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Comparing Spanish in Florida to the situation in Quebec is completely bogus. If anything, although English has long roots in Quebec, it's still a relative newcomer here compared to French, and so you're not equating it with the right language in Florida when it comes to history.
If you think the English are newcomers to Quebec they are also new comers to Florida
Thus the analogy with the spanish in Florida may not be as bogus as you think.\ In fact you might be surprised who the original european settlers of the state were . History of Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The other ones are somewhat less noble, and of course this post will spark the usual round of stern denials and accusations, but check out the comments sections on news sites and also talk to your Canadian friends who aren't too fond of the Frenchies - it'll give you an idea of what percentage makes a fuss over English for reasons I will describe below.
Anyway, the not-so-noble view is that Canada should be an English country, including Quebec. Francophones can speak French amongst themselves, but anglophones if travelling in Quebec and even living there should not inconvenienced by this fact because they (the anglos) are the legitimate ''bosses'' of Canada. The ''charter group'' as they say in the history books. Even in Quebec they should be. All this French crap is cute but francophones should speak French when spoken to. And all of this was headed in the right direction in Quebec until this was artificially and illegitimately stymied starting 1977 when the government took measures to favour French. This sentiment is backed up by a host arguments ranging from the demographic dominance and Canada and also in Canada+USA, or the fact that English is the global lingua franca at the moment, or even that the English won the war in the 1760s. To sum up, it's Canadian and also continental anglo-hegemonism at its roots.
Now... cue the denial posts!
Canada doesnt really care any more about Quebec and its "Frenchies", Most remaining Anglos living in Quebec are bilingual and certainly dont go around acting like "bosses"demanding Francophones speak English as Anglos arent inconvenienced in the least speaking French in fact they rather enjoy speaking a second language. Seems to me its the francophone demographic making the most fuss over English while the English are merely asking for respect of their culture and not more intolerant linguistic rules regulations and language police.
While cultural mores and values should definitely be held in high regard cherished and passed on to future generations its rather an unrealistic goal to expect to make an isolated unilingual Franco demographic with only 5-6 million French speakers in a continental ocean of close to 400 million English speakers.
AJ while i respect your your opinion it comes off as a bit paranoid and dated,
For much of Quebec, anglos are the original settlers.
That's certainly not the case for most regions, and especially not for Montreal. (Even the West Island of Montreal where most anglos are concentrated today was predominantly francophone 50-60 years ago.) One of the only regions where you could say that anglos were the original settlers was the Eastern Townships and they have mostly abandoned that region and their population share has dwindled to 6%.
If you think the English are newcomers to Quebec they are also new comers to Florida
Thus the analogy with the spanish in Florida may not be as bogus as you think.\ In fact you might be surprised who the original european settlers of the state were . History of Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you read the article - it says there was basically nothing more than a military presence by Spain in Florida. It's not as if the Spanish founded towns and cities all over the state.
Well, for one thing, the rude behaviour I witness when people either 1) address some people in French or 2) don't respond in English when spoken to in English.
AJ You dont think the French language is secure in Quebec? what would it take to make you feel secure?
I am not talking about me. I have studied the issue for most of my adult life so I have a more informed perspective than the average person (on either side BTW).
I am not talking about me. I have studied the issue for most of my adult life so I have a more informed perspective than the average person (on either side BTW).
Well speak for your francophone demographic, whats it going to take to make them feel secure that your francophone culture isnt on the verge of collapse and more linguistic rules and regulations arent needed..
That's certainly not the case for most regions, and especially not for Montreal. (Even the West Island of Montreal where most anglos are concentrated today was predominantly francophone 50-60 years ago.) One of the only regions where you could say that anglos were the original settlers was the Eastern Townships and they have mostly abandoned that region and their population share has dwindled to 6%.
Canada wasn't valued by the French at all. The population was less than 80 000 at the end of the seven years war, and sopn was nearly matched with English speaking settlers. It wasn't just the townships, by the way. All of Quebec's north, much of the lower North Shore, and isolated areas throughout the province were settled by English speakers first.
Sorry I seem to have started something. But this is kind of what I was talking about.... however the real language "war" is even worse elsewhere: I've noticed when an article about the Quebec language issues is posted on a Canadian magazine, newspaper, or news web site, there are dozens and dozens of very hostile anti-French comments posted underneath. Whether or not these are racist, is debatable but they are certainly hateful. I also read French well and do not see anywhere near the same level of hate from the French side, on the French web sites.
All I am saying is: if some Anglos really hate the French language so much, why stay in Quebec? I'm not saying that Anglos have no historical right to stay in Quebec - I'm saying for own physical and mental well-being, if you feel as passionately anti-French as some of these posters do, why stay and upset yourself so much? Do you honestly think French Quebecers will want to go back to bilingualism in Quebec, when the rest of Canada won't go for it? Do Quebec Anglos feel they need to "hold the fort" (occupy Quebec) because you won the war 200 years ago? It just seems to silly to put up with something you hate so much when there are other places to live in Canada. Wouldn't it be fair to the French Quebecers, one of the 2 "founding people" in Canada, to let them have Quebec the way they want, while Anglos have the rest of Canada? Just sayin'!
I don't know what all this comparison is with Spanish in Florida? The U.S, has a completely different history, with no bilingual / bicultural tradition. Even though Miami for example is very Spanish-speaking, English is still the only official language there. But yes, to many Americans, the Spanish-speakers have "taken over" Miami and I honestly wouldn't live there unless I learned Spanish. But that is the reality today - people move and things change - it doesn't pay for Americans or Canadians to look too far back in history and we will see that Europeans were not the original people. So I was just saying - TODAY the situation in Quebec is a French majority, who has nowhere else to go - they are never going to accept the bilingualism of the past - so why keep fighting over this?
Last edited by Lefty07; 12-07-2013 at 10:59 AM..
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