Un hambourgeois, s’il vous plaît

In recent decades French-speaking Quebecers have fought an effective battle to preserve their language, but they are concerned about the dominance of English in the bilingual city of Montreal. Dutch speakers in Brussels can perhaps learn something from them, suggests reporter Olivier van Beemen in an article for the Belgian newspaper Knack which noted that Quebec sovereignty is an issue in the Canadian election on May 2.

In his article van Beemen quotes QCGN Linda Leith, who explains that the minority English-speaking community in Quebec has become accustomed to language legislation which restricts English language schooling in Quebec. However, she notes that a proposal by radicals within the Parti Québécois to extend restrictions on English-language education to 18 – and 19-year-olds who attend junior college is Anglophobic. 

Read more… (Original version in Dutch)