Aletheia Chiang
When one thinks of national patriotism, typically one pictures big Canadian flags, loonies and toonies, Tim Hortons, and perhaps a beaver (or possibly a caribou). To one of my friends, patriotism means “sleeping with the Canadian flag under your pillow.” My other friend thinks patriotism consists of exclusively buying pants from Roots, Canadian retailer authentique. I, too, love my country; but if you look on my front porch, you won’t see any Canadian flags waving. I will also admit that I don’t find Canadian geese particularly attractive. Nevertheless, my own form of patriotism comes from my ability to simply communicate—not just in English, but also in French.
Growing up I had always been proud to be able to speak both national languages. But it wasn’t until my last year of high school that I learned that bilingualism leads to biculturalism. I began to open myself up to the entire ethos that belies the French language. I identified with Meursault from Camus’ L’Etranger. I saw Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme acted out onstage. I ate chocolate everyday because it made me feel like a true parisienne.
When the Commissioner of Official Languages came to speak at my high school, I started to consider French as being more than a language, and even more than a culture—French became to me a real and living creature. As such, I saw it as being something of an endangered species in Canada: in danger of decline and in need of protection, yes; but also in need of increase.
In Canada, when we speak of the French and the English, we see the province of Quebec as a concentrated community of Francophones; but elsewhere, only Anglophones. The truth is Anglophone minorities exist within Quebec, and likewise, Francophone minorities outside Quebec. However, it is the latter group that experiences the most difficulty. While Anglophone minorities are concentrated in Montreal, Francophone minorities are geographically scattered, living in areas where less than five percent of the population speaks French. As such, it is difficult for these families to pass along the French language to their children when the surrounding environment and culture are primarily English.
Quebec is often criticized for the treatment of its Anglophone minorities, but the English possess rights that the French outside of Quebec do not. Other than things such as consumer packaging and emergency instructions given on airlines, the only services required to be provided in both national languages are those at the federal level. Meanwhile, most day-to-day services, such as ordering from a McDonalds in metropolitan Toronto, are available exclusively in English. According to a recent study by Health Canada, language barriers affect a patient’s access to health care and also the quality of care they receive. In Quebec, Bill 142 guarantees Anglophones the right to receive health care and social services in English. There are no such policies for French-speaking populations outside of Quebec.
Bilingualism also has a strong influence on our economy. For the individual, being fluent in both French and English certainly increases prospective employment; and not only so, but his salaries as well. In regards to our nation as a whole, in 2003 Prime Minister Chrétien stated: “Our linguistic duality means better access to markets and more jobs and greater mobility for workers.”
In his latest book, Sorry, I Don’t Speak French: Confronting the Canadian Crisis That Won’t Go Away, Graham Fraser writes about the inescapable necessity, as well as the enduring struggle, for francophone and anglophone Canadians to communicate, and to do so effectively. “There are two dynamic linguistic communities in this country,” he says, “with cultures and economies and social lives that are dramatically and interestingly different.”
Actually, it is inaccurate to say that there are only two dynamic linguistic communities in this country. There are many more than that. In fact, a recent Treasury Board study conducted in the 1990s found that a frequent comment from British Columbian public servants was that it made more sense for them to learn Cantonese as a second language, due to the large Asian population in that province. So the question is, why French? Why not Chinese or Italian or Cree?
Well, let us return to the idea at the beginning of this article. Beyond rights and economies, social lives and multiculturalism, therein lies patriotism. Heritage. National identity. But what does being Canadian mean these days, anyway?
To me, being Canadian means accepting my country as it grows and evolves to accommodate the wonderful influx of ethnic diversity. But to me, being Canadian also means knowing my roots. The roots of any country are its founding cultures. In Canada, that means two peoples: the French and the English. I believe the latter are well-protected within their language rights. Is it fair to love one parent more than the other? But what about the first?
First Nations people, indigenous people who were here before the colonizers first lay foot on the soil of Turtle Island, have a diverse range of spoken languages which are still alive to this day. While this article mainly touches on French and English, there is a growing movement to protect the linguistic diversity of First Nations people. According to the Assembly of First Nation’s website, “Out of 50 Aboriginal languages in Canada, only 3, Inuktitut, Cree and Ojibwe were flourishing with over 20,000 who identified an Aboriginal mother tongue. In the 2001 census data, however, only Inuktitut showed an increase in the number of mother tongue speakers. Cree showed a decrease in mother tongue identification from 76,475 in 1996 to 72, 680 in 2001 – a decrease of 3,795 or approx 5% nationwide. Ojibwe showed a decrease from 22,625 in 1996 to 20,890 in 2001 – a decrease of 1,735 or approx 8% nationwide.” A UNESCO report in 1996 reported that, “Canada’s Aboriginal languages are among the most endangered in the world.” With this in mind we must work to preserve not only French, but First Nations languages as well.
Our government’s responsibility is to create policies that promote awareness and dialogue between English and French speaking Canadians. Fraser suggests focusing more resources on youth, increasing teacher exchanges, and encouraging universities to stop treating French as a foreign language. They are all seemingly obvious solutions, but often it is these that work the best.
Our responsibility, then, is to begin to care. Oftentimes, as a second-generation young person born from immigrant parents, I feel that Canada’s multicultural youth are caught up either running away from our own culture, or completely embracing it. With each activity, the tendency is to neglect the fact that this country, in which we have come to live, possesses its own heritage. If we say we love our country, and if we earnestly desire to take pride in ‘being Canadian’, we must first know what that means: not just for us as individuals, but for the people who founded this glorious land: English and French.
To hear some more youth perspectives, check out Aletheia’s documentary, French Immersion in Schools, aired on CKLN 88.1 FM while she interned at the station this past Spring of 2007.
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