Should Elizabeth II be Canada's Elizabeth the Last?

As an English-speaking Canadian, I have corresponding rights even in the most French-majority parts of Quebec and New Brunswick (for example, if I moved to my father's hometown in Quebec, where now about 90% speak French as their first language, 3% English, rest other).

 

No you don't. Try to send your kids to an English-speaking school (if you can find one within 100 miles) and see what happens. That, as a right, is now long gone in QC. And see how well you fare with a monolingual francophone storekeeper or cop. All you have is the right to be ignored or not understood. Or to leave town.

If the situation escalates and you go to court -- THEN you have rights to English. Not before. "Nos droits ne sont pas pour les maudits WASPs anglais." -- heard that somewhere.

 

My neighbor is a Canadian from Toronto. She recently became an American citizen. She loves Queen Elizabeth. As proof she is Canadian in her core, she thinks Harry and Megan are whiney and insulting to the Queen and the royal family. She thought their interview with Oprah exposed them as very bad and selfish. Whereas I thought it made them look very good thoughtful and reserved in their criticism.

 

It sounds like your impression of Anglophone life in Francophone-majority Quebec is shaped by cohort and selection bias. Many Anglos left Quebec in the mid to late 20th century and many of those will paint such a picture.

I can’t say their accounts are wrong. I can say they’re not representative of my family’s experience and I think they’re not representative of language and ethnic politics in Quebec today.

My family is from Sherbrooke, where the 3% Anglo minority in a city of about 210k have a full autonomous public school system, a community college, university, newspaper, campus/community radio station, clubs, church services, etc. English population and services tend to be concentrated in Lennoxville, a bilingual borough within the amalgamated city. I concede that the tiny English minority has an unusually strong infrastructure in Sherbrooke and the region. There are also nearby smaller towns partly serviced by Sherbrooke with larger percents Anglo.

My admirably stubborn grandparents kept their home in the old north ward, opposite side of the city from Lennoxville, over the decades as their neighbourhood went from ballpark 50% English to around 1%. They were an Englishman and a Scotswoman, both Protestant. They never learned to speak French beyond brief pleasantries. Of course they could pick up some content, and their English used many French loanwords.

They never experienced anything substantive but kindness from the Francophone majority, nor did I when visiting, nor did I hear significant reports of language- or ethnic-based unkindness among family or friends.

I concede that there are some quarters in Quebec in which “les maudits WASPs anglais” are attacked. I suspect this peaked no later than the mid 90s and has fallen off heavily since.

 

Been there - lots of times - quite a few places. Able to make my way in French - after re-learning French for Canada. All the bad stuff is NOT over, Jonathan. They still have the Language Police, the Bureau de Protection, The laws re: English schools -- the whole nine yards. I've sometimes heard anglophone people living in their own small communities referred to as "Rhodesians." What gives me hope is a new class of young French Canadians who are educated and speak both languages extremely well. These are the truly bilingual Canadians. Until there are many more such people, Canada will not have true bilingualism in significant numbers. What they will have is continued dual monolingualism. And I wouldn't be surprised if the term "maudit WASP" is still around in 50 years -although it's doubtful I'd see it then - I'd be 129.

And not only "WASPs" will have to look out for themselves. I'm assuming you've heard of "La Meute." (The Wolf Pack).

 

Resentment by Francophones against Anglophones has been related in part to Anglophones holding what was seen as disproportionate economic and social power. Fortunately in this context, my family never really had any!

 

Good for you, Bill. I think Harry and Meghan are good people, who made a difficult decision -- and their resulting situation is not the best, as they've become subject to much public criticism - and they're always in the spotlight, whether they want to be or not. Being a Royal is not an easy thing -that's obvious. And ceasing to be one is fraught with its own difficulties. I wish both of them every success -- and some peace and alone-time to raise their kids and make a home. That's ultimately what everybody wants, I think - including Royals and ex-Royals.

Incidentally - I first saw Meghan before Harry met her. On-screen, of course. She was in a Canadian TV commercial that involved going to a staged "Class Reunion" and her name was mentioned. I sure sat up and took notice! A year or two later, I heard that Harry had recently taken notice of her, too. Good for him. That man REALLY won a prize!

 

But again, I ask why a French speaking minority has all these cultural rights but a Cantonese speaking minority does not? Once again, groups rights violate equal protection.

 

Polities in which English and French respectively were the majority languages reached these agreements as part of their union. The provisions better guaranteed individual mobility rights throughout the country thus formed.

 

Yes and that’s exactly what I meant when I called it a "birth defect."

 

Do you consider every country with instruments guaranteeing certain legal and education rights in more than one but fewer than an unlimited number of languages to be unjust?

 

Yes.

 

Inevitable perhaps but always a violation of equal protection. Why should an English speaker not demand services from the Quebec government in English? French is the sole official language in Quebec. French and English are both official languages everywhere else in the country.

 

If I make apple cider in Alberta why should I be compelled to label it in French as well as English but my business sign in Montreal must be French? Nonsense.

 

But again, I'm neither Canadian nor likely ever to live there. Every country has its peculiarities. If I were Canadian I think I'd offer Quebec her independence. Either she accepts that there are Canadians and only Canadians or she goes her own way and the rest of Canada can quit subsidizing her French culture foolishness.

 

I took one class day of French. I thought French was nonsense and so dropped out and took Spanish instead. So I agree with you on that.

 

Of course, if I spoke French I might see things differently...

 

No, I don't think so. I speak it and I agree with you that the provisions are in ways, nonsense. The difference between us: you're not Canadian. You don't go along with the BS.
Canadians do -especially English Canadians. They don't want to ruffle the other side's feathers so they go along with any kind of BS. And in so doing, they perpetuate a lot of wrongs, such as the ones you spoke of earlier. Language issues? Doing the best I can - been to school for about 9 of them, including Ukrainian, Mandarin, Mohawk ...

Maybe we Canadians can take a look at how Switzerland manages with four - plus English as a business lingua franca. Language rights don't seem to be a problem there. Their currency is pretty sound too. A lot we could learn. A little muesli and fondue goes a long way.

 

This incorrectly conflates different official languages at different levels of government.

English and French are both official languages of the federal government everywhere in the country including in federal operations in Quebec.

In 8 of 10 provincial governments English is the sole official language. In the Quebec provincial government French is the sole official language. In the New Brunswick provincial government both English and French are official languages.

Food labelling laws are federal and require exactly the same bilingualism in Alberta as in Montreal.

Local business signage laws are constitutionally provincial, and some aspects are typically devolved to municipalities. I've seen fussy local government micromanagement of business sign content in the US. I don't agree with it in either country.

Canadian governments subsidize cultural activities in dozens of languages without any constitutional obligation to do so. It's popular with residents. It probably sometimes increases global soft power, and in a fairly cheap and unobjectionable way.

 

Others are likely to have strong opinions on this (heck, the second sovereignty referendum kept Quebec in by a razor thin margin) but I appreciate that Quebec is a nation within a nation (and we recognize Quebec at least symbolically as such.) I want to preserve Canada's French and English roots.

The issue of lack of service in English from cops or the STM (transit) that Johann mentioned is real, and there are improvements to be made but I wouldn't want to throw the baby out with the bath water.