Sorry, I Don't Speak French: Confronting the Canadian Crisis That Won't Go AwayAs the threat of another Quebec referendum on independence looms, this book becomes important for every Canadian — especially as language remains both a barrier and a bridge in our divided country Canada’s language policy is the only connection between two largely unilingual societies — English-speaking Canada and French-speaking Quebec. The country’s success in staying together depends on making it work. How well is it working? Graham Fraser, an English-speaking Canadian who became bilingual, decided to take a clear-eyed look at the situation. The results are startling — a blend of good news and bad. The Official Languages Act was passed with the support of every party in the House way back in 1969 — yet Canada’s language policy is still a controversial, red-hot topic; jobs, ideals, and ultimately the country are at stake. And the myth that the whole thing was always a plot to get francophones top jobs continues to live. Graham Fraser looks at the intentions, the hopes, the fears, the record, the myths, and the unexpected reality of a country that is still grappling with the language challenge that has shaped its history. He finds a paradox: after letting Quebec lawyers run the country for three decades, Canadians keep hoping the next generation will be bilingual — but forty years after learning that the country faced a language crisis, Canada’s universities still treat French as a foreign language. He describes the impact of language on politics and government (not to mention social life in Montreal and Ottawa) in a hard-hitting book that will be discussed everywhere, including the headlines in both languages. |
Contents
| 13 | |
chapter three Two Éminences Grises | 79 |
chapter five | 101 |
chapter seven The Federal Capital and David Levines | 161 |
chapter eight Talking to Ourselves | 183 |
Trying to Make It Work | 209 |
chapter ten Serving the Public Passing the Test | 239 |
chapter eleven The Political Imperative | 257 |
Conclusion | 287 |
Sources | 307 |
Acknowledgements | 329 |
Common terms and phrases
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