I recently spent a few days in Quebec, just to get away from it all. And get away I did, much more than I had anticipated. We went to visit relatives who lived at Mt. Tremblant about an hour north of Montreal and had not anticipated the degree to which Quebec has changed since the enactment of Bill 101.
Yes, I know, it sounds like I don't get out much and I must admit that Quebec hasn't been on the top of my "must visit" list lately. But I have visited la Belle Province numerous times since Bill 101 was enacted, particularly in the late 1970s and early 1980s at which time I recalled being able to read the signs as they were generally shown in both official languages.
My recent visit surprised me in that all highway signage was posted solely in French and as a unilingual Canadian I had to pay close attention to the signs in order to reach my destination. This was in sharp contrast with highway signage on provincial highways in the rest of Canada, which advises motorists in both official languages.
Things weren't much different at commercial concerns where most of the visible signage was in French and only the most mainstream multinational corporations' products were labeled in both languages. I thought it was particularly odd for this to be the case in places like Mt. Tremblant, where the majority of visitors and chalet owners were Anglophones either from Ontario or from the U.S.
In mentioning this disparity to our relatives, they told us that we didn't really know the worst of it in that all government business in Quebec was conducted in one language only, including correspondence and government mandated forms.
Again, this is in sharp contrast to someplace like, say, Toronto, where government services are available in both official languages, as well as a plethora of other languages so that its citizens could adequately conduct their business.
The biggest travesty of all are the rulings handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada, which is rapidly turning into Canada's judicial junta in charge of social engineering. The first was that Bill 101 making Quebec unilingual was legal within the scope of the Canadian Charter of Rights (The Charter does not mention language) and the second was limiting children's' education to French only, unless they came from an English speaking family or immigrated from an English speaking country.
While Canadians seem to think that "fairness" is a basic human right, particularly in cases where other people's money can be appropriated for the common good, this is one case in which the concept of fairness clearly has not come into play. How fair is it that Canadian businesses in Alberta with a negligible francophone population are mandated by law to operate in both official languages when Quebec, which is comprised of 28% Anglophones and another 29% allophones, can mandate only one official language?
In addition, the position that Quebec holds within confederation is so unique and so privileged that there is no longer a need for Quebec to separate from Canada, as they have de facto already achieved that goal. As Canada's only unilingual jurisdiction, Quebec has its own pension plan, its own unique health care system, is involved in diplomatic exchanges with foreign nations and has a seat at UNESCO.
Quebec is enjoying the best of both worlds. It can be as culturally protectionist as it wishes without fear of legal repercussions. It can and does legally discriminate against Canadians on the basis of language. Yet it can reap the benefits of generous transfer payments and other goodies associated with being a part of Canada.
It would appear that the idea of fairness hasn't yet taken root in Quebec.
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