[lg policy] Does Quebec's French Language Policy Really Need Revitalizing?

Sat Mar 9 16:27:26 UTC 2013

Does Quebec's French Language Policy Really Need Revitalizing?

by Yosie Saint-Cyr	

In the wake of the Quebec government tabling Bill 14, An Act to amend
the Charter of the French language, the [Quebec] Charter of Rights and
Freedoms and other legislative provisions to improve yet again the
eminence of the French language in Quebec (which I discussed on Slaw
last December here), the Conseil supérieur de la langue française
(CSLF) is of the opinion that the government needs to take a hard-line
approach if it wants French to really be the common language of all
Quebecers.

This reinforces the government's approach, as the National Assembly is
about to debate the soundness of the Bill.

The council was created to advise the Minister responsible for the
implementation of the Charter of the French language on matters
relating to the use of the French language in Quebec. To that end, the
advisory board re-examined the spirit of the law and provided the
Minister, Diane De Courcy, a series of recommendations with the goal
of revitalizing the language policy.

There are several recommendations, but the following are of particular
importance.

The CSLF believes that the trend in recent years is not meeting the
desired objective, which is to make French the normal and everyday
language of work of all Quebecers. This is because, among other
reasons, between 1989 and 2010, a similar reduction in the use of
French in the workplace has occurred in small and large businesses in
the private sector. In 2010, 64.7 percent of workers in small
organizations (fewer than 50 employees) and 55.7 percent of workers in
large organizations (50+ employees) generally used French at work,
while these proportions were 74.6 percent and 66.7 percent in 1989.
This decrease in the use of French at work is due to an increase in
bilingualism (French-English), to varying degrees, or sometimes the
more general use of English.

The CSLF acknowledges that the labour market has changed (e.g., due to
the globalization of markets, new information technologies and
increased immigration) and that knowledge of a language other than
French—usually English—is an essential requirement for many jobs in
several sectors. However, the CSLF believes that bilingualism cannot
and must not become a systemic requirement in the world of work in
Quebec, which has a key role to play in integrating newly arrived
immigrants into Quebec society. Thus, the council recommends that
companies be made subject to a mandatory francization process. The
process would be more flexible and less stringent for employers of 25
to 49 persons than for employers with 50 or more.

The council also recommends that Quebec do more to francize immigrants
and help them integrate into Quebec society and the marketplace. Of
all the immigrants admitted to Quebec between 2001 and 2010, 57.3
percent (252,815) reported upon their arrival that they had knowledge
of French. This percentage rises to 62.8 percent (154,252) for
immigrants admitted between 2007 and 2011. However, more than 91,000
immigrants (37.2 percent) admitted during those five years did not
know French upon their arrival. Thus, the CSLF recommends that the
Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Affairs be given the resources
necessary to ensure that eligible immigrants can access French courses
as soon as possible upon arriving in Quebec, and that these courses go
beyond French language training to include cultural awareness of
Quebec society. In addition, the council would like government
services to be extended to reach a greater number of immigrants who
have special francization needs so they can better integrate into
Quebec society.

Further, despite a large proportion of immigrants with professional
training, many of them remain unemployed. Some of them do not achieve
the knowledge of French appropriate to practise their profession in
Quebec. In addition, it was discovered in 2003 that more than half of
the labour force in Quebec did not reach a level 3 reading skill (to
be able to read a relatively dense and long text, to locate multiple
elements and make simple inferences). This led to the conclusion that
fluency in French by a significant portion of the workforce was not
sufficient to meet the needs of employers. In the long run, this hurts
business development and the Quebec economy.

Thus, the CSLF recommends that the government act in partnership with
professional regulatory bodies, such as the Barreau du Quebec, to
provide certain French courses (e.g., specialized vocabulary in the
field of training) that meet the level needed by a regulated
profession.

The CSLF strongly recommends that all Quebecers have the opportunity
to master the French language, and that the government make this goal
a priority. Among other measures, the CSLF believes that this goal can
be achieved by ensuring that all students who graduate from college,
whether in French or English, have acquired appropriate knowledge of
French.

Finally, the government must continue to be an example by promoting
French in the public sector and government affairs and respecting the
linguistic policy. To this end, the CSLF recommends that the
government implement measures to increase the integration of allophone
and Anglophone workers in the public sector and provide them with the
necessary language support.

So, does Quebec's French language policy really need revitalizing?

If you look at the statistics and facts outlined in the council’s
report to support the recommendations, I would say yes.

The Charter of the French language came into force in 1977. For over
35 years, we have seen progress, and according to the report,
effectively eliminated socioeconomic disparities between Francophones
and Anglophones. But that success cannot allow the government to
become complacent or mask the amount of continuous work it takes to
keep Quebec French strong in all shape, manner, or form.

Quebec must face the evolving socioeconomic reality, in which
English-French bilingualism is in increasing demand, the advance of
technology (e.g., the Internet and satellite television/radio) has
allowed English (and other non-French) media and content to easily
penetrate every part of the province, many business-owners have a
strong preference to conduct business in English (or another language
than French), and numerous other factors. In this context, some will
see efforts to force Quebecers to speak French or at least offer
services in French as heavy-handed. On the other hand, citizens may be
more accepting of efforts to help Quebecers, new and existing, to
improve their understanding of French and support businesses of all
sizes to introduce or enhance French communication, through general
education on Quebec’s culture and the advantages of advancing the
French language in the workplace, and specific language training
dedicated to particular fields of work.

One way or the other, if Quebec hopes to be successful in improving
the level and quality of French usage in the province’s workplaces, it
will have to understand the businesses and workers that will be
affected—especially the large Anglophone population and the increasing
immigrant population. Without the support of these groups, the
province will have difficulty advancing its goals.

http://www.slaw.ca/2013/03/07/does-quebecs-french-language-policy-really-need-revitalizing/

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