Is this the end of a bilingual nation?
The 2021 census data on language, published last week, all point to a decline in the use of French in Canada and in Quebec, although the context varies from province to province. If Canadians do not change their approach to the country’s two official languages, Canada will soon become a unilingual English (albeit multicultural) nation, encompassing a separate, mainly French nation.
Outside of Quebec, the proportion of people for whom French is the first official language spoken has dropped from six per cent in 1971 to 3.3 per cent today.
This apparently unstoppable trend has happened despite the adoption of the Official Languages Act in 1969, and notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts of the concerned French-speaking communities. The assimilation of francophones to the English-speaking majority continues unabated.
In Quebec, despite bill 101, the percentage of Quebecers who have French as their mother tongue and that for whom French is the first official language spoken are trending downward. Demography experts are debating the significance of those declines, considering two apparently contradictory facts: French is spoken at home by the vast majority of Quebecers (85.5 per cent); and as immigration is increasing, a significant number of newcomers to the province choose English rather than French as their second language.
Finally, the number of Canadians outside of Quebec who speak both official languages has decreased from 10.3 per cent 20 years ago to 9.5 per cent today. Meanwhile in the province of Quebec, the proportion of bilingual people continues to rise so that, in 2021, 60 per cent of bilingual Canadians were Quebecers! In other words, bilingualism, Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s dream, is agonizing in most regions of the country.
It is true that, when launching the Official Languages Act, Trudeau senior was not hoping that every Canadian become bilingual. His first ambition, more pragmatic, was that Canadians could be served in the official language of their choice by their national government. However, he also had a more idealist vision, which he elaborated on when the Official Languages bill was tabled on Oct. 17, 1968:
“All Canadians should capitalize on the advantages of living in a country which has learned to speak in two great world languages.
“Such a country will be able to make full use of the skills and energy of all its citizens. Such a country will be more interesting, more stimulating and, in many ways, richer than it has ever been. Such a country will be much better equipped to play a useful role in the world of today and tomorrow.”
This has not happened and is not likely to occur. One thing is certain: official bilingualism cannot be sustained unless the government of Canada demonstrates an iron-willed commitment towards the country’s official languages. The appointment of a Governor General who does not speak French is not consistent with such a commitment, whatever Mary Simon’s other merits. As former Official Languages Commissioner and journalist Graham Fraser asserted 16 years ago in his book, Sorry, I don’t speak French.
“There is a tendency in English Canada to think of language as yesterday’s issue. In fact, it remains the central political and social fact of Canadian life, and the most critical fault line. If Canada cannot produce leaders who can speak for the whole country, it is difficult to see how the country can function effectively.”
More importantly, for French to continue to prosper in Canada, government policies (in Ottawa or in Quebec City) are not enough. The past 50 years have shown that there are limits to what governments can do in that field. In the end, the will to save French and Canada’s bilingual character must come from the people. In Quebec, the determination certainly exists, but most Quebecers are content to rely on the provincial government instead of taking on the fight themselves. For example, they care very little about an important but neglected aspect of the problem, the poor quality of the French language spoken in the province.
In the rest of Canada, many parents are sending their kids to immersion school, but the long-term impact of this trend on bilingualism is doubtful. Fraser highlighted that, as they become adults, young Canadians gradually lose the little French they have learned at school: “In the past, the argument has been made that English Canadians should learn French for the sake of Quebec and national unity. No, dammit, we should do it for ourselves. Learning another language is the first step to understanding the rest of the world, not just the country we live in.”
Fraser’s plea has fallen on deaf hears. Indeed, most Canadians appear indifferent as one of our country’s founding pillars has eroded to the point of collapse. Is it the wish of Canadians that bilingualism disappear as a characteristic of Canada? If so, we are on the right track.