Language laws have
always been a major importance in Quebec. Now things are being taken to a new level
as certain American companies established in the province are expected to make
changes. Either they will have to make a French variation to their name or be
expected to add a slogan.
Now several
corporations, including Wal-Mart and Costco, are taking the Quebec Government
to court. The hearing is set to take place this Thursday.
It is clearly important
to preserve the French language in La Belle Province, being a huge part of our
culture. However this is pushing the boundaries, since these are major companies
known worldwide for their original brands. A simple name should not be fixated
upon. What matters is that advertisements have both English and French
translations and public workers can communicate with customers, in preferably
both languages.
This argument does
bring up another important factor- how divided we really are. All one has to do
is look at the election results, since the Parti Québécois Government was split
down the middle with almost even results to the Liberals.
Not that the education
system helps. People here are lucky to have access to school since most parts
of the world make it more difficult due to austerity and privatization. For
example, looking at the recent case of a girl in Pakistan who was shot for
writing about women’s right to education on her blog- a sign on how it is still
seen as a luxury.
The education system
here works like a charm for most- yet history courses do prove to be at fault
for why Quebec is still as divided as ever. Being a person who had the best of
both worlds, while attending elementary school in French, we barely learned
anything about the British. In high school I merged over to an Anglophone system,
but in Français Langue Maternelle. Our
history courses here were like a mockery of the French that included no
discussion of Les Patriotes, little background to the reasons behind the
October Crisis, and no elaboration on the man hailed as one of our best
Premiers- René Lévesque.
However I do remember
being shown the horrendous mini-documentary on the language police that
included a man roaming through the streets with measuring tape, to ensure the
font size on business advertisements were large or small enough. Also, there
always seemed to be an ongoing “civil war” against the opposing Francophone
high school in the neighborhood. In 2007, a classmate of mine was beaten by
several French students and was therefore pitied upon by the media. We had
learned later on she used racial slurs toward them for being of Haitian
descent. The following days included broken windows during a lockdown, and a
so-called “truce” between both parties.
What is clear is that
laws will not solve anything- including the Parti Québécois’ attempt to make
French-only CEGEPs. Nevertheless many laws formed recently have either been ineffective,
or silly, including former Premier Jean Charest’s attempt to regulate protests
with Bill-78, that only resulted in unnecessary intimidation.
If anyone sitting in
the National Assembly at the moment would seek an actual solution, it is best
to do as our parents behave with kids; have all opposing parties gather where
each person speaks for a certain amount of time by passing a stick. We’ve been
divided for so long, no one remembers why Francophones and Anglophones have
been claiming irreconcilable differences these past thirty years, ever since
the first referendum. What would we be without our culture? A trip in Montreal
alone is a trip around the world. They are like two parents bribing for their
child- the child being Quebec- one with candy and the other with envelopes. Opposites
are meant for each other, like night and day or peaches and cream.
Romanticism aside, it
is time both Francophones and Anglophones learn to look past their differences
and to the common issues they deal with, since a house divided can only benefit
the few.
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