Canada To Let Quebec Go? (page 8)

Satanus

Since i didn't dare fly a canadian flag in montreal, i did so for about a yr, after i left the province.

S

I read that Quebec is a dictatorship, that the people are kept under control and that nothing is unique in their culture. I also read the Quebec French language and culture is a far cry from France. And worse of all I read that the French people should accept the very same conditions that "forced" you out of Quebec so English people can feel at home...

I chose to live in Ontario and I leave my culture at the door when I leave home because I have to speak English at work, speak with my English neighbors, shop in English, go to the English doctor...call the English police...I don't feel my human rights have been violated nor do I want to leave Ontario. So I learned to speak English...If I decided to live in Italy, I would learn Italian...So if one wants to live in Quebec, wouldn't make sense to learn to speak French?

Lady Lee

I did too Satanus Still have a couple of them in the house too.

free2beme

Who cares, .... eh?

mamochan13

It's interesting to see so many perspectives of the story here. Lady Lee has the experience of an English (part) Canadian in Quebec, NVR2L8 of a French Canadian. My perspective is from across the country, but I will admit it's largely an English-speaking one. I reflect how we felt in my province when we were forced to embrace bilingualism, but I don't know what it was like for those living in Quebec. I do know I heard many horror stories of immigrants who were refused the opportunity of having their children educated in English schools.

I guess my only comment here to NVR2L8 would be - you say "So if one wants to live in Quebec, wouldn't make sense to learn to speak French?"

Well, then what is the whole point of a bilingual Canada? Italy does not obligate the rest of the European Union to speak Italian. I thought we in the rest of Canada have to learn French and those in Quebec have to learn English so we have some kind of common, united ground. You are admitting that is not the case. Why, then, does the rest of Canada have to be bilingual when Quebec does not? Why can I not get a federal job if I don't speak French, even though I live in a province where it's completely unnecessary and spoken by a small minority?

NVR2L8

Mamochan13,

I believe French Quebecers don't really care whether the rest of Canada speaks French or not. All they care about is to live in a province (or country) that reflect their culture, language and where they feel they belong. I recall a time when the majority of immigrants arriving in Quebec would send their kids to English schools. Without language laws it would have just been a question of time for Francophones to become a small minority within Quebec and like other Francophone communities in the rest of Canada they would have to struggle to maintain their identity.

Today I have come to understand this better than ever. I have now lived in Ontario for well over a decade and I have built a great life here with no plan to return to Quebec when I retire. Still, I miss being in Quebec and I fear my French Canadian heritage will soon vanish within my own family...my grand-children are being raised in Ontario and they don't speak French...their mother tongue is English and sending them to French-emersion schools is no garantee they will embrace our French Canadian cuture.

2006 Stats Can states that 9.4% of Canadian Anglophones claim being able to hold a conversation in French. Nearly 90% of Francophones living outside Quebec speak English. Many of my English speaking friends in Ontario tell me they took a couple of year of French in school, but all they retained is "je suis Bruce" and "où sont les toilettes"...not having a need or the opportunity to use French explains why they forgot it or wouldn't put in the effort to learn. As for Francophones living outside of Quebec, they are exposed to the English language on a daily basis which explains that almost everyone is biligual.

In Quebec 68.9% of Anglophones can hold a conversation in French and 35.8% of the Francophones claim they can speak English. As you can see there is a much higher percentage of bilingual people in Quebec although the only official language in Quebec is French...Many francophones realize they need to learn English in order to communicate with the rest of North America. Like in Ontario, French students study English and the opportunity and need to use it is greater since they are surrounded by Anglophones. Some Francophones, like many other Canadians don't see the need or simply don't want to learn a second language...and this is their right.

Quebec is canadian soil, as is ontario. However, ontario isn't quebec soil. So, its more ligitimate to fly a canada flag in quebec than it is to fly a quebec flag in ontario.

S

Satanus

Btw, i took french courses in quebec, did immersion and spoke it reasonably.

S

Canada To Let Quebec Go?

Satanus

NVR2L8

Lady Lee

free2beme

mamochan13

NVR2L8

NVR2L8

perfect1

Satanus

Satanus

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