Bill C-32, which amends the Official Languages Act, has been welcomed by groups representing francophone communities outside Quebec. For Quebec Anglophones, the reception has been much more mixed, although most of their concerns are focused on the Quebec government’s Bill 96 (the reform of Bill 101).
Francopresse spoke – in French – with Marlene Jennings, President of the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN).
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After more than a half-century of rising and falling tensions between Quebecers over the use of English and French, concerns are rising among stakeholders that some rights and protections Quebec anglophones fought for since the introduction of Bill 101 more than 40 years ago are threatened by Quebec’s proposed Bill 96 and changes to Ottawa’s Official Languages Act.
It is more important to understand why there is a difference in reporting anxiety levels among Quebecers than to deflect, writes Jack Jedwab, President of the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS). An ACS/QCGN survey reveals that some 34 per cent of Quebec anglophones know someone who has been diagnosed with the virus compared with 21 per cent of francophones.That partly explains the differences in levels of anxiety felt by anglophones and francophones, Jedwab writes. Read more
A new poll commissioned by the Quebec Community Groups Network and conducted by Leger shows anglophones and allophones are more worried than francophones about contracting COVID-19. When asked why he thinks angolphones fear catching the virus more than francophones, Legault suggested English media coverage may be to blame. Read more
A new poll shows that English speakers in Quebec are significantly more worried about COVID-19 than French speakers, and are almost twice as likely to wear a mask. Faced with these numbers on Wednesday, Legault lashed out at English-language media, saying at a press conference that the Montreal Gazette in particular “has a certain responsibility.” Read more
Francophones in Ontario and Anglophones in Quebec should come together on pressing issues such as the modernization of the Official Languages Act and minority language education, but officializing the relationship goes too far, writes Sébastien Pierroz of ONfr.
Read more (In French)
The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
