Are francophones discriminated against in Canada? A series of new appointments and declarations have reignited the controversy and even prompted the government to react amid accusations of not doing enough to defend French, the country’s official language alongside English. The latest catch: she no longer speaks French on the board of directors of the Canadian National (CN) railway company, whose headquarters are in the French-speaking metropolis of Montreal.

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The question of business leaders’ proficiency in Canada’s two languages ​​had caused a scandal earlier in the fall, after outcry was sparked by remarks by Air Canada President Michael Rousseau who said he had no time to study French. He had to apologize a few days later.

Both of these companies – like Canadian airports, federal ministries, crown corporations and federal institutions – are subject to the Official Language Act and therefore must be able to offer services to their customers in both French and English. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “frustrated” and said “French-speaking Canadians across the country should be reflected in our key national institutions”. He urged the relevant ministers to ensure that CN works quickly to rectify the situation.

Less than 20% of Canadians speak both languages

This new crisis is a reminder of the fragility of French in an English-speaking North American ocean and past struggles to defend its use and status as an official language, included in Canada’s constitution since 1982. But defenders of French are concerned about erosion of the Molière language, the Canadian government is far from exemplary in this area in a country where 8 million French speakers out of 37 million Canadians live.

“There is clearly hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Trudeau, who is particularly moved by issues outside his remit,” said Stéphane Beaulac, law professor at the University of Montreal and co-director of the National Observatory on Language Rights. The latter notably cites Mr. Trudeau’s appointment of the Inuit Mary Simon to the post of Governor-General. Queen Elizabeth II’s new official representative in the country does not speak French. Originally from Nunavik, Northern Quebec, she speaks English and Inuktitut.

This week, the Commissioner for Official Languages ​​regretted that not all events on the Prime Minister’s Facebook page were dubbed into French. According to recent opinion polls, more than 90% of Canadians are very attached to bilingualism, which they consider part of Canadian culture, but less than 20% of them speak both languages.

“People are angry, shocked and this anger is justified”

“Everyone needs to be able to be served in the language of their choice, as few Canadians are truly bilingual,” explains Stéphanie Chouinard, professor of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada. But “we have been waiting for the modernization of the official language law since 2019,” she adds, regretting the delay in examining the draft law. In particular, this revision would highlight the asymmetry between the two official languages: out of 10 provinces, nine have English as their official language.

“Defending French has long meant being branded a sovereignist. Things have changed today so that people are bolder in challenging the dominance of English,” adds Stéphane Beaulac.

Referring to the recent appointments, Frédéric Berard, Doctor of Language Law, explains that “people are angry and shocked and this anger is justified”. “Today, however, such a situation is relatively rare,” particularly in Quebec, adds the man who led the national consultations on reforming official languages. However, for francophones who do not live in Quebec, the situation is much more complex, he adds, although there has been progress in recent years.

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