Kelly: Why doesn’t Nick Suzuki have to speak French?

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Turns out I’m more of a nationalist than the folks in François Legault’s cabinet.

I wrote a book, Le CH et son peuple, about the Canadiens and their deep symbiotic relationship with the Quebec people, and it has relaunched the age-old debate about whether it’s important for Habs players to be able to parlez-vous. It’s not the central theme of the book, but it does come up along the way and I was not in the least surprised when a journalist from Le Journal de Montréal asked me about the issue.

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“I don’t understand how Nick Suzuki, the captain of the Canadiens, hasn’t learned French even though he’s been on the team for five years,” I told Journal reporter Mylène Richard.

Naturally Le Journal ran with that aspect of the story. The day after Richard’s piece came out, the Wednesday front page featured the blaring headline: “Speak French, captain Suzuki” (in English, by the way!). The same day, the newspaper’s National Assembly reporter Patrick Bellerose published a piece, with two high-profile Coalition Avenir Québec ministers weighing in on the debate.

Astonishingly enough, both Jean-François Roberge, the minister in charge of the French language, and Isabelle Charest, the minister of sports, said it is not essential for the captain of the Canadiens to be fluent in the language of Lafleur.

“I don’t think it’s a prerequisite (for a Habs captain to be able to speak French),” Charest said.

Added Roberge: “I wish that the players for professional sports team would learn the language, but I understand it’s extremely difficult. Their schedules are almost like a minister’s schedule.”

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The hypocrisy of their comments is stunning. Anglo Quebecers practically have to pass a language exam to get government services, but English-speaking millionaire hockey players get a free pass when it comes to learning French. Thousands of anglo Montrealers took to the streets when the Legault government was bringing in Bill 96, objecting to a law many in the English community believe would have a negative impact on English CEGEPs and anglo access to health care. There were similar protests from the community when the provincial government made significant changes last year to the tuition structure for McGill and Concordia universities, causing huge financial pain to both institutions.

In short, I’d say a majority of anglophones feel this is a government that is openly hostile to our community. But they’re not hostile to the anglophones on the Canadiens roster because, I’d argue, they don’t want to get in a fight with the Habs, arguably the most popular and most influential organization in the entire province.

Also, under provisions of Bill 96, new immigrants have to learn French within six months of arriving here. After that, they will receive all services from the government en français. So let me get this straight. Someone arrives from, say, Brazil, and they absolutely must have their French up to speed within six months. Meanwhile Suzuki, who has been playing with the CH since 2019, needn’t worry about brushing up on his French because … well if we’re to believe Roberge, Suzuki is so busy and you know French is a hard language. But if you’re an immigrant working your butt off in the service sector, too bad, so sad. Learn French tout de suite.

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The reaction of the CAQ ministers is in stark contrast to Legault’s anger when the story first broke that Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau hadn’t made much of an effort to learn French despite living in Montreal for 14 years.

“I saw the video of Mr. Rousseau and I found it insulting,” Legault said, in 2021. “It’s inconceivable. It angers me.”

So being unilingual is insulting when it’s the head of Air Canada who’s the culprit, but just dandy when it’s the captain of the Habs?

If you ever doubted it, now you know. The Legault government does whatever it has to do to get votes. If getting tough with anglos plays well with their fan base in the boonies, then they get tough with anglos. But those same voters in the regions also happen to be big Habs fans, so Legault’s ministers know all too well you don’t win votes by criticizing the bleu-blanc-rouge.

But here in the real world in Montreal, not in the corridors of power in Quebec City, anglos and francos get along just fine and have no time for the language divisions created by this government. Les Éditions de l’homme, one of the province’s leading publishers, was happy to release a French book on the Habs and nationalism written by a bloke, and Videotron’s illico+ platform has no issues with launching a documentary TV series in French, also called Le CH et son peuple, written by a Gazette reporter.

At the launch of my book Tuesday at a nightclub in Mile End, anglos and francos mingled happily together and everyone applauded during my bilingual thank-you speech when I said I was so proud to be selling so many copies of a French-language book to my anglo friends at the launch. Earlier in the day, on CJAD talking with Elias Makos, he said he loved the book and admitted it might’ve been the first French book he’d read since high school.

Which had me thinking. If Suzuki is looking to improve his French, I might just have the perfect book to help him speak better français. Heck, I’d even give him a copy for free.

bkelly@postmedia.com

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