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who speaks French in Canada
Last month, when Mary Simon was appointed as the new Governor General, I made some comments about language politics on twitter, and a friend asked:
"Is there like a class/race divide on who can speak French or not in Canada?"
And anyway
France started colonizing what eventually became Québec in the 1500s, then in the 1700s Britain, using violence, got France to "renounce its claims to the territory." But like, in practical terms, they didn't really... do anything? They let everybody here do what they were doing before; the locals just had to pay taxes - which remained basically the same - to an English tax collector instead of a seigneur.
Meanwhile, in England, some progressive dudes were all "bro what if... what if we didn't assimilate the previous occupants?"
And long story short the Canadiens, as the French-speaking population of North America were then known, were essentially left to their own devices.
After the American revolution, those Canadiens were, in numbers, half the population of what was left of the British colonies. They were allowed to remain French-speaking, Catholic, and even were allowed to keep using the French civil code. They weren't given access to markets or financial services. The Catholic church was running social services, and in most of what is today the province of Québec, was the de facto government.
Side note, and I should have mentioned this before, when I said France colonized Québec in the 1500s, I mean... they sent a bunch of soldiers and orphans, all "hey, do you have no economic status? ok here's some land. You're welcome. If you don't die, send us some beaver pelts." Those are the people who became "Canadiens." Speaking of which, I don't remember when or why "Canadiens" stopped meaning "the French-speaking catholic ones who live in North America." But now, oddly enough, it means "the English-speaking ones who live in Canada." But I digress.
Anyway, recap: emphatically not-classy French people took some land from indigenous people and, subsequently, lost a war to Britain. Then Britain was like "ok so here's the deal: we're not going to kill you, but we're not gonna like... hang out. or anything."
Here is where I get to the point:
Today, French is the first language of a bit over 20% of the population of Canada. With a common history and shared cultural background, this population - AND THIS IS IMPORTANT - has its own media landscape. Books, newspapers, magazines, television channels, music, films, comedy, etc.
Speaking from my own experience, most French Canadians have some awareness of what is happening - culturally, politically, etc - in the Rest Of Canada, but not the other way around.
When something happens that forces people in the Rest Of Canada to remember we're here, they're often resentful and it turns into a whole "ugh the QUÉBÉCOIS keep INSISTING on being DIFFERENT why do they think they're so SPECIAL" thing and it's a whole... thing.
Which brings me to the last piece of the tangled political web that is language politics in Canada: both groups of colonizers fucked over indigenous people in a number of ways and because of Reasons they were sent to English-language schools and not French-language schools for assimilation? Ergo, Canada's First Nations were literally not allowed to learn French.
So this response spiralled a bit, and it includes a lot of [over]simplification. If there's anything I can clarify please tell me? I'm not a historian or anything, I just have historian friends and also this one economics professor who talked a lot about the practical impact of France renouncing its claim to the territory. Oh and also there's this book called "Une Brève histoire de l'agriculture au Québec" that has a lot of content about access to markets, and the church's role in society.
"Is there like a class/race divide on who can speak French or not in Canada?"
And anyway
France started colonizing what eventually became Québec in the 1500s, then in the 1700s Britain, using violence, got France to "renounce its claims to the territory." But like, in practical terms, they didn't really... do anything? They let everybody here do what they were doing before; the locals just had to pay taxes - which remained basically the same - to an English tax collector instead of a seigneur.
Meanwhile, in England, some progressive dudes were all "bro what if... what if we didn't assimilate the previous occupants?"
And long story short the Canadiens, as the French-speaking population of North America were then known, were essentially left to their own devices.
After the American revolution, those Canadiens were, in numbers, half the population of what was left of the British colonies. They were allowed to remain French-speaking, Catholic, and even were allowed to keep using the French civil code. They weren't given access to markets or financial services. The Catholic church was running social services, and in most of what is today the province of Québec, was the de facto government.
Side note, and I should have mentioned this before, when I said France colonized Québec in the 1500s, I mean... they sent a bunch of soldiers and orphans, all "hey, do you have no economic status? ok here's some land. You're welcome. If you don't die, send us some beaver pelts." Those are the people who became "Canadiens." Speaking of which, I don't remember when or why "Canadiens" stopped meaning "the French-speaking catholic ones who live in North America." But now, oddly enough, it means "the English-speaking ones who live in Canada." But I digress.
Anyway, recap: emphatically not-classy French people took some land from indigenous people and, subsequently, lost a war to Britain. Then Britain was like "ok so here's the deal: we're not going to kill you, but we're not gonna like... hang out. or anything."
Here is where I get to the point:
Today, French is the first language of a bit over 20% of the population of Canada. With a common history and shared cultural background, this population - AND THIS IS IMPORTANT - has its own media landscape. Books, newspapers, magazines, television channels, music, films, comedy, etc.
Speaking from my own experience, most French Canadians have some awareness of what is happening - culturally, politically, etc - in the Rest Of Canada, but not the other way around.
When something happens that forces people in the Rest Of Canada to remember we're here, they're often resentful and it turns into a whole "ugh the QUÉBÉCOIS keep INSISTING on being DIFFERENT why do they think they're so SPECIAL" thing and it's a whole... thing.
Meanwhile, in Québec: "guys, we can see that this is bothering you, and we were thinking: what if we just got out of your hair? We could form our own country, maybe?"
Canada: HOW CAN YOU THINK OF DESTROYING THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WE'VE BUILT. WE'VE HAD SUCH GOOD TIMES TOGETHER. CAN'T YOU SEE HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME.
Québec: babe I hate to contradict you but have you noticed that this conversation is happening entirely in English? Because you do not speak French? Because my language and the cultural heritage it carries does not matter to you? Because you do not see any value in it? You only see inconvenience?
Canadian First Nations: hey guys -
Canada + Québec: GO TO YOUR ROOM, SAVAGE, THE GROWNUPS ARE TALKING
Which brings me to the last piece of the tangled political web that is language politics in Canada: both groups of colonizers fucked over indigenous people in a number of ways and because of Reasons they were sent to English-language schools and not French-language schools for assimilation? Ergo, Canada's First Nations were literally not allowed to learn French.
So this response spiralled a bit, and it includes a lot of [over]simplification. If there's anything I can clarify please tell me? I'm not a historian or anything, I just have historian friends and also this one economics professor who talked a lot about the practical impact of France renouncing its claim to the territory. Oh and also there's this book called "Une Brève histoire de l'agriculture au Québec" that has a lot of content about access to markets, and the church's role in society.