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For those of us who do not live in Montreal (and even Quebec City, beyond the downtown core/old town), you don't use English in daily life, so there is no real need to be bilingual. Of course, I'm sure we can all agree it is useful, but when you go years without needing to speak a language, it seems only natural that people don't care to really keep up with it or move beyond a bare minimum level.
When I first moved here 4 years ago, I didn't speak any French. I tried talking to my neighbour and she just shrugged. 4 years later, we talked about that, and she said that I was the first person in her LIFE to ever speak to her in English beyond a classroom setting in school. She never needed it, so she never bothered. This is pretty typical of most Quebecois - some people here on C-D seem to forget (or don't realize) that most Quebecois can easily go months, years, even their lives - without having to talk to an English speaker. They see tourist areas and think the province is like that. It isn't.
Even in Gatineau and Montreal, you can live without speaking English. Otherwise the percentage of unilinguals would be a lot lower.
Even myself, there are periods where I can go for a couple of weeks without speaking any English at all here in Gatineau.
That makes sense. I would think that would be particularly true for the average "blue-collar guy" with no ambitions beyond the local paper mill and no desire to move away from his home town. He doesn't need English on the job, he doesn't know many Anglophones since he lives in a 98% Francophone town, and he can consume all the Francophone media he wants.
You don't even have to low-ball your ambitions that much. One of my neighbours is the head of department for the City of Gatineau. He is university-educated and all, has a nice house and drives a BMW. Can't speak English to save his life.
I would think that an economy dominated by provincial government would have relatively little to attract migrants from outside Quebec.
Historically this has been the case and Quebec City has struggled to draw and retain immigrants. However, in the past 10-15 years it has undergone an extremely successful diversification of its economy and now has one of the lowest jobless rates in Canada (in line with booming places like Calgary), and so things are starting to change and they are now getting more immigrants there.
Historically this has been the case and Quebec City has struggled to draw and retain immigrants. However, in the past 10-15 years it has undergone an extremely successful diversification of its economy and now has one of the lowest jobless rates in Canada (in line with booming places like Calgary), and so things are starting to change and they are now getting more immigrants there.
So the same Francophone or quasi-Francophone countries that provide so many of Montreal's immigrants? (Latin Americans generally don't speak French, but they do speak a Romance language, whether Spanish or Portuguese).
So the same Francophone or quasi-Francophone countries that provide so many of Montreal's immigrants? (Latin Americans generally don't speak French, but they do speak a Romance language, whether Spanish or Portuguese).
Yes, the makeup is relatively similar all over Quebec in fact.
That makes sense. I would think that would be particularly true for the average "blue-collar guy" with no ambitions beyond the local paper mill and no desire to move away from his home town. He doesn't need English on the job, he doesn't know many Anglophones since he lives in a 98% Francophone town, and he can consume all the Francophone media he wants.
It's also true for the school principal, your kids' teachers, most company managers, public servants, doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc. Most almost never need English in their daily life.
When I was in Montreal, I saw the Haitians, the Vietnamese, the Lebanese, and the West Africans -- and I thought this feels like a reunion of the French Empire. And not by accident.
When I was in Montreal, I saw the Haitians, the Vietnamese, the Lebanese, and the West Africans -- and I thought this feels like a reunion of the French Empire. And not by accident.
How is Quebec City diversifying its economy?
I am not sure of the details but from what I hear they've done it through an explosion of small and medium sized homegrown local businesses. It's not really investment from outside that much - they've really done it themselves.
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