Quebec anglophones are misunderstood, face obstacles: federal watchdog

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Canada’s language watchdog says Quebec’s English-speaking community is often misunderstood and faces significant obstacles.

“For several years, the English-speaking minority in Quebec has been facing challenges that are threatening its vitality,” federal official languages commissioner Raymond Théberge said in a report published Wednesday.

“First, its legitimacy as an official language minority community is all too often questioned. There seems to be confusion between the majority status of the English language in Canada and the minority status of the English-speaking communities in Quebec.”

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The report comes two weeks after Théberge backed the anglophone community’s legal challenge against the Legault government’s plan to dismantle English school boards. He also spoke out against Quebec’s tuition hike for out-of-province students at English universities.

Théberge’s role involves protecting minority language rights across Canada.

The 23-page document highlights the “realities, needs and achievements” of English speakers in Quebec and French speakers in the rest of the country.

Across the rest of Canada, he focused on barriers such as access to French education, a decline in scholarly research conducted in French and chronic underfunding of community groups.

In Quebec, Théberge’s findings underscore five main points.

Under pressure

The English-speaking community faces “challenges that are threatening its vitality,” Théberge said.

The community is fighting Premier François Legault’s government on several fronts.

It has launched legal challenges against provincial laws banning religious symbols for certain government workers, eliminating school boards and adding new restrictions on English in the Charter of the French Language, informally known as Bill 101.

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English higher education institutions are also under pressure.

Quebec has introduced new measures on English CEGEPs, including additional French requirements and enrolment caps.

At English universities, the government imposed tuition hikes and French requirements for many students not from Quebec, saying they endanger the French language.

“Quebec’s English-language post-secondary institutions have grave concerns — and I share these concerns — about the impact of these measures on their student enrolment and financial sustainability,” Théberge said.

English-language higher education in Quebec is “part of the solution, not part of the problem. These institutions can play a leading role in societal efforts to protect and promote the French language.“

The English-speaking community has also raised concerns about the federal government’s update to the Official Languages Act, which now includes a reference to Bill 101. Théberge said he’s monitoring the impact on Quebec anglophones.

Language skills

Théberge said the community is burdened by the “myth” that English-speaking Quebecers “do not recognize the value of French as the province’s common language.”

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Citing the 2021 census, he noted that 71 per cent of Quebecers with English as a mother tongue are bilingual and most of them regularly use French at work, at school or at home, or have it as another mother tongue.

“It is in everyone’s interest to ensure that the rights of English-speaking Quebecers are protected and respected,” Théberge said. Quebec’s English-speaking minority should be “recognized as a provincial community whose commitment to bilingualism continues to be a key factor in the success of this political community we call Canada.”

Economic disparities

It’s a “misperception” that Quebec’s English-speaking community is “a privileged elite that is not well integrated into contemporary Quebec society,” Théberge said.

In fact, the community shows “signs of socio-economic vulnerability.”

English-speaking Quebecers have higher unemployment rates and lower median incomes than their French-speaking neighbours and they are more likely to be living under the poverty line, he said.

Health care

Théberge expressed concern over a Quebec government health directive that created confusion regarding access to health services in English. He was encouraged that a new directive later reaffirmed the right.

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“When Canadians need health care, whether in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada, they must be able to communicate clearly and quickly with health-care providers. They may also be at their most vulnerable when every second counts” Théberge said.

“Providing health care to all Canadians in the official language of their choice is a matter of basic safety and respect, and all governments should be striving to do just that.”

Culture

Théberge highlighted a “disparity” in Quebec’s cultural industries.

English-language cultural organizations report that public funding for their television and film productions has drastically decreased over the past 20 years, he said.

“I think that every official language minority community should receive public funding for its cultural productions that is at least proportional to its demographic weight,” Théberge said. “It is important that they be able to add their own unique characteristics to Canada’s cultural creation.”

ariga@postmedia.com

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