By Dave Rogers - English-speaking residents of the Outaouais must defend their rights or face marginalization, according to the organization that speaks for them.
In an open letter to the anglophone community in June, the Regional Association of West Quebecers (RAWQ) asked whether English-speakers care that their existence as a community is inadequately recognized by governments and businesses.
“It is important to note that in the Outaouais there are over 58,000 English-speaking citizens representing more than 16 per cent of the entire population,” said the letter distributed under the heading “Do We Care Anymore.”
“Recently the question the West Quebecers board of directors has been considering is whether our communities are indeed asleep at the switch or have just thrown in the towel. Indications are that the situation is probably a little bit of both.”
Not long ago the attitude of West Quebec anglophones was far different.
In 1999, a posse of militant Shawville English-speakers chased a provincial “language police” inspector out of town during a showdown over French on business signs.
Former Wakefield resident Michael Parasiuk fought a
2 1/2-year legal battle that convinced the Supreme Court of Canada to rule in 2005 that his two children were entitled to English-language elementary schooling.
Since then, the Conservative government has limited the funding available to minority groups for court challenges and anglophone militants have all but disappeared in the Outaouais.
More young English-speakers now learn French well enough to work in both languages and are more interested in blending in than in confrontation.
The association’s motto is “A healthy English-speaking community in a secure French-speaking Quebec. A strong Quebec in a united Canada.”
Richard Turcotte, the new francophone president of RAWQ, said there have been recent complaints from English-speaking business owners in the Pontiac who were told they must communicate with provincial officials in French.
Shawville spa owner Jennifer Hodgins couldn’t understand a notice she received in June from the Quebec equivalent of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board because she doesn’t speak French.
Hodgins said an official from the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail told her he couldn’t explain the notice to her in English because Quebec’s language law requires the agency to communicate with its clients only in French.
Meanwhile, RAWQ’s membership has slipped to 375 from more than 3,000 during the 1980s.
John Trent, who founded RAWQ in 1981 and served as president, says English-speaking Outaouais residents are interested in bargain housing and living the good life. He adds they are usually well-served by government and businesses in West Quebec.
But Trent said rights are rarely eternal and can be taken back or just slip away, especially if the Parti Québécois forms the next Quebec government. Trent says declining membership is a problem for organizations that represent French- and English-speaking communities in Quebec.
“Even the Parti Québécois, the Bloc Québécois and the St-Jean Baptiste Society have a hard time attracting new members because most young people are bilingual and multicultural and don’t understand what the controversy is all about.
“A lot of English-speaking people continue living their Ontario lives here in Quebec. For the most part they can get the services in English. When there is not a lot of conflict going on people don’t seem to rally to this sort of organization.”
Guy Chiasson, a Université du Québec en Outaouais political scientist, said the Quebec language debate has shifted towards immigration and reasonable accommodation of minority groups.
“A lot of English-speaking people have moved to parts of Gatineau, Aylmer and Chelsea,” Chiasson said. “These people tend to live their lives in English and some of them work in Ottawa.
“There is not as much polarization around language as there once was. Recent surveys have shown there isn’t much enthusiasm for another referendum.”
Former West Quebecers director Brian Gibb said there has been a movement away from English-language rights since the 1990s.
“At an institutional level there has been a shift away from English rights towards community development,” Tyler said. “The major thing West Quebecers does is it makes sure that English-speaking Quebecers get health and social services delivered to them in English.
“One of the good things that happened is the province opened a community health resource centre in Hull that helps anglophones navigate the system.”
Gibb is more concerned that anglophones are doing too little about barriers to English-language education in Quebec.
Gibb has said the transfer in 2006 of John Paul II High School in Campbell’s Bay to a Shawville high school was another sign of the “linguistic cleansing” of anglophones.
“There is a much larger question that is not being addressed and that is what is the future of English schools,” Tyler said. “The underlying question is that Bill 101 is killing the English schools over time.
“The bill prohibits immigrants from sending their kids to English schools, including kids from the United States, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Less than half of English-speaking kids attend English schools.”
Tyler said it would not be possible for an organization like RAWQ to challenge Quebec laws restricting attendance at English-language schools because the association is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and legal challenges are outside its mandate.
English-speaking communities across Quebec are in decline or are becoming assimilated partly because in the past several years eight to 10 English schools were closed across the province, Tyler said. “English-speaking Quebecers need an organization that can represent them effectively on issues like this, but it shouldn’t be funded by the federal government,” Tyler said.
“The community can raise the money itself but I don’t see that happening. There is no real leadership or sense of community across the Outaouais for English-speaking people. There have been a number of confrontations in which the English community came out on the losing end and people are tired of going to the barricades.”