving myself and JeanFrançois Lisée, the new PQ minister responsible for liaison with the anglophone community. Grey’s contention is that when it comes to language, the real issue is notEnglish-Frenchdivisions but the English-Canadian model of “multiculturalism” that represents the greatest threat to Quebec common culture. He implies that multiculturalism somehow encourages minority ethnic groups to maintain their languages and cultures at the expense of adopting the language and culture that is common to most Quebecers. He fails to provide any meaningful supporting evidence for this assertion, however.
Dual and multiple identities are not a threat to Quebec, nor should they be portrayed as such. Our previous governor general, Michaëlle Jean, takes pride in her Haitian origin, strongly identifies with Quebec francophone culture and is proud to be Canadian. The pride in my Jewish heritage in no way undercuts my passion for Quebec and Canada. Similarly, Grey likes to display his affinity with his Polish cultural heritage while strongly identifying with Quebec and with Canada.
As we prepare for reaction to Wednesday’s census data on language knowledge and use, let’s hope reaction simultaneously recognizes the importance of promoting the French language in Quebec, as well as the value of English and diversity. Let’s hope that it isn’t based primarily on fear of the other.