Quebec: Just Shoot Me

Quebec is angry again.

What is it this time that got all the usual suspects riled up about language? 

The latest entity to run afoul of Quebec's linguistic warriors is the soccer body for North America CONCACAF.

No one is spared when it comes to Quebec's low self-esteem. 

The "scandal" goes something like this. Canada's head coach Mauro Biello was set to answer a Quebecer reporter in French when he was interrupted by a CONCACAF official asking him to keep it in English.

The body apologized for the incident. The issue should have ended there.

Why? Well, CONCACAF a good number of its membership are Spanish speaking countries so English is simply the governing common language. So the official wasn't technically wrong. The entire continent wants to hear what was asked and what the reply was despite Quebec's parochial disposition.

You can't go onto an international stage and start to bang on pots and pans demanding evernote bend to your sensitive linguistic demands. Literally, no jurisdiction acts like this from my experience. 

At this point into the post, I'd be accused of 'Quebec bashing'.

Except it's not. 

I'm posting out that it's one thing to make a provincial case out of language at hime but it looks hopelessly myopic on the international stage.

I checked out CONCACAF's Twitter page to see if language warriors expressed anger. Sure enough they did. And it looks silly.

The world sees that and rolls its eyes.

But in Quebec it's about 'respect'. The same people who go to Florida expecting to be served in French. I don't think it's respect in as much as its sophomoric self-absorption at this point.

The tired canards of 'we're n a sea of 300 million Anglos' and 'our language is threatened' have come out again in recent weeks. 

This fake scandal should have ended with the apology. Shit happens.

Not in Quebec. Nope. Let's blow this up. 

No sooner did this happen, it turns out there's just too much damn English in the QMJHL 

T-Shirts in English are unacceptable. It didn't stop there. Former NHLer Enrico Ciccone asked politicians to step in because there's too much English in locker rooms.

These people like in a bubble inside a bubble.

The Q is considered the weakest of the three leagues in the CHL. It's down to 60% Quebec-born players with a good chunk coming from out East and Europe. Where, you guessed it, the common language is ENGLISH.

It has nothing to do with respect but simple practicality.

Indeed, people coming here should learn the language and we should accommodate facilitating that they do. It's not easy to learn a new language. Especially a refined one like French.

The irony of course is that it's known Quebec doesn't even teach French properly in school. 

Quebec doesn't seem to understand respect is two- way. Not one. 

After the 'hoopla' the league announced 'no more English'.

Exactly how that respects teams based in Atlantic Canada and its fans no one knows. But Quebecers don't care. After all, they should just be happy they get to play in the Q is the attitude. Maybe they should consider joining the OHL? 

If I'm a parent considering a league to play in? I don't even go with the Q or even the CHL. I go the NCAA route. NCAA hockey is on the ascendancy. More importantly, you get a U.S. education where the opportunities are endless compared to Canada. Why would you restrict yourself to Quebec? The CHL isn't the only avenue to the NHL anymore.

The point is the argument of feeling 'threatened' no longer justifies these antics anymore. 

It's a form of linguistic bigotry and it's not seen anywhere in the West.

Yes, there are language laws in pockets of Europe but NONE go as far as Bill 101 (ie denying people to English language education), or Bill 96 and all it's insidious and odious punitive attacks on English. 

No jurisdiction anywhere in the West has the equivalence of a language police like the OLF.

The nationalists keep trying to find examples (Catalonia!) to defend their actions but in the end, a Quebecer can set up shop anywhere on the continent and they will be left alone. Have you seen Florida? This privilege is not reciprocated in Quebec. And this is just a fact.

Canada is officially bilingual. Some provinces have their own 'official' language laws but again, none go as far as Quebec does. They've pushed so hard, they can be viewed as human rights violations. 

But hey. 'Unique'.

Quebec's linguistic challenges are no different than anywhere else.

The difference comes with the strength and self-esteem of a culture. 

3 million Croatians don't feel threatened by 800 million Europeans. Ditto for 5 million Danes.  Or 11 million Portuguese. 

All these places have English widely present. 

But these are strong cultures. 

Quebec relies on punitive laws to protect it.

Maybe it's time to actually stand tall and protect your own language without suppressing another?

All that being said, the average Quebecer no longer wants to be isolated. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Quebecers in the States struggling to speak English. It's sad and embarrassing. My Gen Z daughter made the point that even French-Canadians 'don't want to miss out' on what's going on in the world. That means it needs to know English. It's ALL in English. By denying it here, it only further keeps them isolated. More than they care to admit. We on the other side see it everyday they're a step behind. Again. I say this not to bash but because I care and want what's best of Quebec. Alas, I don't see this ever changing which is why I'm setting things up to hopefully have my daughter leave. I see no future here. A total of seven people have left since 2020. More are talking and considering it. But this is another topic for another day.

All these laws, ironically, not only hurt our economy (the unseen) despite what the nationalists the and assert, it hurts Quebecers themselves. They look like hayseeds in foreign lands. 

This is the view from OUTSIDE looking in. The world is more connected than ever and with it the English language has become even more dominant as a common language. Time to become practical.

It's just shooting itself in the foot now. With the latest round with Bill 96, the next logical step is to ban English outright. 

It's time to just....chill.

And guess what? English is cool.