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 Quebec
The people of Quebec are very protective of their French culture and language and work hard to protect it. Some Quebecois want to secede from, or leave the Dominion of Canada to form a separate nation. Quebec has strict language laws that are enforced by "language police." Laws dictate that all road signs in Quebec must be written in French, despite the fact that most Quebecois speak English and that English is the dominant language of the rest of Canada. Commercial signs must also be in French. If a second language is used, the non-French lettering must be less than half the size of the French writing. The proponents of the law feel that the use of other languages on signs would "marginalize" the French language in Quebec. Further, they argue the law guarantees that immigrants will recognize the predominantly French character of the province. Finally, those in favor of the law believe that it will preserve French as Quebec’s official language.
Critics of the law say there is no evidence that the French language and culture has been "marginalized" by other cultures. Further, they argue that the law is a slight to immigrants. The language laws were enacted to protect the minority status of French Quebecois in the face of the dominant English speaking culture of Canada, but that argument has recently been used against the French Quebecois. Montreal has welcomed Chinese immigrants for more than a century. These immigrants live close together in "Chinatown," where they continue to speak and write in their native language. Quebec’s language police forced Chinese businesses to replace their signs in 1997. The Chinese merchants of Chinatown requested the same status in Quebec that Quebec has asked Canada to give them. One merchant argued. "What is Chinatown without Chinese writing?" Some Quebecois want Quebec to leave Canada to form their own nation and secede from Canada. The Parti Québécois is a political party that supports Quebec nationalism. They won 71 of 110 seats in a legislative election in 1976, but four years later when a solid majority of Quebecois voted against secession the Liberal Party was back in power. Opponents of secession argue that there would be many negative implications of secession. They argue that a country that has existed as one of the oldest democracies in the world would not be able to easily break apart. Even the Parti Québécois acknowledges that the standard of living in Quebec would fall as they developed a new national government. Additionally, Quebec’s relationship with the other provinces would change if they left the Dominion. Quebec trades more with Ontario than with all of the United States. Quebec would be seen as a neighbor rather than part of the family. Most Canadians feel that Quebec will remain unhappy as a province in Canada, but will not secede from the Dominion. |
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