Immigrants should be told of Quebec’s linguistic realities
What should the Quebec government tell immigrants who choose to settle here about the language situation in Montreal and Quebec?
This appears to be a major challenge for Diane De Courcy, minister in charge of immigration and also of Bill 101, judging by the observations she made on the Opinion page of the The Gazette on the day she tabled Bill 14, proposed legislation to amend the French Language Charter (Dec. 4, “Why we need a new Bill 101”).
According to the minister, immigrants were promised that French was the province’s common language. Regrettably, she says, this is not the case, and so Quebec has let them down.
De Courcy wrote that the use of French is slipping, many newcomers must take English-as-a-second-language courses if they hope to find work, bilingualism is becoming the rule rather than the exception, and the anglicization of Montreal is the ongoing norm. All this must have come as a surprise to anglophones, who are surely skeptical that the English language is as strong here as the minister suggests it is.
Then again, maybe Madame De Courcy was speaking solely for domestic con- sumption. Because the idea that English is important to professional development and an immigrant’s quality of life in Quebec is something that the government of Quebec does, in fact, try to convey to newcomers and prospective newcomers.
In her own immigration ministry’s orientation guide, entitled Learning about Quebec: Your Guide to Successful Integration (available in English as well as French), immigrants are told that “French is the language of public institutions and the normal and usual language of work, instruction, communications, trade and business,” and that “knowledge of French is indispensable for participating in cultural, civic and social life, functioning in daily life, making full use of your job skills and integrating more quickly into the labour market.” That’s certainly true.
On the other hand, page 109 of the guide states that “employers may require you to know English to be able to practise your trade or profession in certain jobs, areas of economic activity or regions. In this case, you must acquire an adequate knowledge of the language. There are different methods for learning English. Educational institutions and language schools offer courses on their premises or distance programs. If you already have advanced knowledge of French, find out about opportunities to take English courses in your country of departure.”
And page 151 says “written and spoken knowledge of French and English will greatly influence your chances of professional advancement.”
It’s to the immigration ministry’s credit that it conveys an accurate account of the practical realities of language on a day-to-day basis. The ministry’s website says a third edition of the orientation guide is due to be published shortly. Let’s hope that the guide continues to tell it like it is, and not paint an unfortunately ideological portrait that gives the wrong impression.
The reality of Quebec, particularly Montreal, is that French is essential and English important. According to the 2011 census, French is the first language of nearly 80 per cent of Quebecers, and nearly 95 per cent of the population reports a know- ledge of French, making it the language that is by far shared by Quebecers. Even so, 60 per cent of Montrealers know French and English, making Montreal one of North America’s most bilingual cities.
The third edition of the guide should be clear: Immigrants should expect to live in a society where the dominant language is French, but they should not be surprised to hear people speaking English and other languages on the streets of downtown Montreal and elsewhere in the Montreal region. And while promoting the use of the French language is a priority for the government of Quebec, there is an ongoing debate — sometimes passionate — about how best to achieve that objective.