Tag Archive for: ENglish-speaking communities of Quebec

Poll: Attachment to one’s language community is equally important to French- and English-speaking Quebecers, but important differences persist in their respective attachments to Canada and Quebec

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Results from a survey done by Léger Marketing for the Quebec Community Groups Network and the Association for Canadian Studies reveal that attachment to one’s language community is equally important to Quebec’s English and French speakers.

Beyond that, differences persist in the degree to which French and English speakers are attached to Quebec relative to Canada.

Read more

Quebec’s next budget to address needs of anglophones: Weil

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“Quebec’s minister responsible for anglophone issues is raising hopes that the concerns and needs of the province’s English-speaking communities will be tackled in a concrete way in Quebec’s next budget.”

Minister Kathleen Weil held an all-day forum at Concordia University to hear from about 40 leaders of groups and institutions that serve the English-speaking communities of Quebec. Weil told that the Liberal government intends to present a five-year action plan on issues they have brought to her attention in online consultations. She also said the new Secretariat will become a permanent part of the Quebec government.

QCGN President James Shea said Weil’s commitment is a real, true agreement to engage the English-speaking community. Sharlene Sullivan, executive director of the Neighbours Regional Association of Rouyn-Noranda said she is concerned about a “backlash” against the new-found attention English-speakers are getting from the government.

Read the article in the Montreal Gazette

It’s hard to be an Anglophone in Quebec

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By Susan Mastine, The Record

It’s hard to be an Anglophone in the Eastern Townships.

We are watching with impotence our English institutions – which were built from the blood, sweat, tears, and money of our ancestors – struggle mightily, change hands, be given new vocations, and disappear. This is far from a welcome development. Nor is it surprising. There are fewer and fewer of us to help support and maintain our schools, churches, and community organizations, and to thus avert their demise.

It’s a joy to be an Anglophone in the Eastern Townships. We have so many options in terms of the array of educational opportunities from kindergarten to university, cultural performances and exhibits, community events, and tourist destinations. Read more… 

Anglophones looking for more support in Quebec

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CBC Radio The Fan 180

Quebec’s anglophones need to be treated like “a proper minority community,” with a section of government designed to look after their needs. That’s what Sylvia Martin-Laforge tells The 180’s Jim Brown this week. She’s reacting to news that Canada’s Official Languages Commissioner suggested to the provincial governmentthat it open an Office of Anglophone Affairs, but the province declined.  

Martin-Laforge says government often forgets her community when crafting and consulting on policy, and as head of an organization that speaks for English-speakers, she has no one in government she can turn to. She says other “minority” groups, like women and First Nations, have sections of bureaucracy that look after them, as do francophones in other provinces where they are the linguistic minority. She would like the same consideration.

 To read more…

Minority report

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By Melanie Scott, The Low Down to Hull and Back News

In an ideal world, minorities and citizens who don’t get heard wouldn’t need to be represented by organizations. We wouldn’t need a Status of Women department. Or Children’s Aid. Or the Canadian Council for Refugees. Or the Fédération des communautés Francophones et Acadienne du Canada.

We need these organizations to help ensure that the voices of everyone are considered when it comes to access to services and human rights.

Anyone who witnessed the mass escape-from-Montreal by the Anglo community in Montreal in 1976 will recall the outrage of those Anglos – especially the very privileged who had plenty of money to take with them. They were content with the Francophone community being a ‘minority’ (which is how that community was treated by many Anglophones). As long as the Anglo businesses were thriving, everything was just tickety-boo.

To read more…

Hold off on speculation over flight from Quebec, many say

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By Angelica Montgomery, CJAD News

2013 saw a 15-year record in the number of people leaving Quebec, but the unanswered question is “why?”

According to newly released numbers from Quebec’s institute of statistics,  a net 13, 086 people left the province for other parts of Canada, mainly Ontario and Alberta.

The number means 4, 404 more people left compared to the previous year. Out-of-province migration was at the highest level Quebec had seen since 1998.

To read more…

English-speaking Community Sets Priorities at Conference

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Sunday March 25, 2012 – More than 180 members of the English-speaking Community of Quebec from across the province took part in a community priority setting conference this weekend. The Conference concluded with the signing of a declaration that identifies priorities to ensure a vital and sustainable future. They are: Access to services in English; Community Building; Economic Prosperity; Identity and Renewal; Leadership and Representation; as well as Strong Institutions. To read the Declaration click here.

“The declaration distills these priorities to their very essence to ensure our community sees itself reflected in all of them,” said Noel Burke, chairman of the Priority Setting Steering Committee (PSSC), noting that individuals and organizations can attach themselves to these community-wide concerns when working with government and other partners.

Read more…

Survey – QCGN and ELAN want to hear from English-speaking community

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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has postponed hearings for the renewal of radio and television licenses for CBC/Radio Canada. The English-language Arts Network (ELAN) and the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) are preparing a joint brief to the CRTC on the quality of CBC services to the English-speaking communities of Quebec at the hearings that will now take place in June, 2012. To help us better represent the views of listeners and viewers in our English-speaking communities from each region of the province, we invite you to fill in the following quick survey. Please click here to take this short survey.