Concordia and McGill file lawsuits against the Government of Quebec to wipe out tuition hikes. Courtesy Photo Concordia University
Concordia and McGill file lawsuits for the Quebec Government’s implementation of damaging tuition increases for out-of-province students.
Concordia University is taking on the Attorney General of Quebec in the Superior Court over the tuition increases for international and out-of-province students.
On Feb. 23, Concordia University filed a lawsuit where it aims to “quash the decision of the Minister of Higher Education” to significantly raise tuition rates of students living outside Quebec, regulate tuition fees of international students and require francization of non-resident students.
In the 47-page lawsuit, Concordia calls out Pascale Déry, the Minister of Higher Education of Quebec, for basing the “decision on stereotypes and false assumptions about the English-speaking community of Québec and its institutions.”
The lawsuit also calls out the “underlying mobility rights of Canadians,” according to Michael N. Bergman, the lawyer for the Task Force on Linguistic Policy.
“All Canadians are equal. All Canadians have mobility rights, meaning all Canadians can travel without restriction,” Bergman said.
Limiting mobility rights directly goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. According to the lawsuit, the tuition increase directly “engages the [Charter] values underlying equality rights, in particular, as they relate to discrimination based on language.”
Bergman believes that Concordia has “a very reasonable chance in succeeding in their lawsuit.” Since this directly contradicts the Charter, they have a strong case but the results of which remain to be seen.
As it currently stands, McGill University is asking for an immediate injunction, which is a court order to suspend the tuition increases. If the injunction is granted, the tuition increases will be lifted until further examination through the courts, Bergman said.
Along with Concordia, McGill also filed a lawsuit against the Quebec Government for their tuition increase for students living outside of Quebec.
More to come on this developing story.
Corrections:
In a previous version of this article, in the second to last paragraph “As it currently stands, Concordia is asking for an immediate injunction, which is a court order to suspend the tuition increases,” we indicated that Concordia asked for an injunction. This is not correct. McGill is the university asking for an injunction. We acknowledge the mistake and apologize to our readers.
By creating their own strategies, these learners unlocked their skills in speaking a new language naturally.
What was the last thing you learned on your own? What motivated you to do it? Not everyone learns in the same way, and not all techniques work for everyone. However, that is the magic: creating your own learning methods and understanding why you want to learn something is a great way to get to know yourself and it can greatly enrich your life, especially when it comes to learning a new language.
Jessica Dewling has been into Korean music and K-pop for a few years, which inspired her to learn more about Korea, its language and its history. She is planning a trip to Korea in October and feels that learning Korean in advance would not only be helpful, but more respectful to the people she meets as she explores the country. “A lot of the culture is ingrained in the language so I felt like it was important to get at least a basic understanding of it,” she said.
To learn Korean, Dewling decided to invest in her own methods, which are more inspiring and pleasurable to her. “I’m starting with the writing system, Hangul, which is notorious for being easy to grasp pretty fast and hopefully moving towards pronunciation and vocabulary,” she explained. “Right now, I’m using Duolingo as well as a workbook that was very popular on Amazon.” Jessica stressed that learning at her own pace using a variety of free resources is essential for her progress, once she is not being taught by an instructor.
Colt Sweetland is currently learning Brazilian Portuguese. For him, learning languages is the key to unlocking doors to cultural insights that you wouldn’t have access to if you weren’t able to hold conversations and make connections with people in their native language.
“My motivation came from a combination of friendly encouragement from friends I’ve made through both work and university and the fire inside to keep fulfilling an inner lifelong challenge of becoming more familiar with various cultures around the world,” he said.
For Colt, total immersion has always been the best learning method. “What’s helpful for me is setting all personal and leisure electronic devices into the language you want to learn to begin being exposed to it right away,” he said. “It can be intimidating at first, but you may find that you’ll become acquainted with it sooner.”
Colt started by learning the conversational basics in Brazilian Portuguese, such as all forms of greetings, numbers and proper nouns. To progress further, he invested in learning the five most common Brazilian Portuguese verbs in the present tense and then hand-writing all the conjugations ten times each. “Repetition is a key component of memorization, and for me, writing by hand helps ensure new words sink in more permanently,” he said.
To practice listening, Colt will switch the audio on films he is watching to the language he wants to learn, but will keep the subtitles in English. Eventually, once he is familiar enough, he will change the subtitles to the new language as well. “I also personally prefer to seek out local content online such as Brazilian news and TV series if possible, along with finding some children’s books or comics that can make it more fun! I believe there’s so much that can be learned through one’s own means during spare time and for free if the willpower is there to keep going,” Colt said.
The pursuit of language mastery is not just about acquiring linguistic skills; it’s a profound voyage of self-discovery, cultural connection, and the fulfillment of lifelong challenges. In the realm of language learning, the magic lies in the unique methods we craft for ourselves, fostering a deeper understanding of not just the language but also the rich tapestry of our own identities.
Mother and daughter dig up old works to tell a story on Indigenous heritage in new MAI exhibition
Montréal, arts interculturels, or MAI for short, opened Ji zoongde’eyaang on Oct. 22. The exhibition features work from Lara Kramer and Ida Baptiste, an Anishinaabe Oji-Cree mother-daughter duo. The title, in Anishinaabemowin, means “to have a strong heart”.
Baptiste is a visual artist, traditional pow wow dancer and Ojibwa language teacher based in Rama, Ontario. She is a member of the Berens River First Nation, Treaty 5 territory. Many of her works, consisting of oil on canvas, weaving and printmaking, were famously shown between 1975 and 1990 in Ontario.
Lara Kramer, her daughter, is a performer, choreographer and artist of many disciplines from Oji-Cree and settler descent. Her work is grounded in intergenerational relations, intergenerational knowledge and the impacts of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada.
Most of the pieces in this exhibition touch on generational practices as well as experiences involving memory, loss and reclamation. Some of the works by Baptiste are from the early ’90s and have never been seen before, representing her experiences from her time at Brandon Indian Residential School in Manitoba.
Baptiste worked as an Ojibwa language teacher at Mnjikaning Kendaaswin Elementary School in Rama, Ontario from 2011 to 2019. “There’s a big language component in all of these works and it’s reflected here with the audio recording of them learning together, but the exhibition of all of these blankets actually started during the pandemic,” said MAI head of communications Jaëlle Dutremble-Rivet.
Much of Baptiste’s works consist of oil paint on canvas. Many of these paintings depict young Indigenous children superimposed over backgrounds thematically tied to residential schools.
In addition to the language component of this exhibition, Kramer and Baptiste collaborated to gather several trade blankets representative of Kramer’s memories growing up and connecting with her Oji-Cree culture. “Gorgeous Tongue,” one of the blankets on display, represents Kramer’s memories of growing up in poverty. She also touches upon sentiments of rebirth and family lineage.
“Emily” is a trade blanket that represents Kramer’s relationship to her lineage. She speaks of her “nookomis,” her mother’s mother, and the brief relationship they had. Kramer recounts witnessing her nookomis’ anguish through a series of seemingly paranormal interactions. The piece has heavy tones of generational trauma and the ways in which they shape intergenerational relationships.
The trade blanket has a lot of meaning. It was used during colonization, spreading smallpox to indigenous communities — a devastation in the genocide against Indigenous people. The blankets were also used in trade between different communities. Kramer and Baptiste are reworking and tasking that symbol, adding regalia from traditional jingle dresses and beading work.
“The paintings were an addition because at the beginning it was only supposed to be the blankets and a projection,” said Dutremble-Rivet. For instance, the painting titled #64 is a triptych of a young child on a swing set, with a background composed of different numbers.
“All of the children in residential schools were given numbers, and 64 was Ida’s number,” said Dutremble-Rivet. “There’s a lot of residential school history in Ida’s work. [Ji zoongde’eyaang] is a really important work to show, especially that it was truth and reconciliation day a month ago, so it’s the real history.” For more information about the exhibition, please visit the MAI’s website.
A scene from FOR LOVE - Image courtesy of Touchwood PR
Mary Teegee’s film explores a breaking of the imposed colonial linearity
Mary Teegee’s breathtaking documentary For Love delves into the issues that Indigenous folks across Canada/Turtle Island deal with, through the constant erasure of their culture, language, and ways of knowing.
The documentary was released on Netflix on Sept. 21.
The film’s introduction announces a harrowing tale. Somber music sustains the presenters’ voices while installing a sentiment of discomfort among viewers.
The only people who have a voice in the introductory scenes are white politicians, while the Indigenous children filmed in later scenes are voiceless.
The clips are soon replaced by numbers and statistics, hoping to give a factual understanding of different issues within Indigenous communities.
Though this film’s purpose is to expose truths about Indigenous healing and resurgence, the opening scenes support a colonial mindset.
They discuss themes such as child overrepresentation in the health system, deep poverty, and rates of suicide, rather than concentrating on representing Indigenous ways of knowing.
While English dominates the first 20 minutes, it is refreshing to finally hear some Micmac.
The trailer to this film paints a picture of different cultural practices, such as throat singing or language revitalization programs, yet the beginning of the documentary frames a colonial perspective in the imagery that then follows.
Images of throat singing, for instance, would have been more powerful as stand-alone pictures, not as objects of what could have been if the colonial agenda had not produced such high erasure.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” says narrator Shania Twain. These words only serve to further silence the broader political settler context regarding high mortality rates, poverty, and suicide within Indigenous communities across Canada/Turtle Island.
Twain offers a historical context to the colonial project on “the Indian problem.” A series of interviews are intertwined with stunning imagery of Kahnawake, Whitefish Lake, Attawapiskat, Nisichawayasihk, and Puyallup, which demonstrate the beauty of nature and our need to conserve it.
The images would often need trigger warnings, as academic parallels and uncontextualized sufferings are spoken about as if they were facts. Maps are shown with colonial names, such as Alberta or Quebec. Even on reserves, only the British names appear.
Twain discusses an idiom that has entered the English language: 60 scoop, meaning “the practice of taking of Indigenous children from their families,” emphasizing the deeply-ingrained colonial roots present in the settlers’ language.
The first 20 minutes of the film are misleading; they paint just another colonial picture, yet when the voices of the interviewees become centered and when the screen only leaves space for breathtaking imagery and Indigenous voices, the film starts to become unique and truly representative.
It is only after this dehumanizing introduction that the documentary paints a vivid picture of Indigenous peoples. The sounds of canoes on water, wood chopping, and resistance music by Mathieu Carratier announce a documentary distancing itself from colonial understandings.
Themes of solidarity, cultural appreciation, healing, and medical knowledge are reflected in interviews, while clips of politicians offer a humorous twist. Though given attention at the beginning of the film, during the rest of it these clips serve to satirize white voices describing an “issue”settlers have produced themselves.
There is a focus on sounds, which brings the film away from its grim context. Paddles on water, children’s laughter, and plates clinking at meals metaphorically demonstrate the resilience of Indigenous peoples.
A mundane scene at the supermarket shines a light on the humanity of different Indigenous peoples. It strives to universalize experiences on the ground of basic needs, such as food.
The film ends on a resistant note and shows the importance of conserving languages, and culture and centering the voices of the children in the process of resurgence.
From bagel to tuchus, the capitalist-English language has its sights on Yiddish
Did you know that the common term “oy” comes from the Yiddish expression “oy vey iz mir” which translates to “woe is me?” No? Didn’t think so.
Yiddish has always been the language of the lament, and gifting it to the west has been one of the Yiddish-Jews’ great contributions to North American society. Yinglish, the uniting of Yiddish and English forces, equips the speaker with a whole new vocabulary to express distinct thoughts and feelings that really only a Jewish mind could come up with.
For example, a schlemiel is a notoriously clumsy person and a schlimazel is a notoriously unlucky person. Leo Rosten helps distinguish the two in his work, “The Joys of Yiddish” as they’re often confused.
Rosten says, “A schlemiel is one who always spills his soup, a schlimazel is the one on whom it always lands.”
This is the kind of distinction I’m talking about. I bear no ill will to the English language, but honey, there’s nothing in English that illustrates a sad sack pathetico quite like a schlimazel.
Yinglish embellishes English with a distinct beauty. It opens the door for digression, vulgarity, and, dare I say, a bit of complaining. It is the language of good jokes and good times.
I remember a family friend telling me, under the cloak of woman-to-woman advice, “Ven der peckel steht, das sechel geit.” There are many ideations of the expression, but this one loosely translates to “When the pickle gets hard, the mind goes soft.”
With all of these gems in humour, lewdness, wisdom, and culture, I must ask the non-Jew who repeats our language to remember, you are a guest in someone else’s home, so please don’t start putting price tags on all the furniture — it’s bad manners.
You might be wondering what in the name of French bread am I talking about? English has long served a capitalist agenda, reminding those who use the language to continue counting their worth by their productivity and their utility, wearing burnout signs like a badge of honour. Catch yourself the next time you say something like “meet potential,” “land lord,” “invest time,” “capitalize on” — that’s capitalist-English for you.
English is the international language of business, and with that, a lot of English words serve to elaborate and establish ideas of ownership and loans, property and land, work and earn. Ultimately, capitalist-English is a sandwich with the crust cut off.
In contrast, Yiddish makes no place for talk of capitalist ideology. Yinglish is all crust. Yinglish has many terms for a pathetic person, distinguishing mood, degree, and context. This is important to us. Kapital? Not since Yiddish extinguished from practical use after the Second World War, and communism took hold of Eastern Europe for four decades afterwards. In this time capsule, Yiddish preserves, unimposed by capitalism.
Capitalist-English is a glue gun sticking price tags to everything, and Yiddish is not here for it.
So I ask that we leave “quota for the day” and “waste of time” for the capitalist-English talk, and save Yinglish for anything that is true to its roots in the shtetl: to mention with great energy that it’s schvitz central on a particularly warm day, or to call a brazen move out for its chutzpah.
I never want to hear chutzpah used to congratulate someone for “wowing the team at the board meeting.” Lament as resistance, not complaisance.
Thus is the extra-special element of Yinglish — it’s the free-form furniture in your house, that if you ever dared to try and get a quote for, you’d discover you can’t afford it.
Why gender-neutral language could be a step toward an equal and inclusive society
Language and thought are intrinsically linked. Our thoughts are informed by the words we use to describe them in ways that are difficult to measure and are easy to take for granted. The ways language fails to accurately describe reality has been a topic of interest for artists and philosophers for centuries. In English, there are certain linguistic norms and terms that have been criticized by new social movements.
Contemporary feminists question the use of male pronouns as supposedly gender-neutral. In writing and speech, hypothetical people are usually referred to as ‘he’; a group of people—regardless of gender identity—are referred to as ‘guys’; and when speaking literally of all of humanity it is common to use the word ‘man.’ According to the Stanford University website, using male pronouns in a neutral way contributes to establishing men as the norm, and makes women seem out of place or even invisible in various contexts.
Another problem in the English language is in the connotations the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ conjure up. In her book The Man of Reason, Genevieve Lloyd points out that chaos and danger tend to be associated with femininity, while order and reason tend to be associated with masculinity. Such representations of gender permeate contemporary media (think of detective films, where a femme fatale character threatens to undo their reasonable male counterpart), and they work their way into our language and thought in discreet and insidious ways.
There are many more ways that feminists are concerned with faults in the English language (for a comprehensive outline of various arguments in the field, I recommend checking out the “Feminist Philosophy of Language” page on Stanford University’s website, which I quoted earlier). But what does feminism look like in other languages—particularly gendered ones? I spoke to Christine Delmar, a councillor on female empowerment for the company Les 7 Directions in France, to hear about her perspective on feminism and the French language.
In French, the verbs, adjectives and adverbs used are dependant on the gender of the noun that they are applied to. Delmar noted in our conversation that one of the first things children learn when they are learning how to speak French is that “masculine wins over feminine.” This is like the ‘masculine pronouns as neutral’ problem in English I mentioned earlier, in that it obscures women and strongly implies that they are inferior or subordinate to men. “Learning of masculine dominance in school has a significant impact on the subconscious,” Delmar said.
Delmar spoke on the gendering of job titles in the French language during our conversation, and told the story of a French explorer named Alexandra David-Neel to showcase a problematic fault in the French language. She said that although David-Neel might be considered one of the greatest French explorers, there is no way to say that in French without using the male noun. Instead—since she is female—she is called the ‘plus grande exploratrice,’ which translates directly to the ‘best woman explorer.’
For certain job titles, it is more common to refer to them in the feminine or the masculine, depending on the type of work and the gender they are traditionally associated with. When gender is unknown, doctor is masculine (docteur) whereas nurse is feminine (infirmière), which reflects and reinforces gender stereotypes. This makes anomalies in these fields stand out even more, and works to maintain rigid gender norms and stereotypes.
In the fall of 2017, a French textbook advocating for gender-neutrality in language was released, according to The Atlantic. It has sparked a lot of heated debate, as many fear that a move towards making French gender-neutral would ruin the beauty of the language. However, the reality is that language is constantly changing, and we should try to make it change in a way that can more accurately represent society by including minorities and marginalized groups.
Gender-neutral language would be a step closer to a fair society, and I think that is well worth the effort it will take to achieve it. Perhaps English—a language that is naturally more gender-neutral—can purge itself of unnecessary and arbitrary gendered words or concepts to be more inclusive. This could act as a model for other languages in the global advancement towards inclusive language.
Emily Dakkak (left) alongside participants from the French conversation groups with CUSP Concordia. Feature photo courtesy of Emily Dakkak.
Concordia student turns her passion into a project as she teaches French to native Arabic speakers in Montreal
Making an effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s only simple sentences, can help people understand more about other cultures and identities. “I feel that if you could understand the essence of a culture, you would be able to understand the language as well, and vice-versa—it’s intertwined,” said Emily Dakkak, an anthropology student at Concordia University.
For a research project in her fieldwork class, Dakkak decided to explore the language, culture and integration of native Arabic speakers in Montreal. “I always had a strong interest in languages,” said Dakkak, who speaks English, French, Spanish and a bit of Arabic. “I’ve been around Arabic my whole life. I knew I wanted to study Arabic speakers in particular.”
It was a cultural immersion trip to Cadiz, Spain, in 2016 that first sparked Dakkak’s interest in how people learn new languages and adapt to new societies. “I had Spanish lessons everyday […] and then we would have cultural activities to use the Spanish we had learned that day and communicate with native Spanish speakers,” she said. “I really loved how learning [Spanish] allowed me to integrate into the culture over there […] I was curious about how that process happened.” Dakkak also developed an interest in how language is used in different cultures.
To begin her research, Dakkak contacted the Concordia University Student Parents Centre (CUSP) concerning their French conversation group courses, where student volunteers teach other students French as a second language. Dakkak approached CUSP with her research idea, and she said the timing worked out well because the centre was looking for someone to teach the French conversation groups. Dakkak sent out a newsletter in search of native Arabic speakers interested in learning French, and received responses from a couple from Egypt, as well as a woman from Libya and one from Jordan. For two months, Dakkak taught a two-hour French class twice a week, which amounted to 32 hours of teaching. During this time, she observed how the students would interact and engage with the material when learning a new language, as part of her project’s fieldwork research.
According to Dakkak, the Egyptian couple were not staying in Montreal long, and learning French was not a priority for them. Nonetheless, she said they saw it as a useful tool. The participant from Jordan had only been in Montreal for a month, and wanted to learn some French before attending a photography conference in Quebec City. The Libyan woman who participated now lives in Montreal. A mother of five, she taught English in Libya and wanted to learn French.
The Egyptian couple from Emily Dakkak’s French Conversation Group courses said learning French is a useful tool. Photo courtesy of Emily Dakkak.
“We had fun,” said Dakkak about her experience teaching the French conversation group. “I made [the lessons] light-hearted. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to also have an emotional connection with those people; that was really important to me.”
During the classes, Dakkak learned about different perspectives of language and culture from her students. The Egyptian man explained to Dakkak how, in Egypt, everything is heart over mind; everything has to do with your emotions, and that translates through their language. In comparison, when Dakkak was in Cadiz, the language and way of life was very relaxed. “[Their pronunciation] is more relaxed, and they don’t put as much effort with their bodies to make sounds,” she said. “They are more laid back; they spend time by the beach, and I think you can find that in the language as well.”
During her research, Dakkak came across the theory of linguistic relativity, which explains how language can be experienced differently through a specific culture. “No matter what culture you come from, you will have a certain way of speaking,” she explained. “Language is relative; it is not fixed.”
Although the significance of language within a culture is important, “I don’t think it’s everything, and this project showed me that,” Dakkak said. Occasionally, she has a hard time fitting in with her own Egyptian heritage because she only speaks a bit of Arabic. “Even if I don’t have the language, I still feel very strongly about my Arab culture but just with a different language,” Dakkak explained.
During the conversation group lessons, Dakkak would try to speak to her participants in Arabic. “They really appreciated it, and they would help me pronounce words better—I think it’s a way to bond with others,” she said.
Dakkak also observed how learning a language doesn’t necessarily integrate people into a new culture. “It’s not set in stone that, just because you are learning French, you will integrate. It can be very difficult, and it’s not the same experience for everyone,” she said.
Dakkak said she believes it’s important to let someone try to speak the language. “A lot of the native Arabic speakers told me it’s hard to go out in public and try because people don’t have the patience,” she said. “It’s a very fast-paced society; people don’t really want to let them try, so it can become a vicious circle of them not being able to practice, which hinders their development of being able to speak French.”
Dakkak wants to continue her research by digging deeper into how the emotional side of Arab culture affects the way Egyptians integrate into Montreal society.“It’s so important to understand that people are all different; they come from different backgrounds,” Dakkak said. “If someone is trying hard enough to actually learn [the language], we need to respect that.”
Opting out of “hi” is demeaning to the thousands of English-speakers in Quebec
On Nov. 30, 111 votes were submitted to the National Assembly endorsing the use of “bonjour” as a substitution for “bonjour, hi” among businesses and the retail industry in Quebec, reported the Montreal Gazette.
Soon after, the hashtag #bonjourhi flooded social media to support keeping the former greeting. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard also made a former federal civil servant, William Floch, the new English-language community secretariat to “rebuild bridges with an estranged English-speaking minority,” reported the Montreal Gazette.
In my opinion, it is totally understandable to use Bill 101 and French immersion to promote French among the children of immigrants and Quebec citizens as a whole. However, asking merchants to omit the word “hi” from store greetings discriminates against anglophones and their right to speak their native language. According to the 2016 census, a total of 286,275 people only speak English in Montreal compared to the 1.4 million people who only speak French.
I believe it is offensive to these citizens because it risks alienating them and making them feel unaccepted when they arrive at a store and are not greeted in their spoken language.
While it is true that French is the official language in Quebec, it is also true that multiculturalism and diversity are celebrated within the province. Therefore, I believe that, in order to be true to our values and avoid hypocrisy, we ought to keep the “bonjour, hi” greeting to maintain an inclusive environment for both francophones and anglophones—not to mention allophones who might still be learning either language.
Giving customers the choice to speak either French or English is much more convenient than leaving them with only one option. Many people are not comfortable speaking French or they feel self-conscious about their fluency. Therefore, stripping away someone’s choice to speak a language is wrong because it goes against their freedom of expression and risks leaving them uncomfortable.
I believe there are other ways to encourage Quebecers to speak French that do not infringe on their freedom of expression. These alternatives can include playing more French radio stations in certain retail stores and businesses, and the promotion of French advertisements on public transit and in shopping malls.
We must allow the members of our society to decide which language they prefer to speak because it’s a personal decision. Choosing one language over another shouldn’t be forced on customers. We should allow the client to decide, especially in a customer service environment where their needs should be heard and met. It completely defeats the purpose of customer service when you are putting the customer in an uncomfortable position.
In addition, many anglophone customers are less likely to return to a store if they feel unwelcomed. Therefore, this change could negatively affect a business’ sales in the long-run. We need to remember that Quebec is a province within Canada—where the official languages are both English and French.
Lastly, Montreal is a very tourist-friendly city, and we must maintain our hospitality towards visitors by showing how bilingual and multicultural our city can be. I believe this push towards bonjour-only would discourage English-speaking tourists from travelling to Montreal.
This discrimination will only hurt the government in the long-run because many citizens who feel threatened by this rise of a French-speaking environment may choose to leave the province and make a new life for themselves elsewhere. According to CBC News, 10,175 anglophones left Quebec between 2011 and 2016. Although the economy was a large factor in that change, we can’t ignore the possibility that anglophones might feel uncomfortable living in a province that doesn’t respect their language preference.
Do we really want to foster an environment where anglophones, immigrants and tourists are not accepted in a city that strongly promotes diversity?
Anglophones choosing French universities signifies a deeper change in Montreal society
“Montreal is home.”
That’s a statement I’ve heard on more than one occasion from native-Montrealers and newcomers alike. I’ve heard it from born-and-bred Torontonians and proud Vancouverites. I’ve heard it said in English, French and even Spanish.
As someone who grew up in the far-away town of Saguenay, Que., I am very aware of how great the city’s energy and culture is.
But Montreal, as one of my Canadian literature professors put it, is the centre of very complex, divisive politics. Indeed, language politics bring out the worst in people and foster a hostility I have a hard time wrapping my head around.
Last month, the Montreal Gazette published a compelling article about a Montreal lawyer who found herself choosing to study at Université de Montréal (UdeM) despite being an anglophone. According to the article, when Serena Trifiro wasn’t accepted into McGill University, she opted for UdeM. Today, Trifiro says she’s infinitely grateful for this turn of events, as it helped her pass the Quebec bar and facilitated her career in Quebec, according to the article. Trifiro suggested that she believes the perks were well worth the struggle at UdeM.
The Montreal Gazette’s piece addressed the fact that more anglophones are choosing to attend French universities. Among other statistics, the article pointed out that the number of English-speaking students at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) rose from 193 in 2012 to 519 in 2016.
I am a born-and-bred Saguenéen who loves the English side of Montreal, and I came to study English literature at Concordia with the goal of eventually leaving the province. In my opinion, the increase of anglophone students in Montreal’s French universities is significant.
Forty years after passing the controversial Bill 101, this increase shows that Montreal has successfully affirmed itself as a French-speaking city, and yet is still accessible to both French and English speakers.
Of course, Trifiro’s initial hesitation to study in French is both understandable and telling about the state of language relations in Montreal. Some francophones are often closed-off and even hostile towards English-speaking Montrealers. I myself have gotten the infamous dagger eyes for speaking English with a friend in public. Yet French can be a complex and difficult language, and many people in Montreal—especially English-speaking university students—live here with less than adequate French skills, which I think is regrettable.
Languages are meant to be learned with passion and interest. Unlike what many might think, even with Pierre-Elliott Trudeau making both English and French Canada’s official languages in 1969, Canada is not and will never be a truly bilingual country—except in Montreal.
To be fair, I’m fine with that. Not everyone needs to be bilingual, so long as we can be civil and accept each other. In a way, I do feel a sense of pride in seeing anglophones acknowledging that French is necessary to build a career in Quebec. I think that has always been the point of encouraging French education, at least for a portion of the population.
To get another perspective, I spoke with Alexandre Viger-Collins, a Concordia political science graduate. Despite what his first name suggests, he is 100 per cent anglophone. He grew up in an anglophone community where, he confessed, people don’t have much incentive to learn French.
Nonetheless, he ended up studying political science at UdeM, which was more or less an accident. While attending a French university was never his intention, he said he is now positive that it was for the best. Viger-Collins said he intends to work in provincial politics, and while studying in French will certainly have a positive effect on his career prospects in this province, he said he has also gained much more insight into Quebec’s culture. He said he now feels more integrated into the society.
The bridge between French and English in this province needs to be built on both sides. Although I believe we francophones have work to do in terms of accepting those who don’t speak French, I am confident in saying that Montreal has become a good place for both communities to live in, despite recurring tensions. Ultimately, I think the attitude of people like Trifiro and Viger-Collins encourages this generation and future generations to have a different outlook on the French language.
This recent surge in anglophones choosing to study in French seems to be an indicator that the city is changing for the better.
In light of this, my hope for the future is not only that more anglophones attend French
universities, but that they do so with motivation, for the love of the French language—not by force or as a last resort. When it comes to education, I believe we should let go of the politics and give more room to the poetics of language.
Graphic by Zeze Le Lin
A previous version of this article indicated that details about Serena Trifiro’s experience had been quoted from a Montreal Gazette article rather than paraphrased. The Concordian regrets the error.
Mediator Jonathan Montpetit (far left), panelists Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (left), Catherine Leclerc (center), Ariane Cayer, (right). Photo by Alex Hutchins
Panelists discuss the importance of preserving French in Quebec and how to do it
“This is very Montreal, braving a snowstorm to come talk about language,” said the panel mediator, CBC web journalist Jonathan Montpetit to the crowd of attendees.
Indeed, Montrealers powered through the storm on the evening of Tuesday, Mar. 14 to attend the School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA) panel on the changing landscape of language in Montreal.
The panel featured Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, the co-spokesperson of Coalition Large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE), Catherine Leclerc, McGill professor from the department of French language and literature, and Ariane Cayer, the former president of the Conseil National des jeunes du Parti Québécois.
The panelists discussed Montreal’s identity in terms of language, and ways the French language could be further protected in the province and across the country.
Nadeau-Dubois described Montreal as the “North American capital of the French.” He said, while the anglophone community has a historical and future role in contributing to the city’s culture and politics, Montreal’s culture is first and foremost francophone. Nadeau-Dubois was involved in the 2012 Maple Spring student protests, and is now entering politics, running for Québec Solidaire for the Gouin riding.
Leclerc, whose thesis focused on plurilingualism in literature in Canada, said while there are perceivable tensions between anglophones and francophones in Montreal, having coexisting languages “has a potential for incredible creation. Montreal is one of the rare places where you see reciprocity between these linguistic exchanges.” She views the two languages as complementary rather than battling each other.
Attendees braved the Tuesday storm to take part in a panel on language tensions in Montreal, and French preservation in the city and in Quebec. Photo by Alex Hutchins
Nadeau-Dubois argued that, at the individual level, speaking and mixing many languages is an advantage. Not only does it open more opportunities in the workplace, but it will also open up the individual to more cultures, he added. On the other hand, he said, at an institutional level, it is important to use one language to unify the institution for democratic reasons. Democracy is not simply about following the same laws—it also deals with the “sharing of a common public space and a common language,” said Nadeau-Dubois.
Leclerc argued that a language dies when faced with two elements. The first element is when it is only spoken in private realms. The second element is when people refrain from using a language because they don’t believe it’s being used properly. Leclerc argued as long as public institutions function in the language that needs to be preserved, there is no real threat of losing that language.
Nadeau-Dubois said a common misconception about French Quebecers fighting to promote their language and culture is that they are the only ones fighting that battle. He said a large number of cultures around the world are facing the same battle, that are also “in a position of vulnerability vis-à-vis the American culture.”
The panelists also explored the tough labour market in Quebec for non-bilingual residents. Cayer and Nadeau-Dubois agreed when it comes to the international labour market, speaking English is easier. But, “in Montreal, the language between an employer and an employee is French,” said Cayer.
Nadeau-Dubois and Cayer said francization, the process of integrating newcomers into Quebec by teaching them French and about Quebec’s culture, should be more accessible and accommodating, as a means of integrating immigrants into Quebec’s labour market.
The panelists also discussed the controversial Bill 101, also known as the Charter of the French Language. The bill, whose goal is to promote French culture and language, made French Quebec’s official language 40 years ago. Students must attend elementary and secondary school in French, unless at least one parent completed their education in English. When it was first introduced, the bill was controversial. Leclerc argued “it’s still referred to as Bill 101, not law 101 … It shows that, if it was authoritarian in intention, it never succeeded at being authoritarian, and to me that is not a problem. It works probably better not being authoritarian, but being simply the rebalancing of powers.”
“In the context of cultural pluralism, the use of a common language is of essence. Globalization does not make the bill obsolete. In fact, I think it makes it more pertinent than ever,” said Nadeau-Dubois, commenting on the usefulness of the bill today.
Cayer said federal law should further protect the language rights of francophones because, while francophones are the majority in Quebec, they are a minority in the rest of Canada. She suggested making Bill 101 quasi-constitutional to give it more significance.
While Montreal has come a long way in accepting Bill 101 and protecting minority languages, the panelists agreed there is still a lot of work to be done. They said Bill 101, today, is a safeguard against a global culture and new platforms like social media. Fighting to protect a minority culture is not a weakness Leclerc concluded. Rather, it translates into a “specific way of life and solidarity.”
Amanda Lenko was scared to walk far unaccompanied in the middle of the night.
Lenko, a third-year graphic design student at Dawson College, says she was refused service by a bus driver for the Société de transport de Montréal when she spoke English to him.
The STM provides a service for women who travel alone at night on buses in Montreal called ‘Between Stops.’ The service is offered on all bus lines, including all-night buses, to allow women who travel alone to ask to be let off in between certain stops. From Aug. 30 to April 30 the service starts from 7:30 p.m. and from May 1 to Aug. 29 beginning at 9:00 p.m..
In May, Lenko was on the 376 bus travelling alone at 1 a.m. when she asked in English to be let off in between stops. According to Lenko, the bus driver replied in French “No madame, here we speak French,” and refused to listen to her.
“Every time I talk to employees I always speak French,” said Lenko. “But it was this one time I spoke English and he didn’t listen to me.”
The bus driver dismissed Lenko’s request, letting her off instead at a designated bus stop that was out of her way.
Lenko says she was too shocked and afraid to argue with the employee.
She went on to say that every time she did speak French, she didn’t encounter problems with STM employees and while she didn’t file a complaint to the STM because she felt “it wasn’t a big deal at the time,” she now admits that she regrets not doing so.
The STM has been under fire recently for a slew of language-related incidents, including one from 23-year-old Mina Barak, who claims she was attacked by an employee at De La Savane Métro station. The incident began when an Opus machine accepted Barak’s money but did not issue her transit tickets in return.
In an interview with Global News, Barak said she was told to “go back to your country” and “in Quebec we only speak French” by the employee she approached for help.
Afterwards, Barak called the STM on her phone to file a complaint. When she spoke with the teller again, Barak claims that the STM worker gave her the middle finger. After Barak told the worker she was going to ensure her dismissal, the employee allegedly left the booth and forced Barak into a headlock.
In early October, a poster taped to the ticket booth at Villa Maria métro station garnered city-wide attention for its slogan that read: “In Quebec, we do things in French.”
In accordance with the Office de la langue française, the agency that administers the provisions of the provincial language law, customers or clients may ask in English for a service but under Bill 101, companies are not allowed to require employees to know a language other than French. While there are exceptions to this law, Montreal’s public transit authority is not required to offer bilingual services.
However due to the violent nature of Barak’s encounter with an employee, the STM Vice-chair Marvin Rotrand told Global News that “the issue will be discussed at the STM’s board meeting next month.”
For some, unilingual services create an unnecessary divide for residents of Montreal.
Léonard Leprince, a first-year political sciences student at Concordia University, said that it was disappointing that “jobs in the field of customer service aren’t encouraged to have bilingual employees.”
Emma Ronai, a first-year International development and African studies student at McGill University, said that she chooses to speak French because “she didn’t want to hear the STM’s drama” and due to the fact she knows English friends who have been harassed.
Furthermore, Ronai emphasized that the Agence métropolitaine de transport also possess language barriers. One line in particular, the Deux-Montagnes train line announces important messages on their intercoms solely in French. Many commuters have complained that they don’t understand what is being said, similar to when the STM announcements are solely issued in French.
“If you’re paying for the service, you should know what is going on. We’re not talking about learning Chinese, Spanish or Swahili to please a tiny percent of users, we’re talking about an official language, which has been recognized by law,” Ronai said.
The education of Quebec students may have a stronger focus on the history of the sovereignty movement and fewer early English language classes based on comments recently made by Quebec’s education minister.
In an interview originally published in Le Soleil, the Parti Québécois’ Education Minister Marie Malavoy said that she wants to hold off on the previous Liberal government’s plans to have intensive English language classes for sixth grade students in French elementary schools. Malavoy desires to strengthen the emphasis of Quebec sovereignty in history classes in order to highlight how it has shaped the province.
Shortly after the statements were made, the English Montreal School Board issued a press release in which it stated that “more than adequate attention is already being devoted to this dossier” with regards to the approach to Quebec nationalism used in secondary institutions’ curriculum.
Angela Mancini, the EMSB chairperson, believes that the curriculum sufficiently addresses national unity and Quebec. In a statement, Mancini said she consulted the school board’s pedagogical services department on the subject, and the material dedicated to Quebec sovereignty is “quite extensive.”
Katie Shea, a second-year McGill University education student majoring in history, says she is unsure of how the provincial government plans to change the curriculum.
“We learn it from the point of view of the French and no one else,” Shea said. “We don’t even learn the history of Canada, we only learn about Quebec.”
Shea went on to explain that all history lessons offer a certain bias and that if the curriculum were to change, secondary education teachers will have to emphasize the PQ’s opinions and ignore other aspects of Canadian history.
“What is the provincial government going to do, not talk about other provinces at all?” asked Shea.
Tina Christensen, a mother of two from the West Island, does not believe that the separatist movement needs any more attention in history class.
“I think it’s fine to make kids aware of it, but to actually teach it in schools?” said Christensen.”I think that political views should be the parents’ choice.”
Jean-Michel Nahas, spokesperson for the Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, said in a telephone interview that the change of plans for advanced English courses has had little impact on the school board as the previous government was slow to communicate the specific details they required to move forward.
“We decided that for the first year this program would be on a voluntary basis, and we had only one school who said [they] would like to try it,” said Nahas. “Last summer we were waiting for more information on the future of this program, … but we did not receive any other information.”
According to Nahas, the project proposed by the former Charest government was flawed since it provided few directives for interested schools. Since the CSMB has elementary schools located in the West Island where many students possess advanced English language skills, the school board was uncertain if they could modify the program to meet the skill levels of the students.
“Can we adjust the program for them as they already speak English and write in English?” said Nahas. “For that kind of question we had no specific answers.”
Until clear policies are in place and instructions are handed down by the PQ government, the CSMB will not be making any concrete plans.
