Public Opinion Letter: Building bridges in a changing linguistic context
To me, the project we call “Canada” will never be complete. In my lifetime and in the past 55 years that our Official Languages Act has been in existence, I’ve seen linguistic concerns in our country ebb and flow.
It’s clear that we’re at a point where these concerns are very present, particularly among the Quebec population.
And yet, in their interactions with neighbours, colleagues and friends, a vast majority of Quebecers describe their exchanges with members of the other language group positively. Just like in any relationship, there were of course some opposing views, but there was also a lot of common ground.
The English-speaking communities of Quebec are also highly bilingual and value the French language and culture. Unfortunately, this isn’t always—or even often—what’s commonly portrayed in the public arena.
In recent years, these communities have been the focus of much public discourse and debate, at times even questioning their legitimacy as official language minority communities, given the global preponderance of the English language in Canada and in North America.
As a new chapter begins in the history of Canada’s official languages, with a modernized Official Languages Act that recognizes the need to protect French, both in Quebec and across the country, I felt it was important at this time to take the pulse of Quebecers and test some of the perceptions that exist about English-speaking communities of Quebec, their relationship with French in Quebec and bilingualism in Canada.
There are still some enduring misperceptions about English-speaking communities of Quebec, which in reality often also live in French. This is what my new research study entitled Building Bridges: Perceptions and Realities about the English-speaking communities of Quebec and their relationship with French in Quebec and bilingualism in Canada demonstrates.
Building understanding among and between our pan-Canadian official language communities is fundamental. English-speaking Quebecers are in large part allies of French in Quebec, and they encourage the promotion of bilingualism among English speakers elsewhere in the country and defending Francophone minorities’ rights outside Quebec.
Without this, and without official language minority communities who show by virtue of their very existence and vitality that both language groups have a place in this country, the project we call “Canada” is simply untenable.
Linguistic debates will inevitably continue in our society. However, Quebecers, both French-speaking and English-speaking, remind us that there is a foundation of goodwill, a way of living together that they express on a daily basis. That we continue to talk to each other justifies, I believe, a cautious optimism for the future of linguistic relations in Quebec and Canada.
This, for me, is the crux of what my study confirms and what we should always remember as we face linguistic tensions in society.
Raymond Théberge
Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada