Why does Quebec still speak French?

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curious_lalalala

North of 49's answer is wrong, so don't even bother reading it.

Here's a clear and concise answer:

It's all about the historical background actually. When the British took over New France, they quickly realized they would have no chance in assimilating an overwhelming French-speaking majority (though they tried - read Lord Durham's Report). So they allowed French Canadians to keep their (Roman Catholic) religion and their language. The Church is also largely responsible for the survival of the language.

From then on, it has been an ongoing fight for French Canadians (later Quebecers) to keep their mother tongue alive as they are surrounded by a ''sea'' of nearly 300 million English speakers. In the 1960's, the language situation in Quebec had become so critical, that the government decided to pass Bill 101 and make French the sole official language of the province.

The immigrant communities you referred to mostly all blended into the English-speaking community because back then, Catholic (and therefore French-speaking) school boards did not accept children who did not speak French (which inevitably hurt the French situation in Quebec), while Protestant (therefore English-speaking) schools admitted pretty much anyone, including immigrant children who did not speak English nor French. Only much later did Catholic school boards started accepting anyone, regardless of their skills in French. A second reason is because back then there was no law regulating school enrollment, meaning people could choose between either sending their kids to French or English schools. Of course, most immigrants wanting a better future for their children than their own, all wanted their kids to be schooled in English (see St. Leonard Crisis in Montreal). Bill 101 changed that and limited enrollment to English schools to English Canadians only or to those whose relatives had been primarily schooled in English.

It is NOT true, however, that all commercial signs must be in French ONLY. It can be in both French and English, as long as the French is marked bigger. All federal signs are bilingual and by the way, Quebec is probably the second most bilingual province in this country. There are about a million Anglo Quebecers living here who receive all services in English (education, health services, media and most government services).

So the basic answer is: We've been busting our rearends for the past 250 years trying to keep it alive and it's worked, so far.

Reggie

old habits never die?

Britain did not act as true victors after the battle of The Plains of Abraham, they agreed to allow the French people to have their own settlement and language but under the rule of the British Crown and it was accepted by the French...

To piss English Canadians off. They hoped we'd have been assimilated by now!

Just look at the clichÃ©d, deluded answers you are getting here!

There is no such thing as provinces other than Quebec being bilingual, except for New Brunswick. Official bilingualism means ONLY that people are entitled to services from their government, i.e. federal, in their language whatever province they live in. De facto, anglos can get service in English from the federal government in Quebec, you francos will be damned before they get served in French anywhere outside Quebec, even by their federal government. I know this as a franco who has lived in Toronto for 7 years.

Getting back to the original question, King George III allowed for French to remain a somewhat "official" language in Quebec by way of the Quebec Act of 1774 (see link below).

Horatio

According to the source link I posted below, following Franceâ€™s defeat in Canada, the new British colonial authorities gradually imposed the use of english throughout Lower and Upper Canada. (Lower Canada later became the Quebec Province and Upper Canada later became the Ontario Province.)
The people of Lower Canada were from France, spoke French, worshiped as Roman Catholics, and followed laws based on French Civil Law. The people of Upper Canada were from England, spoke English, worshiped as Protestants, and followed laws based on English Common Law. So there were significant differences between these two groups.
Those speaking French became classified as Francophiles and those speaking English became classified as Anglophiles. So even though the British tried to impose the english language for all economic, trade, justice and public administration business, the Francophiles resisted and would not give up their French language. They always considered themselves different from the rest of Canada and wanted to maintain their own identity through their French language.
Also around this time, America had just won their own independence from Britain. Some American revolutionaries were uncomfortable with Britain occupying Canada literally next door. So to prevent an invasion threat from America, Britain decided to reach a compromise with the Francophiles in return for their support. This only helped to unite the Francophiles and increase their negotiation power in dealing with the British government.
There are even rumors of Quebec seceding from the rest of Canada even though Canada has two official languages: French and English. Many Canadian politicians speak both languages. Many federal jobs require an applicant to speak both languages. Here in Ontario, all traffic signs, most documents, and labels on food and products have both languages.
Schools in Quebec require all non-French speaking students to learn the French language. Surprisingly, they also require all non-English speaking students to learn the English language. As for adults who want to live in Quebec, they offer free French language instruction.
Although the French language dominates in Quebec, English dominates in the remaining Canadian provinces.

I'm an American who has lived in Canada and someday hope to become a dual citizen.
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North of 49

There are hundreds of books on this subject and you could read for years about it.
To summarize: The French had a lot of people here and they lived in very large communities/cities where nobody spoke English, so how could they learn? Whereas the other communities you mentioned were smaller groups and assimilated into English speaking areas, where Quebec was not.
Canada has two official languages: English and French.
Talk about the pendulum swinging the other way:
In all Provinces accept Quebec, everything has to be bilingual. In Quebec, Bilingualism does not exist. It's all French. Commercial businesses get shut down and fined if they advertise in English.

There are many, many communities where nobody speaks English and unless you know French, you are stuck. Some may speak French, but are too stubborn to do so and make an English speaking person suffer.

I travelled through small rural areas of China two years ago and was the first Caucasian many of them ever saw and was able to speak English to any children I met to most store owners. I experienced the opposite during my travels to Quebec where nobody could speak English or they refused to. . . . . very pathetic !

Man

Culture if you just want a simple answer.

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