Five Lies Separatists Use to Justify Bill 96

Quebec's Language Delusion

That popular political misinformation campaigns, those based on ridiculous and demonstrable lies, can succeed in a modern open society, one blessed with a free, independent and critical press, remains a stunning deception to those with an open and discerning mind, be it left, center or right-leaning.

Take for example the bizarrely successful campaign that Donald Trump led to convince his followers that he actually won the 2020 presidential election. That so many millions of Americans could be wilfully-deceived, where facts and clear evidence are replaced with a manufactured fantasy goes to the power that those elected officials hold over their supporters.

Who of us isn't utterly exasperated by the odious and successful lie that Vladimir Putin continues to pedal that Ukrainian Nazis are a clear and present danger to the existence of Mother Russia.

Even Prime Minister Trudeau stooped to selling the public the nonsense that the 'Freedom Convoy' (the trucker demonstration that paralyzed Ottawa) was led by armed Nazis, a convenient lie used to justify the declaration of the Emergencies Act. 

Don't get me wrong, the declaration of the special powers could have been easily justified by the de facto blockade of the city, but it was just easier to lie to frightened Canadians who were eager for a resolution.

It clearly demonstrates that political leaders have incredible sway over a sadly gullible and largely trusting public and so lies and deceit come easily to dishonest and treacherous politicians when there is so much to gain.

And so too Quebec's Premier Legault has found his convenient lie, the one about French being in mortal danger in Quebec, manufactured to cement his hold on political power and ultimately to pursue the cause of sovereignty. 
It plays well because it is wildly supported by a cadre of dedicated sovereigntists that dominate the media and education system, and who view the lie as a useful tool to promote independence.

Like Putin and Trump, Premier Legault successfully pedals a pernicious lie, unsupported by facts, bolstered by nonsense statistics, fear-mongering and fanciful anecdotal tales of persecution and imminent disaster, boosted by like-minded villains and willfully deceived enablers.

Here are five fantasies proffered by those wishing to frighten Quebecers into believing that their language and culture is on the decline.

1. French is in decline
In the battle of statistics, it is easy to proffer numbers that support just about any position, but I haven't seen anything real that actually supports the decline or threat to French in Quebec.

Like a televangelist who beats his chest proclaiming that the end is nigh, those who are in the business of frightening Quebecers with nonsense statistics about language can be best described by Shakespeare;

"... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." 

The statistic most trotted out by language fanatics as proof that French is in decline is the one that describes French as the 'mother-tongue' or the first language spoken in the home in precipitous decline.

This notion is not only specious but outright xenophobic.
With immigrants pouring into Quebec because of a declining birthrate, it is natural that French, as well as English, is declining as the first language spoken in the home.
So what?
Imagine an African family who immigrates to Quebec, speaking no English and no French.
The children are sent to French school as per Bill 101 and the parents learn French rather quickly. As the family establishes themselves in Quebec, they do so exclusively in French.
Both parents get jobs where the language of the workplace is French. The children are absorbed into the Francophone milieu at school and consume Francophone television, movies and social media. The family remains bilingual, speaking French in all public endeavours and Swahili mixed with French at home.
When the children grow up and have their own children, French is the language primarily used with Swahili fading as the years go by.

For this 'mother tongue' argument to hold sway, this family represents an existential threat to the French language in Quebec.
Not only is the theory demonstrably false but clearly xenophobic and racist as well.

The only relevant statistic is the one that tells us that  94% of Quebecers can carry on a conversation in French while twenty years ago that number was 88%. So much for a decline!
In an article in L'Acualitié, a prominent statistician and demographer at Statistics Canada, Jean-Pierre Corbeil, has demolished the arguments, one by one, that French is in danger in Quebec.

Takeaway;
Donald Trump did not win the 2020 presidential election.
Ukrainian Nazis are not a threat to Russia
French is not in danger in Quebec.

2. Surrounded by a sea of English neighbours, Quebec is under an existential threat.
We've heard this favourite argument for years and years, the one that describes Quebec's geographical neighbours as a horde of English assimilators eager to attack Quebec, relentlessly putting pressure on francophone society to anglicize. 

But this fanciful and romantic notion that Quebec's geography makes it more vulnerable to English assimilation than other similarly-sized, non-English speaking countries and societies is nonsense.
English influence is not transmitted by the physical proximity of borders, but rather by its overwhelming influence and omnipresence on the internet, the business world, the entertainment business, the international science and education world and international relations of all manner.
As the world's lingua franca, English bears down on the civilized world equally and Quebec's situation is no different than countless other small countries and societies which have their own unique indigenous languages. 
Quebec's seven million French-speaking inhabitants are no more in danger of English assimilation than  Swedish-speaking citizens of Sweden (10 million inhabitants), Finnish-speaking citizens of Finland (5.5 million), Danish-speaking citizens of Denmark (5.8 million,) and Norwegian-speaking citizens of Norway (5.4 million), which unlike Quebec have a unique language spoken only within its borders.

The same goes for Estonia (1.33 million inhabitants), Greece (10 million), Israel (6 million) and Portugal (10 million) and countless other countries.

Quebec's situation is actually much better than the above-mentioned countries because French is an official language in at least two-dozen other countries and is supported by the 'francophonie' (a brotherhood of French-speaking nations) which supports and promotes the French language and culture worldwide.

TAKEAWAY:
Language fanatics pretend that Quebec is a unique and special case, which clearly it is not.
Other countries with similar circumstances demonstrate none of the same language paranoia.

3. Anglo-Quebecers are the best-treated minority in Canada
I've always maintained that it is actually francophone Quebecers who are the best-treated minority in Canada, enjoying a disproportionate windfall of the federal government's largess and support as well as over-financing and representation in all manner of federal institutions.

But the canard that anglos are better treated in Quebec than francos in the rest of Canada fails to consider the true nature of why minorities thrive or fail, which really isn't based on the support of government resources and financing.
It comes down to plain numbers, where a minimum number of constituent members in any minority geographical community is necessary, be it English or French. 

'Critical mass' is the minimum amount of something required to start or maintain any project or venture. ... In physics, critical mass is the minimum amount of fissile material that is needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Governments do a good job in providing English or French resources for minorities where numbers warrant, in Quebec and in the rest of Canada.
Where numbers are few, the expense to provide language resources is prohibitive and it is here that isolated minorities of Anglos in Quebec and francophones outside Quebec and New Brunswick suffer.
In Quebec where anglos represent a large and vibrant community in and around Montreal, English resources are plentiful, but as one travels out to the far reaches of the province, English services diminish in direct relation to the size of the local community.
The same goes for francophone minorities in Canada, where French services are available where numbers warrant and suffer where the numbers don't add up.
It isn't about government generosity or commitment. When minority language communities are too small to support schools, hospitals and businesses and there isn't the necessary critical mass to maintain a vibrant, functioning community, there's not much the government can do to stave off the inevitable. 
And so, this decline in small, isolated Anglophone communities in Quebec and small isolated Francophone communities outside Quebec and New Brunswick is ongoing and unremitting.

The idea that other provinces are indifferent to francophones is untrue and libellous.
Take for example the case of the pressure put on the Ontario government to open a dedicated French-only university to support the 600,000 francophone community. Ontario argued that the school was un-needed because French degrees were offered in the Ontario universities but pressure and funding from Ottawa and whining from Quebec put the project forward.

But alas, francophones weren't interested

"If there was hope that Franco-Ontarians would quickly embrace Université de l’Ontario Français (UOF) after the institution’s disappointing inaugural year of operation, they were dashed in January when new data showed just 14 Ontario high school students applied for enrolment, down from 19 during the school’s first year."

No, you read that right.

It seems that francophones outside Quebec have different language aspirations than politicians in Quebec would have us believe and where getting a rounded education that includes English instruction is of paramount importance.

TAKEAWAY:
Quebec doesn't do a better job protecting English in Quebec than Canada does in protecting French outside.

4. Studying in post-secondary English schools leads to Anglicization
I have never, ever seen a statistic that describes the number of born francophones who attended French primary and high school and subsequently gave up their language to become anglophone after attending English university or CEGEP.

The simple truth is that Bill 101 has had the desired effect in keeping francophones French and while language transfers remain rare, they are statistically insignificant.
Language militants and politicians whine that education in an English university or CEGEP leads to francophones working in an English milieu after graduation.
But they fail to make a case that a significant number of these abandon their French heritage to become part of the hated anglo society.
There are no statistics that bear out the fear that speaking and working in English leads francophones to abandon their heritage and I defy anyone to show that such is the case.

I would ask the francophones reading this piece if they know of anyone in their own family or circle of friends who have 'switched sides'
It is extremely rare and when it does happen it is usually in francophones who have moved out of Quebec for work or education.

As for the canard that francophone CEGEP and university students who attend English schools are being swooped up by anglicizing anglophone life-partners, it is interesting to note that Quebec anglophone/francophone couples send their children to French schools two-thirds of the time.
 

TAKEAWAY:
Francophones studying in English CEGEPS and universities are not abandoning their francophone roots in any statistical significance

5. Immigrants must be forcibly dissuaded from joining the anglophone community.
One of the very big complaints made by language hawks is that immigrants are being attracted to the English community in too high a number and that higher education in English should be restricted to moderate the phenomenon.

Let us take a step back.
The birthrate in Quebec is such that immigrants are necessary to maintain our numbers and this situation applies to both the English and French elements of Quebec.

But Bill 101 forces these immigrants into the French school system up to the high school in an effort to create francophone citizens.
Language militants want to restrict immigrants from access to higher education in English because too many according to them choose to join the anglophone community.

But if this effort is successful and all immigrants become francophones, Quebec's English community is bound to disappear. 
The language transfer by choice of some immigrants is the only thing that ensures the long-term survival of the Anglophone community in Quebec.
The present 'bleed' of immigrants is barely enough to keep our community alive and to further restrict transfers is nothing but a blatant attempt at ethnic cleansing.

Today about half the immigrants choose English, maintaining the English portion of Quebec society at about 14%, a number that language militants are freaked out about.

TAKEAWAY:
Immigrants choosing to join the Anglophone community in Quebec are just staving off its decline and ultimate disappearance and pose no threat to the francophone majority.

I'll leave with one last observation, a story about a debate I once had with a  francophone sovereignist who posited that my support of Israel was obscene because of Israel's identity as a Jewish state despite about 20% of its population being non-Jewish.

I looked at him with utter astonishment and asked how he could support a similarly racist state of Quebec which declares itself officially "French" despite a significant non-French minority.

Deux poids, deux mesures