The
Rise of the Language Issue since the Quiet Revolution
Claude
Bélanger,
Department of History,
Marianopolis College. Since
the Quiet Revolution, the issue of language
has been at the heart of many debates in Quebec. Three major language bills, and several amendments to these,
have been issued. Court challenges of various linguistic provisions, practical
problems associated with the application of several elements of the language legislation,
especially those connected to Bill 101, over zealousness by civil servants in
applying some provisions of the law, have all served to focus attention on this
issue, and keep it in the public eye. Indeed, only separatism can rival the language
issue in importance in Quebec. What has brought such a strong focus on language
in Quebec in the past forty years? Why did it take the form that it did? To
answer these questions we will first turn to the pre Quiet Revolution period.
The examination of this period will first show that concern over language is not
new in Quebec. It will also establish a number of factors that developed, and
were to impact on the post 1960 period. We will then turn to the causes of the
intensification of the language issue at the time of, and after the Quiet Revolution.
The examination of these elements will also serve to explain the form that the
issue took after 1960. The
language issue before 1960 While
there is no doubt that the issue of language intensified after 1960, it should
not be presumed that it was absent before the Quiet Revolution. Indeed, many commentators
have written as if this issue was nonexistent before the rise of separatism in
the 1960s. There is an underlying sense, in their writings, that there once
existed a golden age, "the good old days" as it is often referred to,
when the issue of language did not exist, where people went about their business
unhampered, and where the relation between the two main linguistic groups was
nothing but civil. Indeed, this would have been a happy time! Of course, at least
for francophones, the reality was quite different. Indeed, there was a good deal
of concern expressed about language in Quebec prior to the Quiet Revolution. A
first focus on the French language concerned its preservation. From the time of
the conquest of New France by Britain, and especially after the arrival of significant
contingents of English-speaking immigrants, concern started to be expressed about
the preservation of the French language. This was especially so as, from time
to time, the British government adopted policies of assimilation (Royal
Proclamation, Union Act), and as the proportion of
francophones in Canada fell to the extent that French became a minority language
from the 1840s. After that date, the French Canadian nation defined itself
increasingly as a minority nation, besieged and threatened. As economic problems
arose in Quebec throughout the XIXth century, there was an increasing scattering
of members of the nation to other parts of Canada and to the United
States. This reinforced the view of the nation as threatened, and the preservation
of the language, la survivance as it was called, became a major theme for
the ultramontane
nationalists of the period of 1840-1960. A
second focus on language before the 1960s concerned anglicisms. The interaction
of two languages inevitably leads to a certain amount of borrowing between them.
Indeed, a language that is static, and develops in isolation, rarely is a dynamic
one. However, in Quebec, the borrowing did not reflect dynamism. Borrowing was
largely one-sided, as the French language became peppered with anglicisms, and
the English language remained largely unaffected. This situation resulted from
the fact that relations with France were largely severed in the period of 1760
to 1854. Consequently Quebec lost, in this period, contact with the main source
of French culture in the world, at a time where it was not culturally sufficiently
mature itself to be able to stand on its own. Borrowing English terms became a
way of overcoming the inability to describe new things properly in ones
language. The rise of anglicisms in the French language also reflected the power
structure that existed between the two linguistic communities. As business fell
increasingly into the hands of anglophones, the English language became ever more
prominent, and unable to describe business and scientific terms in their language,
francophones used the English language instead. The
elite in Quebec understood the danger of anglicisms and sought, as best they could,
to stamp them out. It kept this issue on the front burner continuously. Already,
in the 1880s, journalist Arthur Buies was railing against anglicisms in
a book entitled Anglicismes et canadianismes. In an article in LÉlecteur,
written in 1888, Buies wrote: "We are infested with anglicisms. Anglicisms
inundate us, crest over us, disfigure and corrupt us. What is worse is that half
the time we do not even realise it. Worse still, on occasion, we refuse to recognise
anglicisms, even when they are pointed out to us. We are so used to mixing the
English and French languages that we cannot tell the difference between them".
Few thought the description to be overdone. A book written in the early part of
the XXth century by Father Etienne Blanchard, and entitled En Garde!, had
five editions in a matter of months, and sold over 35,000 copies. A shortened
version of it, titled En français. Anglicismes, barbarismes, mots techniques,
traductions difficiles, etc., was also published and was a run away success.
A study by Chantal Bouchard ["De la langue du Grand Siècle à
la langue humiliée. Les Canadiens Français et la langue populaire,
1879-1970", in Recherches sociographiques, Vol. 29, No. 1 (1988):
7-21] asserts that in five major newspapers in Quebec in the period of 1880-1949
there was an annual average of 50 articles on anglicisms. While several of these
articles were concerned especially with lexicography, a good many others were
particularly interested in the ideological aspects of it. Moreover, as time passed,
the interest in this issue grew. The average number of articles rose to nearly
80 in the period of 1950-1970. The
second language issue was intimately related to the third, which was the poor
quality of the spoken French. The problems were both grammatical and phonetic.
Long campaigns were fought to focus attention on improving the quality of the
French language. Indeed, one of the first steps taken to defend the French language
was the creation of the Société du [bon] parler français in 1910. There
were three major Congrès de la langue française organised, in 1912, 1937
and 1952. These Congrès regrouped the francophone world of North America
to discuss issues of mutual interest. Two of their main concerns were to take
steps to improve the quality of the French spoken by the population, and to make
it an effective language in business and the sciences in Canada. For example,
at the Congrès of 1912, Adjutor Rivard presented papers on the quality
of the language of the common people in Canada, and on the francisation of English
words; A. Aubert gave a conference on the efforts to correct the French language
spoken in Canada; no less than three speakers addressed the issue of the role
of schools in improving the language spoken by students; there were 14 communications
given on the French language and commerce, industry, medicine etc. All told, there
were 176 communications given at the Congrès. The Congrès of 1937
and 1952 continued in the same vein. The most outstanding condemnation of the
quality of the language came in 1959 when an obscure cleric, dubbed by Le Devoir,
Frère Untel [Brother Anonymous], started
to write articles in the newspaper to condemn the educational system of Quebec,
the language spoken by the common people, and the lack of focus on culture. His
letters to the newspaper struck such an accurate note that they were rapidly edited
in book form, in 1960. The Insolences du frère untel was an immediate success,
and sold over 100,000 copies in French before being translated into English as
well. The exchange with the editor of the newspaper, André Laurendeau, led to
giving a name to this corrupted language: joual. This word is a corruption
of the term cheval [horse], and the use of this word to describe the popular language
was so accurate that the term has become a household name since. In Quebec, too
many people spoke joual. Though the term was born only in 1959, the sad
reality had been there, and an issue, for a long time. A
fourth area of concern about language before the 1960s touched the defence
of the French language in areas of Canada, and the United States, where francophones
were in a minority situation. The magnitude of this issue cannot be stressed enough,
although it is not within the scope of this discussion to delve at length on this
point. Yet, it should be clear that between 1840 and 1960 the nation was defined
as a French Canadian nation, thus defined in relation with the Canadian context,
and where, consequently, the French language was inevitably in a situation of
minority, except in Quebec. French Canadians from Quebec saw themselves as the
centre, or the mainstay, of the nation. The French minorities were the vanguard,
the outposts of it. However, though the minorities were far from the centre, francophone
Quebecers were fully aware that the nation had scattered many of its people to
other parts of Canada and the United States. Few families would not have had some
of its members in minority situations. These were commonly referred to as nos
frères de la dispersion, which could be translated as our brothers of
the diaspora". It would also be fair to say that in the diaspora, francophones
frequently met intolerance and discrimination. In the period of 1890 to 1930 particularly,
nearly every francophone minority in Canada was assailed in its rights in a manner
that would make current anglophone complaints about Bill 101 appear trifling in
comparison. The most noteworthy of these were the Manitoba School question and
Ontarios Regulation 17. Before the Second World War, Canada was not the
haven of tolerance to racial, religious or linguistic minorities that it was to
progressively become after the war. Every
one of the attacks on the francophone minorities, including the attacks on the
Metis people in the period of 1870 to 1885, were deeply felt in Quebec, and resented.
For Quebec was otherwise itself an oasis of tolerance, going out of its way to
be generous to its own anglophone minority, to the point that eventually it will
be the majority that will complain about the dominance of the minority. The attacks
on minority rights, whether focused on language or the catholic faith, kept a
high level of stress between the two main linguistic communities in Canada, and
continued to serve to focus attention in Quebec on the issue of language. If others
were so determined to stamp out the French language, then it must be a value that
should be protected, and cherished. The
fifth, and last area of focus on language before the 1960s, centred on the
federal government and on the many campaigns by francophones to gain services
in French, increase the proportion of francophones in the federal civil service, and, generally, to spread bilingualism in the federal sphere. Again,
much could be written about this issue, and only a brief outline can be given
here. It is safe to assert that it was Henri Bourassa, the great French Canadian
nationalist of the early XXth century, who first defined Canada as the type of
country that it was to become: a bilingual and independent nation. In his view,
Canada was an Anglo-French nation, and bilingualism was the cornerstone on which
the country was built. Yet, the daily reality of the functioning of the federal
government contradicted this view. The government of Canada functioned almost
exclusively in English, even in many aspects of its administration in Quebec.
The common language of the civil service was English, and francophones were grossly
underrepresented in it [ francophones made-up only 12% of the federal civil service
in 1946; after the Official languages Act was issued in 1969, the percentage
rose to 26.8% in 1982.]. These francophones were nearly always relegated to the lowly echelons,
except when a position was secured through political patronage. While French could
be used in the debates of the House of Commons, a provision written into the constitution,
it was rarely used in the proceedings of the House for the simple reason that
there was not simultaneous translation provided until the 1960s. If a francophone
wished to be understood, and wished to convince his anglophone colleagues of the
validity of his views, then the English language had to be used. In a study conducted
for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, in the 1960s,
David Hoffman and Norman Ward [Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the Canadian
House of Commons] demonstrated that the introduction of simultaneous translation
had a dramatic effect in increasing the use of the French language in the House
of Commons. In its absence, usually less than 5% of the speeches were made in
French, although francophones represented 25-29% of the members in the House.
The situation was even worse in the foreign affairs of Canada. In 1965, Paul-Gérin
Lajoie, then Minister of education in Quebec, a former constitutional expert,
and a future leader in Canada in international relations, wrote: "In its
foreign policy, the Federal government was even less respectful of the duality
of Canada than in its internal policy, which is not to say much". Abroad,
Canada projected an almost exclusively English face. Demand
for services in French, and large-scale campaigns organised for this purpose,
was greatest for currency and postage stamps. Until 1934, the chartered banks
issued paper currency. Since nearly all of them were owned by anglophones, the
currency was printed only in English, except for a few small francophone banks
that printed their bills in English and in French. When the Bank of Canada was
created in 1934, and took over all printing of currency in Canada, the Bennett
government refused to print bilingual money. Eventually, Mackenzie King rectified
this. Until 1927, the year of the sixtieth anniversary of Confederation, stamps
were printed in English only. To the extent that stamps and currency are symbols
of sovereignty, they proclaimed loudly that Canada was English and that French
was of no consequence. The energy that was dispensed in Quebec to gain elements
of recognition for the French language in the federal sector was out of proportion to the gains that
were made before the Trudeau years and the implementation of the Official Languages Act of Canada in 1969. Thus,
it cannot be seriously argued that the pre 1960s were the "good old
days" where the language issue did not exist. It existed, loud and clear,
but little of it affected anglophones in any significant manner. Prior to the
1960s, the government of Quebec passed only two language laws ever. The
first is known as the Lavergne Law, issued in 1910. It required that tickets on
trains, busses and tramways in Quebec be in French, as well as in English. Until
that year, the tickets had usually been only in English in Quebec. It is astounding to us today to observe that this mild measure met such opposition and resistance from business and so little support from the anglophone community of the province at the time. The other law
was issued under Duplessis in 1937. It required that the French text of the laws
of Quebec prevail over the English text, as more likely reflecting the intent
of the legislators of the Legislative Assembly. This bill was resented, and opposed,
by anglophones, who saw it as an assertion of the pre-eminence of French in Quebec.
Quietly, in 1938, the bill was withdrawn. Pre
1960s elements that were to impact on the post 1960s period While
focus on language before the 1960s was extensive and important, situations
developed that were to have a serious impact on the shape of the language issue
after this period. These will be discussed only briefly but they would deserve
a larger discussion. The
first component to note is that no government was ever controlled by francophones,
at least until 1867. At no time before that date were francophones ever in a position
where language laws could be issued according to their wishes. On the contrary,
they had to face a number of measures seeking to restrict the rights of French.
Thus, one could not expect that language laws be issued before 1867. Neither were
they to be seriously issued between 1867 and 1960. In this period, Quebec was
in the grip of Liberal and Catholic anti-statist ideologies. The best government
was as little government as possible. The real government in Quebec, that is to
say the agency that took care of the services, educational, social, health, that
one associates with governments, was the Roman Catholic Church. Under these conditions, it
was inconceivable that the state would issue much proactive legislation, linguistic
or otherwise. It was only with the Quiet Revolution that
Quebecers learned to effectively and extensively use the state. Should we be surprised
that linguistic legislation was mostly to come after 1960? The
second component to keep in mind is that, prior to the 1960s, the francophone
population of Quebec was relatively poorly educated if measured against the situation of their anglophone compatriots in the province and in the country. The low level of educational
attainment had several effects, one of which is that it largely placed most of
the population of Quebec in the working class rather than in the managerial class.
There developed a social structure within which, generally, francophones were
on the production lines while anglophones belonged far more likely to the professional
and managerial class. There was relatively little competition between the two.
This was the society that was described by American sociologist Everett Hughes
in French Canada in Transition in the late 1940s. With the development
of the educational system of Quebec in the 1960s, a newly created francophone
scientific and technocratic class challenged the dominant position of anglophones
and demanded linguistic legislation to win its place in the sun. This
second factor was that much more serious because, outside of the agricultural
sector, the economy of Quebec had rapidly fallen into the hands of anglophones after the conquest of 1760. From the early XIXth century, English became the language
of business in Quebec, with French being only marginal, and of little consequence
to the functioning of the economy. Several recent studies in Quebec have demonstrated
that ownership of business is the main determinate of the management hired and,
consequently, of the language used in the upper echelon of business. Once this
system is in place, the network theory ensures that the dominant group, and in
this case the dominant language, perpetuates itself, essentially blocking the
opportunities of the other groups. The system here is not peculiar to English-French
relations in Quebec; feminists and members of racial minorities will be very familiar
with it. The one advantage that francophones had was that in discovering the state
by the 1960s they were in the position to enhance the place of French in
businesses in Quebec, and by so doing, enhance the opportunities of francophones
to rise within managerial positions. Again, on this question, while the anglophone
control of the economy arose long ago, it was only after the 1960s that
something was likely to be done about the consequences that this control entailed. A
last factor, dominant in the period prior to the 1960s, and changing with
the Quiet Revolution needs to be addressed: prior to the 1960s, language,
as a pillar of survival, was
secondary to religion. This issue has been addressed elsewhere and should
be consulted for a full understanding of this point. With the Quiet Revolution,
religion and institutions, two components which had served to define and distinguish
French Canadian society were rapidly discarded as significant pillars of survival. Mainly one
pillar remained: language. Of necessity, this pillar was to play a greater role
than it had previously if the survival and the development of the community were
to be achieved. Under these conditions, one should not be surprised that linguistic
factors acquired from this point a prominence that they did not have previously. Causes
specifically linked to changes in the period of the Quiet Revolution. Elements
that determined the form the linguistic issue would take. To
some extent, it seems to me that the problem of explaining why the language issue
arose so strongly after the 1960s is misplaced. Rather, what should be explained
more fully is why it did not arise sooner, given that there always was concern
about the issue of the survival of the language. Before the Quiet Revolution,
English had long been dominant in Quebec, economically and socially; it was the
language most endowed with prestige. It was the language of choice for immigrants when they settled in the province. Yet, this position of dominance was not challenged.
Following the Rebellions of 1837-38, a sort of unwritten rule was established:
henceforth, anglophones would not threaten the cultural gains made by francophones
and would not seek to keep them out of the political sphere, as had been done
before 1837. In return, francophones would not challenge the dominant economic
position of the anglophones. This elite accommodation worked for a long time,
as long as there did not exist a commercially oriented francophone class that
could only gain its place in the sun by lessening the control that anglophones had
on business in Quebec. Again, the social promotion of this class could only be
achieved with proper training, through the promotion of French as the common language
in Quebec, and as the primary language of business. Such a class was only produced
progressively after the Second World War. It only became strong enough during
and after the Quiet Revolution. Thus, though the dominance of anglophones, and
of the English language, was likely resented before the 1960s, it was not
challenged, as the class to replace the anglophones simply did not exist.
When such a class arose, it was likely to lead to a language debate. A
second factor for the rise of the linguistic issue after the 1950s was the
development of the civil rights movement and the process of decolonisation.
While advocates of individual, minority and national rights existed before, there
is no doubt that the early 1960s witnessed a growth of popularity and support
for civil rights. Here, and elsewhere, people became more aware of discriminatory
practices, increasingly condemned them, and sought to do something about them.
This movement was spearheaded by the civil rights movement in the United States
but was not limited to it. After racial and national groups, feminists and natives
were to follow and all demanded structural changes. In French-speaking Quebec,
there was a close identification with these foreign movements of self-assertion.
When Pierre Vallières wrote his revolutionary work about Quebec in the 1960s,
he entitled it Nègres blancs dAmérique [White Niggers of America].
The case was somewhat overstated, but few found the title inappropriate. The
view spread rapidly in Quebec that francophones were discriminated against and
that this should end. Scientific studies supported this view. Francophones in
Quebec earned significantly less than their anglophone counterparts. A study for
the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the mid 1960s
found that when the income of the 14 main ethnic groups in Quebec was compared,
francophones income ranked twelfth, just before Italians who were relatively
recent immigrants to Quebec, and Amerindians. As much as 40% of the discrepancy
in the income of francophones, when compared to people of British descent, could
not be explained by objective factors such as education, experience, type of job
etc. The Commission was at a loss to explain this discrepancy, save to ascribe
it to discrimination and the lack of importance of the French language in the
economy of Quebec. [See a summary in Lysiane Gagnon "Les conclusions du rapport
B.B: de Durham à Laurendeau-Dunton: variations sur le thème de la dualité canadienne",
in Robert COMEAU, ed., Economie québécoise, Montreal, Presses de luniversité
du Québec, 1969, pp. 233-252. From the same Royal Commission consult Donald E
Armstrong, Education and Economic Achievement, Ottawa, 1970, 101p. and
Christopher Beattie, Jacques Désy and Stephen Longstaff, Bureaucratic Careers:
Anglophones and Francophones in the Canadian Public Service, Ottawa, 1972,
652p.] Other studies showed that there was a close correlation between knowledge
of English, being anglophone in Quebec and higher income. The situation was such
that it seemed as if the less French one knew the more likely one was to do well.
In 1961, unilingual anglophones in Quebec earned 37% more than bilingual francophones
and 93% more than unilingual francophones. In the census of 1971, while the gap
had somewhat narrowed, unilingual anglophones still earned 18% more than bilingual
francophones. Only in 1977-78 did unilingual anglophones start to earn less than
bilingual francophones. This was after Bills 22 and 101 had been issued. Thus,
a significant component in explaining the rise of the language issue from the
1960s is connected to the civil rights movement and to attempts to remove
discrimination by mandating the French language in the economy, and, by so doing,
inevitably promoting the welfare of French-speaking individuals. Already, in 1974,
Bill 22 had contained many articles with an economic incidence. One should not
be surprised that the language law issued by the Parti Québécois, in 1977, contained
so many articles dealing with the economy, and was entitled French Language
Charter. The term Charter is usually used in the context of a Charter of
Rights. To francophones, the Charter aimed at doing what most Charters do:
protecting their rights. As such, francophones are often bewildered, and offended,
by anglophone attacks on the French Language Charter. It is as if one attacked
the Bill of Rights. The Charter is understood in French-speaking Quebec as a simple
affirmation of francophone rights to work in French and live in French. The
last major factor in explaining the rise of the language issue in the last forty
years is the view that this period witnessed the erosion of the security of the
French language. This question involves several components that came into
play, and served to spread fears that the French language was increasingly in
danger. Some of these points are difficult to measure precisely and substantiate.
Thus, they raised more debates. [For a very typical discussion of the issue discussed
here, see Jacques-Yvan MORIN, "Lérosion de la sauvegarde du français
au Quebec", in Action nationale, Vol 78, No. 1-2 (Jan.-Feb. 1988):
3-61] One factor
that has undeniably emerged since the Second World War, and especially since the
1960s, is the increasing dominance of the United States in the world. America
has emerged as the political, economical, military and cultural giant in the world.
With the emergence of America to hegemony in the world, the English language
has acquired a status, and prestige, that it did not have previously. The
increasing globalisation of the economy under the leadership of the United States,
the development of the mass media largely controlled from the U.S.A., the proliferation
of leisure activities, especially cultural ones, dominated by the United States
have all served to not only enhance the status of English in the world but, by
the same token, have relegated national languages to more and more localised,
and less prestigious functions. Already,
at the best of times, prior to the 1960s, the position of the French language
was tenuous in Canada. French minorities assimilated at varying, but accelerating,
rates. In 1981, outside of Quebec and New Brunswick, from 34 to 72% of people
of French mother tongue in the other eight provinces used English customarily
to converse at home. In general, most francophone Quebecers were little affected
by such pressures. However with the advent of television, satellite and cable
tvs, the Internet, readily available magazines and travel, pressures mounted
on the French language in Quebec. A study published in 1992, but based on data
usually collected in 1990 [Indicateurs de la situation linguistique au Québec, Gouvernement du Québec, Conseil de la langue française, 1992, 133p.] demonstrated
that 18.8% of the readers of the Montreal Gazette were francophones, 41%
of francophones used computer programmes in English only, 41.5% of the computer
manuels used by francophones were in English, 12% of the television viewing time
was spent by francophones watching programmes in the English language (this is
3X more than anglophones watching French tv) 16% of Montreal area francophones
listened regularly to English radio, far more occasionally so, 33.1% of the attendance
at English movies in cinemas was made-up of francophones and 25% of the videocassettes
rented by francophones were in English. Anglophone media are readily available
and heavily used by francophones. Quebec is a French enclave completely surrounded
by anglophones in North America. Francophone Quebecers are very aware of that
fact. One might even say that they are obsessed by it. Yet, isolation is not possible
any more. From the 1960s, many felt that there was a need to take various
steps, including language legislation, to protect French culture. In fact, few
would deny today the need to take steps to protect the French language, even among
opponents of language legislation. Rather, the debate centres on how the protection
should be extended, and on what steps should be taken precisely. Aside
from the increased dominance of English, the erosion of the security of French
has been caused by greater contacts between francophones and anglophones.
It is not always fully realised to what extent, prior to the 1960s, the
world of anglophones and francophones rarely intersected. In the words of the
great Canadian novelist, Hugh MacLennan, French and English in Quebec were Two
Solitudes. They lived in different parts of the province and, even when they
lived in the same area, there was a clear demarcation line between them. In Montreal,
this line ran along Boulevard St. Laurent with francophones dominating the East,
and anglophones the West. Within their area, each group could continue its
life according to the parameters of its culture and social condition. A significant
proportion of French Canadians lived in rural areas where the population was so
homogeneous that many could spend their entire life without ever even glimpsing
an anglophone, let alone being confronted with the English language. By contrast,
the anglophone world was the world of the cities, Montreal in particular. Such is not the
case today. With the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of the province,
especially during and after the Second World War, interaction between anglophones
and francophones, or at least exposure to the other language, has increased dramatically.
With greater interaction, along with the effects of the mass media, has come an
increasing rate of bilingualism. Between
1951 and 1981, the rate of bilingualism in Quebec has increased by about 40%.
While a great benefit to individuals socially, economically and culturally in
enriching their lives, the increased bilingualisation of Quebec
potentially threatened the French language, as the two languages rarely compete
on a footing of equality: one is the language of a small minority while the other
is endowed with the power and the prestige of world dominance. Many felt, and
continue to feel, that the French language needed legislative protection. Only
the nature, and the extent of that protection, was disagreed upon. The
last element contributing to the erosion of the security of French was the rapid
decline in the birth rate that occurred between 1960
and 1970. In that period of time, Quebec went from having one of the highest birth
rates in Canada to having the lowest. The slowing down of the rate of growth of
the Quebec population, coupled with the increasing rate of assimilation of minorities
elsewhere in Canada, has brought a sharp decline in the percentage of population
that francophones, and Quebec, constitute in Canada. The demographic decline
of a minority is always a matter of concern to it. Its ability to exert influence,
to maintain adequate services, is often dependent on the size of the community.
A group in decline is rarely attractive to immigrants. Quebec sought to compensate
its diminishing natural increase by seeking to attract more immigrants to the
province, even to seek guarantees for a share of Canadian immigration. Many new
programmes were instituted by the provincial government, including a provincial
department of immigration, and a more open and tolerant attitude to immigrants
was displayed than had ever been seen before. The province was successful in attracting
more immigrants, although the deteriorating economic conditions eventually slowed
down the movement. In 1961, 14 820 immigrants entered Quebec; by 1967, the number
had reached 45,717. Not
only did the number of immigrants coming to Quebec increase but the ethnic composition
of this immigration rapidly changed. Now, immigrants came from Eastern Europe,
Haiti, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world. Traditionally, a large percentage
of the immigrants to Quebec had been British, Americans, Jewish, French, and Italians.
By virtue of their background, these immigrants rapidly integrated into the existing
two main linguistic groups in the province. However, most immigrants assimilated
into the anglophone community; the beginning of this assimilation was done through
English schools. Before the rise of the number of immigrants, and the demographic
decline of francophones, this was not a matter of great concern. Such was not
the case after the 1960s. If immigrants came in larger numbers, and if they
assimilated in an increasing rate to the anglophone community, then the francophone
community was threatened with decline, first in Montreal, then perhaps in the
rest of Quebec. Many felt that this should not be allowed to happen. When even
the groups most likely to integrate to the French group, such
as Italians, started to send their children to English schools in huge proportion
then the call for action became very strong. Eventually, as is shown in Table
1, a large proportion of the students enrolled in English schools throughout Quebec
came from a non-English background. Nearly all allophones went to English schools,
a fact in sharp contrast to the situation that had prevailed one generation ago
(see Table 2). Consequently, English schools grew at a fast rate, especially in
the Montreal area, while French schools faced a period of rapid decline. When
government did not take action to safeguard the position of French, individual
catholic school boards, controlled by francophones, started to take action. Such
was the case in Laval and in St. Léonard. Eventually, as the proportion of francophones
rose in the Protestant school system, the same thing would likely have occurred. Table
1 Distribution
by Ethnolinguistic Group of Pupils Enrolled
In the English schools of the
Commission des Écoles Catholiques de Montréal School
Year | French
Origin | %
of French Origin | British
Origin | %
of British Origin | All
Other Origins | %
of Other Origin | Total
Number of Students | 1930-31 | 2163 | 14.8 | 9194 | 62.9 | 3261 | 22.3 | 14618 |
1935-36 | 2794 | 17.4 | 9240 | 57.4 | 4185 | 25.2 | 16087 |
1945-46 | 2555 | 18.5 | 7302 | 52.9 | 3956 | 28.6 | 13813 |
1955-56 | 4112 | 18.7 | 8992 | 40.9 | 8866 | 40.4 | 21970 |
1961-62 | 4527 | 14.2 | 9897 | 30.9 | 17287 | 54.9 | 31693 |
1966-67 | 4614 | 11.4 | 10076 | 24.9 | 25724 | 63.7 | 40414 |
1967-68 | 4022 | 9.4 | 10267 | 24.0 | 28492 | 66.6 | 42781 |
Source:
Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Position of the French Language and
on Language Rights in Quebec (Gendron Report), Vol. 3 The Ethnic Groups,
Quebec, Éditeur Officiel du Québec, 1972, p. 484.
Table
2 Distribution
of Immigrant Children by Language of Instruction
In the Commission des Écoles
Catholiques de Montréal,
1930-1968 School
Year | Enrolled
in French Schools | %
in French Schools | Enrolled
in English Schools | %
in English Schools | Total |
1930-31 | 3713 | 52.5 | 3261 | 46.8 | 6974 |
1935-36 | 3896 | 49.2 | 4185 | 51.8 | 8081 |
1945-46 | 2203 | 35.8 | 3956 | 64.2 | 6159 |
1955-56 | 3921 | 30.7 | 8866 | 69.3 | 12787 |
1961-62 | 5922 | 25.5 | 17287 | 74.5 | 23200 |
1966-67 | 4880 | 15.9 | 25724 | 84.1 | 30604 |
1967-68 | 3422 | 10.7 | 28492 | 89.3 | 31914 |
Source:
Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Position of the French Language and
on Language Rights in Quebec, Vol. 3 The Ethnic Groups, Quebec, Éditeur
Officiel du Québec, 1972, p. 485.
The
demographic decline, and the rise of a multicultural immigration, led the governments
of Quebec to focus their language legislation on sending clear messages to the
newcomers: Quebec was primarily a French society, the economy should function
in French. The manner of achieving this would be to regulate signs, billboards
and advertising to make them French. Companies would have to establish programmes
of francisation of their businesses, unless they were very small or an international
head-office. Newcomers would all have to send their children to French schools,
and thus be integrated into the francophone world. Signs,
businesses, the schools: these were the three main areas of legislation of Bills
22 and 101. While there were other elements, such as the right to be serviced
in French, they were small in comparison to the three raised in this article.
These three components were clearly connected to the causes outlined above and
sought to remedy them. The success of these measures is analysed in another
article.
©
1999 Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College
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