A group representing Quebec’s English-speaking community is seeking an injunction with the court to challenge the province’s controversial French-language law known as Bill 96, CTV News has learned.
My first thought is “good.”
Quebec’s language laws have always been punitive, under the guise of protectionism. I can only imagine what people would say if the government here in Alberta decided to pull the same shit against French speakers. (And with Smith in power, it’s entirely possible!)
If you really must, declare a provincial dominant language; then step aside and stop trying to actively harm people for speaking English.
In a hypothetical situation where the dominance of the English language in Alberta was in question, the Albertan government would definitely try to enact English language laws. Same goes for my home province of Ontario.
Quebec’s language laws have always been
punitive, under the guise of[about] protectionism. The value of language protectionism can be tough to understand if you speak English - the most powerful language in Canada and across the globe - as a first (and only) languageThe problem seems to be that Quebec has intertwined language with culture. A language is simply a means for two people to communicate ideas, and that is paramount to a functioning society.
Without a common method to exchange ideas, you can’t have a society. English isn’t the best language, but it works, and like it or not, it’s been globally adopted. It’s a standard, and anyone in the tech industry knows the problems that come with having multiple, competing, interoperable standards.
problem seems to be […] intertwined language with culture
You lost the argument right here. Language is as fundamental to culture as the sky is blue.
The rest of your post amounts to “communication is important to function” and you are not wrong on that front. But you put no weight on the importance of culture too.
Consider this your wakeup call, that just because you don’t personally care about society having an identity doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t.
Of course, and what’s the culture tied to English speakers then? Do you think 2nd and 4rd generation Canadian Italians/Ukranians/wherever, who don’t speak their native language, have lost all sense of their culture? Are the 2nd and 3rd generation anglophones living in Quebec incapable of adopting any of Quebecs culture?
Get over yourself.
