Life in a City Where English Is the Minority Language
Among larger cities in the United States and Canada, Quebec City stands out as a place where English-speaking residents are a decidedly small minority.
I recently traveled there to write about the Morrin Cultural Centre, an enclave for English speakers and their culture in a place where they make up just 2.3 percent of the population. [Read: A Haven for English in the Most French of North American Cities] In the world-famous tourist district of Quebec City, where you find the Morrin, no French is necessary to get by in shops and restaurants. But that, of course, is not the part of town where most Quebec City residents live. Those neighborhoods are very much a Francophone world. Space meant that I couldn’t quote everyone in the article who graciously shared their thoughts about the Morrin Centre and life as an English speaker. A few things stood out from our conversations. Everyone I met spoke about their love for their city. While they had some concerns about the province’s language laws, no one I met characterized themselves as a member of a victimized minority. And everyone, with one exception, had learned and embraced French. Here are a few highlights from some of those conversations. They have been edited for space and clarity. Brigitte WellensMs. Wellens is the executive director of the Voice of English-speaking Québec, a community organization that helps English-speaking newcomers to the city find access to services and that promotes the interests of English speakers. Despite everything, when you compare yourself to other provinces, Quebec is a really great place to live, honestly. Pretty spectacular. Our welcome and integration program is very important to the community. Every five years, 20 to 25 percent of our English-speaking population is renewed by newcomers. We’re not trying to create an English ghetto. We’re just trying to be a safety net for the time that people need while they learn French and find meaningful work, day care and housing and all that stuff that, you know, you need when they move to a new place. I hate the French word intégration. I prefer enracinement — setting down roots. For government to decide that you’re integrated, is that OK? You put down your roots — I prefer that.
Shirley NadeauAn editor at The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, an English-language newspaper founded in 1764. Pretty well every Anglophone in Quebec City is bilingual. The only exceptions are the new arrivals and the very, very old ones who never wanted to learn French. The street here beside our apartment building is now called Avenue des Érables. But this lady who’s 96 going on 97 years old at our church, she’s still on calling it Maple Avenue. I’m a minority within a French-speaking province. But the people of Quebec are a minority within English-speaking North America. So they feel very protective of their language, of course — that’s natural. But to be able to deal with the rest of Canada and North America, they have be able to communicate in English.
Richard LaidlawA retired dairy farmer from London, Ontario, who followed his son, who works in tech, to Quebec City. He has very little French. At times it’s wonderful, at other times it is 100 percent frustrating. So what’s the wonderful times and what are the frustrating times? I love the different buildings. I love all the greenery and the flowers. Everybody seems to like the outdoors. But in the wintertime, everybody in downtown Old Quebec likes to wear black, the streetlights are poor. I’ve been scared several times when driving. At stores I’ve been in line and trying to negotiate with a clerk. But the clerk and I can’t communicate. So the person behind me all of a sudden steps in and acts as an interpreter. He accommodates us and he speeds the line up so he can get through the line faster. It’s great, and you end up with a very good feeling. Trans Canada
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten. How are we doing? Like this email?
|
