I’m Tired Of Apologizing: on Being Anglo in Quebec

My roommate Emma is in her second year of Law at Université de Montreal. As a bilingual anglophone, I watch her jump through hurdle after hurdle that the language barrier presents her. She loves her program, and loves being at a French University, but as a bright and articulate young woman, it is frustrating to have to express herself in her second language all the time. Naturally, she cannot sound as bright as she would in her mother tongue.

Of course, this challenge is largely why she chose her program. “it’s a very good legal education,” says Emma, “and it’s a chance to become more entrenched in the French community…we really are two different worlds. We really are.”

So I was surprised to learn why Emma was rushing off to school yesterday earlier than usual. “I didn’t tell you?” she said. “We have a referendum.”

No, I didn’t know. I was stunned when Emma told me what the referendum was for. The U de M newspaper had begun allowing English articles to be published since September of this year. This caused a massive stir in the Separatist community at the school, especially the staunchly-sovereigntist student government. People were so outraged that English articles would be allowed in the newspaper, that they called a referendum on it.

“I feel like all my efforts to integrate [into the Francophone community] mean nothing now,” said Emma as she zipped up her Fall jacket. “If this Referendum passes, I don’t think I want to go to this school anymore.”

By first allowing English articles this Fall - no more than 30% per issue - the U de M newspaper had been giving an outlet to articulate, active Anglophone students who were simply better able to express themselves in their native language. The Anglophone community makes up almost 25% of the student body. Those who write for the paper in English obviously care about the school community. By contributing to the paper in their native tongue, they are bringing the best thing they can to the table: themselves.

I see both sides, kind of. I’m currently attending an English college, but the music program I am enrolled in happens to be almost 30% francophone. A lot of my friends are French speaking, and occasionally I’ll slip into French with them. But deep down, I want to protect my right to be in an English environment. By enrolling in an English college, I am designating one of the few spaces I have where I don’t have to apologize for being Anglo. Cuz I’m really sick of apologizing.

So is languages Commissioner Graham Fraser. He stood up yesterday for the rights of Quebec’s Anglophone community, arguing that Anglos have made enormous concessions in the last thirty years to respect the province’s new nationalist direction. The statement was his way of putting his foot down, and saying “no more.” Both the PQ and the Bloc Quebecois have been making recent bids to tighten up language restrictions - for example, making immigrants to Quebec pass a mandatory French exam. One MNA recently made a comment about West Islanders not being real Quebeckers, which spurred Fraser’s rage. He says, according to the Gazette:

The English minority in Quebec has made extraordinary progress over the last 30 years. It is significantly more bilingual than the French-speaking majority. Eighty per cent of young, English-speaking Quebecers are bilingual. This is a dramatic sign of adaptation to the new realities of Quebec. I think it is unfortunate that these extraordinary measures that have been taken by the English community to respond to the challenges of the changing Quebec are being greeted in a mean-spirited way.

Yesterday’s referendum to ban the English language from the newspaper did not pass. And Emma was deeply moved by the speeches made in defense of the English presence in the paper. They were all made by Francophones. “This is a different Quebec,” Emma paraphrased for me. “We are a predominantly bilingual community, a diverse community, and our paper should reflect that.” These speakers responded to the main argument of the other side, namely that the French language needs to be protected. “The language is protected!” was their rebuttle. “Let’s focus instead on intellectual contribution and creating an environment of inclusion and diversity.”

I agree. The language is protected. And Anglophones have been working hard to protect it for thirty years. It’s time to cut us some slack.