Godmanchester’s Mayor Judith Fouquet is leading a push to allow municipalities without bilingual status to better communicate with English-speaking citizens.
“Here is Godmanchester; 38 per cent of the population are native English speakers,” said Fouquet. “These are not newcomers. They span generations; some have lived here for 150 years and founded Godmanchester,” she added, before noting that under current language laws, some feel they have become second-class citizens.
The Charter of the French Language upholds French as the province’s sole official and common language and forbids municipalities without bilingual status from communicating with citizens in other languages, including English, with few exceptions.
Fouquet said that while she is entirely in favour of protecting the French language, the law does not reflect the linguistic reality of certain municipalities. “What I am asking for right now is a just a step back,” she explained. “We are the first level of government. It is important that people understand where their money is going and what we are doing with it,” she added. “It is an important step, and ultimately, it is a matter of fairness. If I cannot adequately inform my citizens, I’m not fulfilling my role.”
The subject came up in conversations with other elected officials during the Fédération québécoise des municipalités annual congress. Fouquet said she connected with other mayors facing similar challenges and is starting to get more support. “People don’t have a choice but to work with us. They own a home, they pay taxes, and they are on board with us. So, I think we have a duty to communicate so that people understand,” she concluded.
In Ormstown, where just over 34 per cent of the population identifies as English-speaking, Mayor Philippe Besombes is among the elected officials standing with Fouquet.
“The regulations don’t help. That is clear for municipalities like ours. We are kind of in a grey area,” Besombes acknowledged. “I really want us to have a municipality with an inclusive community. Language should not be a barrier between communities,” he said, before adding that without bilingual status, the municipality must operate within the law and enforce it.
The municipality has resorted to finding workarounds. “We are trying to see if there are ways, while respecting the law, that allow us to communicate with our citizens in English,” he confirmed, noting there are currently two measures in place.
The municipality publishes a regular newsletter in The Gleaner in French, which is then translated, and distributed free of charge to all citizens.
Besombes also manages a personal social media account where he provides bilingual summaries of items discussed during council meetings and other announcements. “This allows me to provide information in both languages and to bridge the gap between them,” he explained.
Fouquet now does the same on her private Facebook page.
Besombes identified question period during municipal council meetings as another area where communication can be challenging. “No matter how you look at it, I can’t answer people in English,” he said, noting the fact that Ormstown’s council meetings are filmed and livestreamed further complicates the situation.
“It is not just a matter of getting a warning. There are fines, and they are hefty. We are talking thousands of dollars,” Besombes explained. “I’m the first to say that we must defend the French language. But at the same time, we are going a little too far in the opposite direction. We need a certain balance.”
Fouquet and Besombes brought the issue up with local candidates and with party leaders during the provincial election campaign. Both said they will continue to push, once the dust settles.
1 Comment
La Charte de la langue française semble vouloir exclure tout Québécois qui ne maîtrise pas parfaitement le français canadien. Il existe une application sur votre téléphone qui traduit d’une langue parlée à une autre. Cela devrait faciliter les communications en personne. Comme la plupart des documents imprimés sont disponibles en ligne, j’ai constaté que Google Traduction fonctionne aussi. Il propose également des traductions pour le « français (Canada) ». Ce n’est pas le cas de l’application sur votre téléphone.
Mon arrière-arrière-grand-père a immigré d’Écosse à Ormstown en 1832 et a acquis un terrain où il a créé une ferme sur une zone marécageuse, quelque part le long de la Troisième Concession. Cent ans plus tard, mon père est né au Michigan, le premier de sa lignée à ne pas être né au Canada.
J’ai toujours souhaité me rendre à Ormstown et tenter de localiser précisément cette ferme. Cependant, cela signifie-t-il que je ne serai servi qu’en français lorsque je ferai des recherches aux bureaux municipaux, à la bibliothèque publique ou ailleurs où ces archives sont conservées ? Je tiens à préciser que je suis un Américain ignorant qui n’a jamais pris la peine d’apprendre une deuxième (ou une troisième) langue, une décision qui n’a jamais été remise en question, mais que je regrette. Cela ne m’a toutefois jamais empêché de visiter la plupart des pays de l’UE, mais je suis quelque peu perplexe quant au fait que cela puisse poser problème si près de chez moi. Inversement, je suis également perplexe face au fait qu’un descendant d’une famille fondatrice, dont l’histoire remonte à plusieurs générations et qui a œuvré il y a 150 ans, n’ait jamais pris la peine d’apprendre le français, la langue de prédilection de sa communauté.
The Charter of the French Language seems determined to alienate any Quebecois who do not have a firm grasp of the French-Canadian language. There is an app on your phone that will translate one spoken language to another. That should help with any face-to-face communication. As most printed material can be found on-line, I’ve found that Google Translate will work, too. It also has translations for “French (Canada)”, also. The phone does not.
My Third Great Grandfather migrated from Scotland to Ormstown in 1832, and obtained a lot where he created a farm out of swamp somewhere along the Third Concession. One-hundred years later, my father was born in Michigan, the first of his line NOT born in Canada. I have always wanted to travel to Ormstown and attempt to find exactly where that farm was. However, does this mean I will only be spoken to in French when making inquiries at the Municipal Offices, Public Library, or wherever those records may be found?
I will volunteer that I am an ignorant American that never bothered to learn a second (or third) language, a decision that was never questioned, but is regretted. However, it has never stopped me from visiting most countries of the EU, but I am mildly puzzled why it would be a problem so close to home. Conversely, I am also puzzled why a descendant of a multi-generational founding family of 150 years ago, never bothered to learn French, the preferred language of their community.
Thomas R Anderson II
Saint Clair, Michigan
Translation by Google Translate