Publius takes down Quebec’s resurgent vigilance on English signs.
This isn’t about the French language. This is about the inherent nuttiness of modern Quebec. The stated goal of the Tongue Troopers is to defend the French language and culture from the predations of English. It is, we are solemnly told, about preserving Quebecois culture for future generations. Pause to consider that. French Canadian culture has survived four centuries of brutal Canadian winters, countless attacks by hostile aboriginal tribes, repeated invasions and ultimate conquest by the British Crown and nearly a century and a half of union within Canada. But a sign saying Home Depot will destroy it all!
[...]
Intellectuals, bureaucrats and politicians, more so than generals, are obsessed with fighting the last war. For the American Left it is always 1957 in Little Rock and the bigots are ready to deny black school girls a chance to learn. For Quebec nationalists it is always the 1940s. Whereas American blacks faced genuine bigotry, the Quebecois were confronted with contempt by some of their Anglophone neighbours. Instead of being denied a good education by les anglais, they sometimes had difficultly in getting service in French at the local department store. In the catalogue of human evil that’s somewhere near the bottom.
Reminds me of the language wars in Belgium.
Our situation in Canada is similar in some ways, except without the violence, and without the political crisis leaving Belgium without a national government since forever.
Yes, Belgium is a hell-hole. The Francophones often ally with immigrants against the Flemish. After all, the immigrants like to learn French.
And who could blame the immigrants for preferring French to Flemish, given how important the French language is globally, compared to Flemish?
But it is tragic, for the Flemings. I support the Vlaams Belang / Vlaams Blok, whatever it’s called these days.
What language should the immigrants learn, Esperanto? Actually, learning immigrants not your own native language has advantages. They cannot read your history books, finding all dirt and rubbing it in your face.
The Flemings should separate; then, immigrants to Flemland (?) should learn Flemish / Dutch, and immigrants to Wallonia, learn Walloons / French.
If you’re going to have immigrants, they should learn your language AND assimilate.