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MONTREAL - New census data on the use of French in Quebec and especially Montreal are the continuation of a long and worrisome trend, French-language advocates say.
Mario Beaulieu, president of the Movement Québec français, noted that the number of Quebecers who speak English at home is 29 per cent higher than the overall number of native anglophones, or those who stated that English is their mother tongue. Yet the number of French speakers at home is only three per cent greater than the number of native French speakers. This indicates that many are choosing English at home over French, despite laws to bolster the French language and French lessons for new immigrants, he added.
“We’ve been seeing this since 1971,” Beaulieu told reporters at a news conference about the 2011 Statistics Canada data on language use that was released on Wednesday. “The force of attraction of the English language keeps going up.”
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“Bill 101 is a flop,” Castonguay added. “It should have brought the anglos around to the idea of working in French with francos. The whole objective of Bill 101 is to make French the common language.” Instead, he said, French speakers tend to use English in the workplace even when they don’t have to.
The results are not surprising. I believe we have about 800,000 English speaking residents within the Montreal region. Not all of us are bilingual. I myself never had the opportunity to attend a French school, therefore I am not bilingual. As I am not required by law to know French (I grew up in Montreal and attended public schools in Montreal), I have no choice but to use English as a means of communication. Generally in Montreal, I agree in that most citizens (that I met) can communicate in English. However, for as long as we continue to have publically funded English schools (including institutions of higher learning) in Quebec, many jobs will require the use of English. Many of us will simply not be bilingual and those jobs will need to cater to those of us who speak English.
As for new immigrants arriving in Montreal, they are fortunate in that the city has two mainstream communities. Immigrants who arrive and already have a knowledge of French, then they can easily integrate into the French speaking community. Those immigrants who arrive and have a knowledge of English, then of course they can integrate into Montreal's English speaking community. The problem arises for immigrants who speak neither English nor French. Many will chose English. That is perfectly normal what with today's global economy. I also believe many adult immigrants will opt not to learn French as they will no doubt be turned off by the discriminatory nature of Quebec's language laws.
So in summary, I am not surprised that the use of French in Montreal is on the decline. There is really no solution to the problem, unless Quebec somehow stops immigration from all countries except France. Even then, you'd still have inter-provincial immigration. Not to mention immigration from the U.S. that falls under different categories (one example is NAFTA).
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