"Understanding diversity in English-speaking Montreal"

Below an excerpt from a speech given by Dennis Smith, GMCDI Chair, to launch an event held on Friday May 22nd.

http://community.gmcdi.ca/blogs/gmcdi/archive/2009/05/25/understanding-diversity-in-english-speaking-montreal.aspx

"What better place to begin a conversation about diversity than in Montreal, the most diverse community in Quebec and one of the most diverse in Canada and North America. Montreal’s English-speaking community has a longstanding tradition of embracing diversity and is considered by many to be a model of successful integration.

The GMCDI represents a group of community volunteers that wishes to engage and consult English-speaking Montrealers, community leaders, and local professionals on key issues affecting the English-speaking communities of the Greater Montreal Area. The 2007 Greater Montreal Community Development Initiative Report indicates that Quebec’s English-speaking communities have the highest level of diversity among provincial official-language minority communities in Canada in terms of their ethnic origin, place of birth, religion and visible minority status. The 2001 census indicates that one quarter of English-speakers in the Greater Montreal area identified themselves as members of a visible minority. Newcomers have continually modified the community’s composition and have been fundamental in contributing to the vitality of English-speaking Quebec. The strong presence of ethnic communities in the metropolitan area is the main reason organizers of this symposium exploring diversity in English-speaking Quebec decided to hold a specific forum about Montreal. Here the issue of diversity is specifically relevant and it is a key issue for the English-speaking community of Greater Montreal.

While some individuals reluctantly accept the minority label, here in Quebec everyone belongs to a minority community and many are proud of that fact. The English-speaking community is a minority within a French-speaking majority that is also a minority. Ethnic groups are also minorities within those two groups. While we Quebecers have a lot in common, we do not always know how to address the issues we have in common as minority groups. We hope today's forum will help launch that important dialogue and we hope today’s conversation between Montreal’s diverse minorities is the first chat in a long lasting conversation.

"Immersion 2.0 gets an A-plus from students"

Immersion 2.0 gets an A-plus from students

It's the next logical step in second-language immersion.Call it Ultimate Immersion. Or Immersion 2.0. Not just anglophones studying in French, but anglophones and francophones studying together in the same class. It exists in Quebec, despite Bill 101. This new immersion is part of a three-year pilot project in desegregated education in Quebec, known as Option Études.

It works like this: You recruit kids out of Grade 6. You go into English public schools, and into French public schools. You select kids with good social skills, and you put them together in the same class starting in Grade 7. From there, they go on to spend half their year in an English high school, and the other half in a French high school. This is the way it has been working in Châteauguay since the fall of 2007, when the first mixed class of 32 kids was created.

Not that we should expect school desegregation to become the norm in Quebec. Separate French and English school systems still reflect the majority will of both language communities in this province, and no other Option Études programs are under way ...

Patriots and Scoundrels

http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=82669229-bfb8-468d-98af-2393bff56a9a

René Lévesque once described a Quebecer as "someone who lives here and pays his taxes here." By that standard, Michael Sabia meets the test of being a Quebecer, having lived and paid his taxes, as well as raising his daughter here for the last 16 years. He's an Italo-Ontarian-Québécois. This is why we have words like allophone. He might not have been born in Quebec, but even better, he chose Quebec.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Life/Landry+reminds+really+part+tribe/1415294/story.html

For Bernie, that's it. Whatever his qualifications might be, the bilingual, Ontario-born-and-raised Sabia is not of the tribe, "not one of us," as Margaret Thatcher used to murmur so endearingly. He's a Canadian, he's an anglo, therefore he's a foreigner. As the outrage mounted, it was discouraging to note that Landry was not alone in this opinion ...

[Reed Scowen] noted that Claude Lamoureux, Quebec-born, educated at the Université de Montréal and Laval, had enjoyed some success in Toronto. Indeed he did. Lamoureux retired in 2007 after nearly 18 years in charge of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, another giant investment vehicle of the same order as the Caisse de dépôt.

"If the Globe and Mail or Toronto Star were to say Claude Lamoureux shouldn't be running the Teachers' fund because he didn't understand the culture of English-speaking Canada, well, there'd be an explosion." Indeed.

Some Modest Quebec Proposals

Anglos should be as prportional in the public service as they are in the population.

Civic nationalism does not pre-occupy itself with what language you speak at home; ethnic nationalism does.

Quebec does not get a pass on its reactionary past, by extolling its putative progressive present.

"Bad English an embarrassment"

http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=d59d2c9e-7114-4180-abc7-d9253e098d93

It happened again on a recent Saturday night on Crescent St. A tourist asked where I'm from, adding that I couldn't possibly be from here - my English is too good ...

No wonder, though - it's not like there are many signs of us. All last weekend, prominent signage, the length and breadth of probably the largest sidewalk sale event in the city, proclaimed "The Sainte-Catherine Street celebrates" (translating La Sainte-Catherine célèbre) and "More than 2 km of sale" (for Plus de 2 km de soldes) ...

In addition to being an embarrassing and insulting slap in the face to its largest - albeit dwindling - minority, these all-too-common occurrences demonstrate not only a lack of respect but also a lack professionalism. How is it that, with all the English speakers native to this fair city, not one could be found to proofread a poster that was to be splashed from one end to the other of the busiest downtown shopping hub for one of the retail sector's biggest events of the year? ...

"Insultés et agressés parce qu'ils parlent anglais"

http://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/infos/faitsdivers/archives/2008/12/20081219-124346.html

Au Saguenay, des jeunes anglophones installés dans la région ont été la cible d'insultes et d'actes de vandalisme.

Le groupe d'adolescents séjourne dans la région depuis octobre dernier dans le cadre du programme Katimavik.

Des oeufs sont lancés régulièrement contre leur résidence. Un projectile a même fracassé la fenêtre de leur maison d'accueil il y a trois semaines ...

Assaults against federalists, physical and emotional, are common in Quebec; I was subject to one. Federalists believe in the rule of law, and freedom of assembly, so the opposite is seldom the case.

What else is common is police inaction against the perpetrators; I was subject to that as well.

Some "thoughtful" replies:

http://rabble.ca/babble/central-canada/insult%C3%A9s-et-agress%C3%A9s-parce-quils-parlent-anglais

I don't want anyone to get beat up (duh!) but I do kind of wonder that the "federalists" in question were doing. I've certainly encountered thuggish federalists of the Galganovite variety. Of course they are for the "rule of law" when that means majority-nation domination.

And it is simply not true that assaults on federalists (or anglophones, unless they are also people of colour, gay etc, just like francophone or allophone people of colour or [LGBT] people) are common in Québec. What is common is people like you always referring to Québec as "this province", and not by its name, as if we were dirty or something.

You really shouldn't stereotype the political views of anglophones - many are progressive and, while not necessarily sovereignist, believe in the right to national self-determination. You'd be surprised how many happily work in the labour movement, the women's movement and other progressive social movements here. And wouldn't live anywhere else in North America.

And another:

I notice that "toddschneider" has taken for granted the shock title given by TVA to that piece of news, viz. that these youths were assaulted because they spoke English.

We don't know that, actually. The dynamics of respect or lack thereof between two groups - across political lines in most cases - are complex enough that I seriously doubt the summary explanation offered by this title.

I live in an area of Montreal (Plateau Mont-Royal) where people coming out of bars or restarants late at night can be quite a nuisance. Anglophones are a minority here, but when a group of late night partiers is especially loud and boisterous, it so happens that three times out of four, it is in English that those affluent white boys wake me and the neighbourhood up.

If I were to let loose with a bucket of water, would it be because they speak English? I am sure "toddschneider" would think so.

No, I wouldn't actually. But thanks for asking.

Coincidentally, a francophone resident of the Plateau wrote a dismissive piece recently republished in Maissonneuve magazine, about trendy anglophones from outside Quebec moving in to that painfully hip area, and not learning French for years, if at all. As residents of Canada it's their right, but it's also their loss. Boorishness comes in all languages.

While all incidents can have multiple interpretations, my first reflex is to side with the victims. And of course, I would do the same if the perpetrators were anglophones. Bigotry comes in all cultures.

Putting aside the facile acceptance of a national self-determination argument, at no point did I say that anglo = federalist = regressive, nor would I. Reactionism comes in all tendencies.

But I would argue that groups like the Jeunes Patriotes and their type, are given a very large leash, and few dogcatchers to worry about. They even routinely send out advance notice of their presence, to which the cops routinely yawn. Whereas that hasn't happened on the federalist side, from my intimate knowledge of my province, *since* the so-called angryphone era.

For the record, I am an "angryphobe" (sic) as well. Lose your temper, lose the argument.

"Extending 101 [to CEGEPS] is nonsensical"

http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/710

.. In 2000, the Larose Commission on the State and Future of the French language ...reviewed the idea of extending Bill 101 limits on English eligibility to the CEGEP level. The arguments and statistics then were much the same as they are today. Unanimously, we did not carry the idea forward ...

While the proposal – if ever adopted – may satisfy a few into a false sense of security over the French language, it fails to address a far greater menace to the use of French at home and in the workplace. And that menace is not the English-speaking community or the English language, but rather the quality of French that is taught in Quebec schools regardless of whether those schools teach in French or English ...

... the percentage of allophones had reached an overall majority of enrolment in the French system’s primary and secondary levels on the island of Montreal. The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste likened it to the “Louisianisation” of Quebec ...

Many factors weigh in on a young adult’s choice of which CEGEP to attend, some substantive, some trivial. The ultimate choice may not just be a question of language, but also proximity, curricula and other considerations particular to each student regardless of linguistic background ...

And let’s not forget that this proposal would also apply to francophone students who likely will be less than amused at having their rights stripped from them in a misguided attempt to restrict the rights of allophones ...

Hooray for our side

http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/saturdayextra/story.html?id=0db12f9e-4d13-4bb8-b081-8918172cb983

Despite restrictive language laws, a remarkably stable one in five of all immigrants to Quebec, over the past 20 years, arrives here with a knowledge of English and no knowledge of French, says Jedwab. The Quebec government uses a point system to assess immigration applications and Jedwab says anglophone applicants need to score very highly on job skills and education in order to offset the loss of potential points for speaking French.

"If they can't speak French but they're still being accepted by Quebec, then they clearly have something Quebec likes," he says. Quebec has had the right to choose its own immigrants since 1978, although family-reunification and refugee cases are still under federal jurisdiction.

Floch and Pocock conceded in their study that Quebecers of English mother tongue who have remained in Quebec are still better-educated overall than the Canadian average. The researchers also noted that anglos who come to Quebec from other provinces are three times more likely to hold Ph.D.s than the Canadian population as a whole.

L'Affaire Bloodshot Stew

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique-quebecoise/200906/15/01-875808-fete-nationale-st-pierre-fustige-les-souverainistes-radicaux.php

L'exclusion de deux formations musicales anglo-montréalaises d'un spectacle de la Fête nationale a été dénoncée sans réserve lundi par les libéraux et les péquistes.

La ministre de la Culture, Christine St-Pierre, a pointé du doigt la frange «intolérante» du mouvement souverainiste tandis que le porte-parole de l'opposition officielle en matière de langue, Pierre Curzi, a appelé les responsables à faire marche arrière.

M. Curzi et Mme St-Pierre s'opposent à la décision de l'Association culturelle Louis-Hébert d'exiger le retrait des groupes Bloodshot Bill et Lake of Stew du spectacle alternatif «L'Autre St-Jean», qui aura lieu le 23 juin à Montréal ...

The concert is called "L'Autre St-Jean (not L'Autre Fete nationale), but then the holiday has both names even officially.

Reality check: French is not the only official language in Quebec, but the only official one of the provincial government. Meanwhile, I pay my Quebec taxes, licences, etc., in English.

So will the anglos acts finally "accepted", sing in French only? Or both French and English? English only would be true liberty. But also irrelevant to a fake "national" holiday, if the nation has only one official language.

Also, there is a regulation that official St-Jean festivities must be conducted in French.

The Louis-Hébert association – which has ties to the sovereignist Société St. Jean Baptiste AND the JPQ, had insisted all acts be in French.

However, the organization distanced itself from statements by an association vice-president who first set off the controversy.

Instead, the association said yesterday that its concern about the participation of the anglophone artists is because of a rumoured protest at the event and worry the city would cancel it. (They didn't.)

Still, to assuage irate nationalists, spokesperson Julien Larocque-Dupont (also of the JPQ) reiterated the English artists' small part, saying "there's no question here of a bilingual show." (News flash: if the show is presented in both French and English, it is bilingual.)The other artists on the bill, even the franco and sovereignist ones, support the anglos being there.

The festivities are supported by tax dollars (provincial, and ultimately federal transfers).

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/national/200906/14/01-875501-lautre-st-jean-des-appuis-et-des-critiques.php

«Ils sont québécois et on les accepte comme québécois, a-t-il indiqué. On n'a absolument rien contre le fait qu'ils chantent en anglais. Mais la Fête nationale, ça se passe en français.»

Une réunion tenue vendredi n'a pas permis de trouver un compromis. Pour [Mathieu Bouthillier], c'est donc officiel : les Anglos ne seront pas de la fête. «Pour nous, le dossier est clos», a-t-il affirmé.

Premature categorical statement:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2009/16/c7284.html

"Il y a des débats qui sont difficiles au Québec, voire même "divisifs". Cela ne veut pas dire que nous devons faire l'économie de ces débats, mais cela signifie que nous devons les faire comme il se doit. Pour l'heure, nous voulons que cette 175e édition souligne ce qui nous unit et nous demandons à tous de respecter cette volonté. Pour nous, l'incident est clos", ajoutent les représentants du Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois, du Comité de la Fête nationale à Montréal, de l'Association culturelle Louis-Hébert et de C4 Productions.

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/national/200906/15/01-875621-les-politiciens-marchent-sur-des-oeufs.php

L'autre candidate à la mairie, Louise Harel, a pris ses distances face aux groupes qui réclamaient le départ de Lake of Stew et Bloodshot Bill. Elle estime que la Fête nationale devrait être celle de «tous les Québécois».

«La nation québécoise, c'est des personnes de toutes origines et de différentes langues maternelles, a-t-elle affirmé. Le français, c'est la langue commune. C'est cette langue commune que je souhaite le plus utilisée. Mais dans la nation, on n'exclut pas la communauté anglophone montréalaise.»
[Then let the anglos perform and present, in English only, if they choose.]

Le maire de l'arrondissement de Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, André Lavallée, affirme qu'il n'est pas question d'intervenir dans le programme de L'Autre St-Jean: «Il faut qu'ils trouvent une solution qui est acceptée par les gens concernés. Le Comité national finance cette fête. Il est en droit d'avoir son mot à dire sur la programmation.' [Actually, her borough is one of the sponsors]

The province will not intercede, even though they put up half the money.

•