Anglos, francophones have distorted views of each other: survey

Anglophones and francophones in Quebec are of like mind when it comes to having a positive opinion of the other group and agree that anglophones have had a strong impact on the economy and contributed to the province’s history.

But ask whether the French language in Quebec is well protected, or if anglophones contributed to Quebec culture or the founding of the province, or whether anglophones are aware they ’re a minority, and suddenly interpretations diverge significantly.

The findings were part of a survey conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies and the Quebec Community Groups Network released Saturday titled “Bonjour Hi: What French and English Quebecers think about each other and about key issues.”

The poll was born of the decision of the National Assembly in late November to vote unanimously in favour of asking merchants to say Bonjour as opposed to “BonjourHi” in shops.

The issue unearthed a wide, and for many, surprising, divergence in opinion between anglophones and francophones.

“We are seeing a lot of contact now between anglophones and francophones,” said Jack Jedwab, executive vice-president of the Association for Canadian Studies. “But what does it mean in terms of the ways in which we understand each other, and are we clinging on to some of the old generalizations about the other groups?”

In terms of positivity, 75 per cent of French speakers said they had a “very ” or “somewhat” positive perception of anglophone Quebecers, while 25 per cent had a somewhat or very negative view. Among those who grew up in English, 78 per cent responded they had a positive view of francophones. But anglophones were two and a half more likely than francophones to tick off “very positive.”

A majority of both groups (69 per cent) said they were positive about relations between Englishand French-speaking Quebecers.

On the topic of the Charter of the French Language, or Bill 101, however, opinions varied greatly. Eighty-nine per cent of francophones said they had a positive opinion of the Charter, versus only 31 per cent of anglophones. At the same time, twice as many anglophones than francophones said they thought the French language was well protected in Quebec.

Breaking down the figures, the survey found that of anglophones who hold a negative view of the Charter, 47 per cent held a negative view of English-French relations. At the same time, francophones who felt Bill 101 was not doing a good job of protecting the French language were less likely to hold a positive view of anglos.

The figures showed how certain negative generalizations or anxieties could lead to prejudicial views of a whole linguistic group in the eyes of a minority, Jedwab said. Some of those anxieties are stoked by political groups on both sides of the linguistic divide.

“Even if it’s a small group, when anxieties are out there they can be exploited,” he said. “And they are exploited.”

English and French were more likely to believe the other group earns more money, when in fact they’re largely equal, although anglos have a higher share of persons living with low income.

The survey was conducted by Léger Marketing with a sample of 1,226 Quebecers — 871 francophones, 275 anglophones and 106 allophones. It was conducted between May 14 to 17 via a web panel and has a margin of error of 3.5 points, 19 times out of 20.