In what seems to be a perennial issue, the pearl-clutchers of Quebec society have come together to worry about the cultural influence of the English language in Shawville.
Jean-Paul Perreault, the president of Impératif Français, an organization that works to promote French language and culture, felt the need to comment on the lack of French on the municipality’s website, in a press release.
These are the concerns that grip the intelligentsia of our province, perhaps after growing tired of comparing the size of French and English words in advertisements.
Apparently, Denis Gratton at Le Droit felt the need to offer his two cents, and in a remarkably tone-deaf column, urged local officials to “get [their] act together.”
Gratton and Perreault clearly did little research and yet claim to have their finger on the pulse of local affairs in our fair municipality. Thing is, they don’t actually care about the Francophone citizens of Shawville, they’re just stomping around to prove they’re still relevant.
Had they picked up a phone and called the municipal office, they could have spoken to the secretary or DG — en Français — and alerted them to this linguistic failure.
In fact, theirs is the first complaint about the bilingualism of the website that the council has heard.
Had Gratton done the bare minimum required of any reporter — you know, getting both sides of the story — he would have discovered that his heightened blood pressure is for naught.
He would have discovered that the municipality was acting on his advice before he even took to his soapbox — the website is currently under construction.
It’s true that Shawville has shown resistance to the imposition of the French language in the past. However, it’s not that locals are opposed to the language in principle, rather the heavy-handed nature with which the rules were imposed.
Despite these troubled roots and historical conflict with the Office québécois de la langue française, this town is not currently populated by “Francophobes”, as Gratton and Perreault would have you believe. Many residents, especially from the younger generation, are fully bilingual or actively working to improve their French. If they plan on remaining in Quebec or commuting to a well-paying job in Ottawa, it’s in their best interest to know both languages.
In addition, after the local mills closed down and forestry jobs dried up, tourism from Ontario and the rest of Canada remains vital to the local economy. The population in this region doubles in the summer with the arrival of cottagers, many of whom are English-speakers themselves and are attracted by the unique mix of cultures.
Gratton’s article deliberately ignores these historic, economic and geographic realities and instead hones in on something he feels should be at the forefront of our priorities: translations on a municipal website.
He even takes the time to scoff at the poor grammar of the French that does appear on the site.
It’s an admirable goal to promote Francophone language and culture, but hand-wringing about an out-of-date website is pathetic, especially for a journalist of his stature. Shawville residents were speaking English over 100 years before Bill 101 and they will continue to do so, for the foreseeable future.
Can our municipality do better to accommodate Francophones? Absolutely, and when the website is complete, it will be bilingual. Gratton has the right to pore over our municipal recycling schedules in his mother tongue, just like everyone else in town.
However, additional French courses for non-native speakers would go a lot further in bridging the language gap than a dozen more snarky columns in the paper. In an age of increasing political polarization, it’s imperative that Quebecers build bridges instead of vilifying a community without getting all the facts.
I encourage Gratton and Perreault to descend from their ivory towers and actually meet the people they choose to criticize so flippantly.
Shawville welcomes them, even if the feeling isn’t mutual.
Caleb Nickerson
