April 21, 2003
Canada: One
Country, Many Languages
By Domenico Maceri
In 1995 Quebec almost broke away from Canada
and became an independent country. The
most recent provincial election in Quebec
reveals that Canada will remain one
country with a bilingual and indeed a
multilingual flavor.
The fear that bilingualism would split Canada
into two countries seems to have abated
if not disappeared altogether at least
for now. The victory of Jean Charest’s
Liberal Party in the Quebec legislature
augurs badly for separatist
tendencies. Charest, who is to
become the premier in Quebec, has stated
that he will work to obtain concessions
from the national government but will not
push for separation.
The losers in the latest election are
Bernard Landry and his Parti Quebecois,
which had separatist tendencies.
The Liberal Party won 76 seats in the
Assembly while the Parti Quebecois only
45.
Although the separatist movement has
taken a beating, French will remain the
dominant language in Quebec. New
immigrants will be educated in French.
And the laws designed to maintain the
hegemony of the French language in the
province will remain in place. That does
not mean Quebec will become a monolingual
province. Far from it. The entire
province, and Montreal in particular,
will retain its bilingual flavor and
indeed even a multilingual one.
In the recent election, even politicians
who ran on a separatist platform were
satisfied that the current linguistic
system works well. Some politicians, in
fact, not only used their bilingual
skills but have expanded them as they
attempted to reach more voters. Pierre
Bourque, a former mayor of Montreal and a
former separatist, campaigned for a seat
in the Provincial Assembly from east of Montreal
using French, English, and Spanish.
Although language concerns are always
present, in the last election candidates
focused more on the issues of taxes,
health care, and the economy in general.
The question of languages seems to have
been settled. More and more English
speakers and French speakers are finding
accommodation in Quebec. Multilingualism
is working.
In part, things have improved because a
number of English speakers have left Quebec.
Those who have stayed are increasingly
becoming bilingual and intermarriages are
becoming more common. One third of Quebec’s
English speakers are marrying French
speakers in Quebec. The result is
bilingual kids are the norm. Bilingualism
is beginning to be viewed not only as
possible but even desirable.
It was not always so, of course. French
speakers used to see themselves treated
as second-class citizens. The success of
the Parti Quebecois bolstered the use of
French in the province. The language laws
of the 1970’s were seen as extreme
by English speakers because they made
French the official provincial language.
Now things are more relaxed. A
recent survey found that 50 percent of
English speakers believe language laws
should be maintained in Quebec. Older
respondents, however, expressed doubts
about it. Some business owners still
consider the language laws extreme and an
infringement on their rights. One law,
for example, states that the French
version of business signs must be twice
the size of their English translation. In
addition, services in Quebec must be
provided in French or French and English.
Other languages can be used, but French
must be given priority. Small business
owners find these restrictions an
imposition.
These laws reflect the demographic
landscape in Quebec. Montreal remains a
largely French-speaking city.
French speakers account for roughly 80
percent of the population; English 10
percent, and a number of other languages
such as Italian, Spanish, Arabic, etc.
account for the rest.
The situation in the rest of Canada as a
whole also reflects a similar
multingualism but English clearly is
the most widely spoken language. The 2001
census showed that more than 100
languages are spoken, although English
and French dominate. 67 percent of
Canadians speak English at home; 23
percent speak French; and 10 percent
speak a language other than French or
English. Nationally, 43 percent of French
speakers reported that they were
bilingual, an 8 percent increase compared
to five years earlier. 9 percent of
English speakers stated they were
bilingual.
In Quebec, more than one language seems
to become more and more typical. The
family situation of Antonia Maioni,
Director of the Institute for the Study
of Canada at McGill University, is
getting to be the norm. Maioni, the
daughter of English-speaking Italian
immigrants, married a French speaker.
Their three kids speak French as their
first language but can also speak English
and Italian to their maternal
grandmother. In essence, Canada's
languages unite rather than divide.
=======================
Domenico Maceri (dmaceri@hotmail.com),
PhD, UC Santa Barbara, a contributing
columnist to HispanicVista.com, teaches
foreign languages at Allan Hancock College
in Santa Maria, CA.
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