Politics and Canada's language laws

Canada's language laws have, all through its history, always been the object of highly emotional political debate and conflict. Because language is closely linked with identity issues, and the survival or assimilation of a population, the different laws that marked the history of Canada have all had a strong impact and have shaped in their way the actual face of Canada and its provinces now. The History of Quebec in the Perspective of the French Language by Jean-Philippe Warren is an extraordinary source of information regarding this subject. It portrays clearly and chronographically the successive language laws that were "voted" here and that shaped the political and linguistic landscape of Canada, and particularly Québec. Reading theses pages is like seeing a movie but from a specific angle, that of language use since the "discovery" of Canada and the colonisation of New France to the present day, where French is still threatened in a context of globalization.
Major political milestones and language laws are explained in Warren's article: 1774 (Quebec Act) which restored the French Civil laws in reaction to the Boston tea Party and the fear that the French citizens would join the American republic; 1838 (Report Durham) after the Troubles of 1837-8 and which explicitly calls for assimilation of the French-speaking Canadians, making Quebec an English province; 1840 (Unions of the two Canadas) which again disadvantaged the French Canadians; 1867 (British North America Act)). Other important dates relating to language issues and laws are further explained, as well as the inequities and resentment they generated, and the discontent here and for French speaking minorities outside Quebec, in Acadia, Ontario and Manitoba.
In Quebec, great political, social and cultural changes marked the second part of the 20th century during the period known as the Quiet Revolution, which culminated in a renewed affirmation of a distinctive nation and a desire for independence.
The 1960s to the 1980s were marked by two major political figures, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and René Lévesque, who crystallized opposite views, the first promoting bilingualism and multiculturalism, the second, the protection of French and the demand for a Quebec sovereign nation.
The Bilingualism from coast to coast that was implemented under Trudeau's reign in 1969 (Bill on Official Languages) is seen by Federalists as an ideal solution, but from a Québec nationalist point of view, this vision ignores the incongruity of forcing bilingualism, with all its costs, on such a wide and diverse nation. After the close defeat of the 1980's referendum on the question of Quebec sovereignty, The Meech Lake Accord, under Mulroney, was proposing new constitutional arrangements that would recognize the distinct character of Quebec, giving this province a distinct status. The personal intervention of Trudeau, then in retirement and out of power, led to sly, underhanded midnight deals which are now remembered in Quebec as "night of the long knives"( la nuit des longs couteaux ) and to the failure of the Accord.
In this Language Policy and practice class, we have seen Trudeau, The great Canadian, a documentary produced by CBC. It presented the man, his political and linguistic vision. The October Crisis of 1970 was presented from a federalist point of view, emphasizing the terrible acts of some extremist organization, but omitting all the illegal arrests of innocent citizens. It shows that language law and policies are always a question of perspective and it is very difficult to please divergent communities.
Trudeau's multiculturalism has created a complicated puzzle of various communities across Canada with large non English or French speaking communities in British Columbia, and Ontario which are changing the face of Canada. In Quebec, since René Lévesque, all governments have tried to favour an integrative approach, where French would become the common bond and language for all. Both these idealistic visions have not exactly produced the desired results. In the ROC (the rest of Canada), Bilingualism and services for the French are still a pipe dream. As for Quebec, while mostly integrating its immigrants economically and socially, it still has not made them appreciate the necessity of preserving at all costs the French language, which is, after all, what makes this province unique in North America.

Reference :
Warren, J-P. (2003). The history of Quebec in the perspective of the French language. In P. Larrivée, (Ed.) Linguistic conflict and language laws: Understanding the Quebec question, (pp.57-86). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

See also :

Le Mouton noir ( The black sheep), documentary produced by the National film board of Canada(1992);

Can governments control language use?

It is generally agreed that governments can control or affect language use. That has been documented and well illustrated in Language Policy (2004) , a book written by Bernard Spolsky, an eminent professor at Bar-IIlan University, who studies language practices, ideology and beliefs and who focuses in this book on language policy. He provides examples where individuals, organisms or governments have decided to manage a language practice or control language use. The reasons are diverse, but mainly it is done to protect the use of a specific language, a minority language, an indigenous or vernacular language threatened by surrounding other languages.
Language use has always interested me as a Québec citizen and as a mother. The present summer course, Language Policy and Practice, taught by Professor Carol Chapelle is of great interest as it allows me to understand much better the complexities of language practices, the multiple aspects that relate to language use and policy. Reading Spolsky (2004) was instructive on language policy. He points out that 125 of the world's constitutions have a language policy, 100 countries name one or more official languages with special privileges (pp.11-12). Congo, for example, has 4 national languages and 2 official languages (p.13). Other countries, even without mention in their constitution, manage language use in specific language laws or policies.
On May 13th, our Language Policy and Practice class had the great opportunity to hear from two experts of the Secrétariat à la politique linguistique about Québec's language policy. The two speakers presented a portrait of the linguistic history of Québec since the 1950's, the problems concerning the decline of French (people or language, the different commissions which studied these problems and their recommendations. They presented Bill 22 and Bill 101, the Charter of the French Language, and its regulations and measures which accompany the policy. The basic principles behind Bill 101 were explained as well as its objectives which pertain to the presence of French in four major areas: signalization and advertising, services to consumers, education and the workplace. It acknowledges that French is the national language and should be predominant in all public spaces. While it imposes French, it recognizes the right for the English minority to have their services in English (medical, school, court, etc). The law provides for collective rights over individuals right. Anglophones suffer from what they consider as infringement on their individual rights, some Francophones who are denied access to the English school system also complain about infringement. Québec's language policy in this case considers the survival of the language of the French minority paramount in an ocean of English in the North-American context.
It has been noted that the implementation is not coercive, and offenders are rarely punished. The Office québécois de la langue française, which acts as a surveillance organism, will cooperate and discuss with the non conforming enterprises. It controls the application of the law and will try to accommodate certain particular cases rather than applying the regulations strictly. In some cases, for bridging schools (les écoles passerelles) for example, the government must be strict and apply the rules and its consequences. In my opinion, the allophones should also be forced to transfer linguistically into the French demographic group. In the actual policy, they are encouraged to do so and the allophone children have to attend French public school. However, given the North American context, they very often transfer linguistically to the English socio-linguistic group.
National language policy is a delicate topic. It is evident that governments can control language use to a certain extent. However, whatever the policy, it is the daily use and customs that people develop that will have an impact on the outcome, or the success of a policy.
The language policy may be instituted and the regulations explained, and there may be a lot of goodwill on the part of the Québec government, but the French language is still threatened on many fronts and its situation is still very fragile. In fact, many observers, including myself, share the opinion that the outlook is not hopeful.
Because of globalization, the ever growing dominance of English on worldwide communications and market forces, Quebecers are ever more inescapably exposed to English – for better or worse!.

References :
Spolsky,B.(2004). Language Policy. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. (Chapter1)

"Bernard Spolsky looks at the many debates at the forefront of language policy in this up-to-date introduction. The topics covered include ideas of correctness and bad language; bilingualism and multilingualism; language death and efforts to preserve endangered languages; language choice as a human and civil right; and language education policy. Spolsky develops a theory of modern national language policy and the major forces controlling it and explores questions that arise concerning the recognition of language policies and language management."

Secrétariat de la politique linguistique du Québec, Gouvernement du Québec, http://www.spl.gouv.qc.ca

Being an observer of language use

Being an observer of language use in Québec City; observation of code-switching.

Since Quebec City's linguistic landscape is predominantly French, it is not surprising to observe very little bilingualism in daily language use; little code-switching or alternation. French is the main language taught at school. French is evaluated nation-wide (across the province) at the end of Secondary 5, at the end of Cégep and when entering University.
True, there are some borrowings and some Anglicism here and there, but on the overall the language used is French in the French speaking community. The main media, Radio-Canada, La Presse, Le Devoir, promote the correct usage of French. Contrary to France, the introduction of English words is not fashionable here, in the upper educated layers of society. The average Quebecer is rarely fluent in English, not sufficiently to alternate effortlessly from one language to the other. Most will use some occasional words (wipers, tires, tester, brushing, etc.) The average Quebecers who engage in conversation with tourists in English (L2) will code-switch when they are experiencing difficulties finding some words.

As a mother of teenagers who listen to American music and who practice sports, I do observe some English words: download, check, game, etc., but in our household, we prefer that they use the appropriate vocabulary and syntax.
At Laval University, in the Beals program (Baccalauréat de l'enseignement de l'anglais langue seconde), I observe a somewhat different language use: some students are Anglophones and expresses themselves in English all the time, some are bilingual (native bilinguals) and speak both languages depending on their interlocutors. Finally, some are French speaking students who have learned English later on, like I did. They speak English in the classrooms but regularly revert to French in the middle of conversation. It is a perfect example of the mixing of languages resulting from interaction with others.
When I observe code-switching in the Beals program, it seems to occur for the following reasons:
- Francophone students encounter a difficulty while expressing themselves in English, they revert to French when not finding the appropriate word.
- When they feel shy or inadequate in front of Anglophones who are very fluent.
- Some native bilinguals are so fluent in both languages that they use the alternation of both languages without any particular reason.

NB: Code-switching is also referred to as language alternation, code-mixing or"alternance codique " in French. See Code-switching (2009).

More reading : Gardner-Chloros, P.(2009). Code-switching. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.