Montreal rally to protect French language
June 9, 2008 · By Charles Anthony
I question whether the use of French and the Anglicization of Montreal matters to the entire culture of Quebec. Maybe it does and maybe it does not. I do not know. However, it seems that the artists in Quebec have a clutter of demands and defenses of the French language. They point to the increasing use of English in Montreal and say that French is threatened in all of Quebec. I do not know whether that is a reasonable association to make. They demand that French be the only official language in public institutions but complain about coffee shop customers who only speak English — hello? the coffee shop is not a public institution and thank God for that!
Some of the artists have provided a ray of clever insight:
Une solution semblait faire consensus chez la plupart des participants : la souveraineté.
I agree with that and thus, I have a suggestion to all of the Montreal-Quebeckers who are worried about losing their culture and their language: promote sovereignty or forever hold your peace.
I would also recommend that Quebeckers keep their children in school. Their high drop-out rates seem related specifically to French language studies.
Over 60% of Quebec anglophones are fluently bilingual. I would have thought it would be more, but in any case, anglophones use either language, west of “The Main” (Boul St Laurent), and French, to the east. That rule has operated for over 30 years. Workers on “the Main” itself are 100% bilingual. And they are very good at speaking the correct language to persons at first instance.
The French protesters are attacking a system that is working. Mistreatment of francophones in west Montreal - if not Sparks, Ottawa - is the exception; respect in the rule.
According to what I heard on the radio, there were a lot more people across the road from the rally at the weekly Tam Tam outdoor concert (percussion)!
People had better remember that Montreal is NOT Quebec and that Quebec is NOT Montreal.
Quebec city is no where as vibrant and cosmopolitan as Montreal is. No other city, village or town in Quebec is as culturally diverse and outgoing and tolerant as Montreal. The premiers of Quebec always stay in Montreal when they get the chance.
To apply the restrictive policies imposed by Quebec city have little relevance in Montreal which is, according to Lucien Bouchard, “a bilingual city”. At least one Quebecer looks at the province in realistic eyes.