Montreal Special Language Status Is Inevitable

The recent pronouncement of Montreal longshot mayoral candidate Balorama Holness on language dropped onto the Quebec political landscape like the proverbial bombshell.

Mr. Holness had the temerity to suggest that Montreal could possibly hold a referendum seeking bilingual status which if successful would create a city that would effectively opt-out of Quebec's persecutory language laws like Bill 101 and the proposed Bill 96. 

The reaction amongst language militants was swift and furious, dripping with palpable rage and visceral scorn, the very idea of 'special status' deemed an existential threat to the very essence of Quebec.

It is a reaction to be anticipated, Quebec nationalists have been demanding and receiving exceptional and special treatment from Canada for decades and the idea that they themselves will have to consider a little water in their wine, an unacceptable affront.

I read with a measure of schadenfreude a noted nationalist who raged that bilingual status for Montreal would rip the heart out of Quebec.
Hmmm...

Let us start by exploding the myth that Montreal is and always was a French city. The lie is boldly proclaimed in nothing less than the Constitution of the City of <Montreal which proudly proclaims,

CHAPTER I

CONSTITUTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY

1. A city is hereby constituted under the name “Ville de Montréal” .

Montréal is a French-speaking city.

Now the majority of Montrealers are native French speakers as well as immigrants who identify as Neo-francophones, but around 35% of Montrealers are Anglophones as well as immigrants who identify as neo-Anglophones,

Article 1 of the City constitution smacks of hubris in declaring Montreal a 'French city,' akin to a medieval king declaring himself ruler of the universe

By the same objective standard perhaps the drafters could have added a second clause declaring Montreal a 'White' city and perhaps a third article declaring Montreal a 'Christian' city because the same threshold exists.

I wonder how language militants would react if the City of Westmount issued a declaration that it is an "English City' because Anglos are in the majority with francophones constituting only 22%  of its population

By this same rationale, the Towns of Montreal West, Cote Saint-Luc and another half-dozen towns on the island of Montreal could also declare themselves "English Cities"
By the same standard, the Town of Hampstead could even declare itself an 'English-Jewish Town.' 

 

Of course, such declarations would be seen by French language militants as a racist or colonial provocation because Quebec nationalists simply use an asymmetrical counting method to determine fairness.
To them having Montreal declare itself French is fair while considering it unfair for other towns to declare themselves English.
It is the same rationale whereby Quebec whines that it is an endangered minority while simultaneously declaring itself a proud and robust nation.
On and on it goes....

As for Montreal being historically a French city, I would remind nationalists that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Montreal was literally built by the English and Scots, with much of the heavy-lifting done by the Irish.

Look at the downtown names of streets bisecting the main drag of St. Catherine.
Simpson...Redpath.. Musée(Museum), Mountain, Drummond, Stanley, Peele, Metcalf, Mansfield, McGill College, Victoria, University, Union, and Aylmer.
Almost the entire skyline and historical infrastructure  of Montreal is an Anglo achievement.

The banks, universities, colleges, businesses, museums, libraries, waterworks, rail network were largely built by non-francophones.

Until the 1960's Montreal was an Anglo achievement, even nationalists know this.

"Before 1977, for historical reasons, Montreal was a predominantly English-speaking metropolis. French was practiced in a very minor mode." Josée Legault, Journal de Montreal 

But none of this really is important. 
Montreal's present situation is all that matters and it's strange that on the issue of Montreal's identity, language nationalists and anglo defenders agree on the most important aspect, that is that Montreal and the rest of Quebec are two different animals.

 "In the last thirty years Montreal has experienced a demographic revolution, with the massive arrival of immigrants far exceeding our capacity for integration. In the metropolis, the Quebec identity has become an identity among others, and certainly not the most powerful."   Mathieu Bock-Coté,

"French, as the official language in Montreal? No, that's over!" Richard Martineau,

In Montreal, English was the dominant language of work. Social mobility. Integration of immigrants. Commercial signage. Education for over 85% of newcomers. Etc. French was seen as the language of the "poor"  Josée Legault, Journal de Montreal .

Politically, culturally and linguistically, Montreal stands out more and more from the rest of Quebec. Joeseph Facal

Future laws that aim to protect French will not change demography. The "Revenge of the Cradles," which explains our long survival in North America, is well and truly over. Denise Bombardier,

"An anti-nationalist coalition in the making. There will certainly be no referendum on the bilingual status of the city of Montreal during the next term. The fruit is not yet ripe enough. But if there was one, what would be the result? A survey on this subject was conducted by Léger three years ago for the Association for Canadian Studies. The question was both simple and ambiguous.
In your opinion, is Montreal a bilingual city?
The sample....offered an impressive answer of clarity: a massive yes. By group: 86% among allos, 83% among Anglos, 80% among French people.
The referendum proposed by Mr. Holness would ask: Do you want the city of Montreal to have bilingual status?

The No camp would make a point of emphasizing the distinction between the real city, which has a majority of bilingual inhabitants, and its legal status, which must remain French-speaking. I would gladly participate in this effort. But I owe it to lucidity to say that the Yes would win.
Montreal would claim to be officially bilingual. Jean-François Lisée

 So it's clear from the above that French-language nationalists understand what Montreal is and though thoroughly freaked out by the reality, they clearly see the handwriting on the wall.

The language situation in Montreal is irrefutably moving towards bilingualism.

The immigration influx, characterized by language nationalists as the chief villain in the decline of French in Montreal shows no sign of abating.

The CAQ government is caught between a rock and a hard place, a labour market desperate for workers versus the inevitable demographic shift away from French on the island of Montreal with increased immigration.

During the election campaign Mr. Legault promised to reduce by 20% the 40,000 number annual immigrants welcomed to Quebec each year.
In fact, in 2022, the CAQ just announced rather quietly that Quebec will welcome 70,000 new immigrants in 2022. Link[fr}

As Mr. Lisée said in his piece, the time is not yet ripe for a head-on political fight for bilingual stats in Montreal, but it is coming.

Mr. Holness serves a usual purpose if he can play spoiler in the Montreal mayoral debate by siphoning votes away from Denis Coderre, returning Valerie Plante to the office of mayor and thus setting up the real battle for bilingualism for Montreal four years from now.
Madame Plante will be the perfect foil and easy to beat. 

With another 200,000 immigrants and an emboldened and maturing bilingualism movement in Montreal, four years hence we can expect a real mayoral race between two opposing views, that is a candidate proposing bilingual status versus a candidate who proposes the status quo.
Even language nationalists knows who will win.

As for the Quebec government who will threaten and bluster, in the end, political expediency will bring them to the table because the threat of bilingual status is a lot less frightening than a referendum on Montreal succession.

Alea iacta est