How are relations between french and canadian speaking canada?

Question

my reason for asking is i know that there have been problems between the 2 but i dont what the causes were/ are can anyone please tell me what the problems/differences are between the 2 groups.

hope someone can help

Answer 1

First, it is important to mention that both the French and the English in Canada are "Canadian speaking". I imagine you meant relations between French and English speaking Canadians ?

As for the problems, the history of Quebec is filled with discrimination and injustice that rich English industrialists did to the French blue-collar workers. They either knowingly or unwittingly kept French Quebecois subserviant and consistently gave them very little say in things.

By the sixties, it hit a head with President Charles De Gaulle from FRance coming here and provoking more French unrest by his statement "Vive le Quebec Libre!".

In 1970, Canada experienced its own brand of terrorism with the FLQ and the October Crisis, with bombs going off in mailboxes, and the kidnapping of James Cross and the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte. The military was called out to restore order.

Since that time, we have seen the Parti-Quebecois get elected (a party whose only goal is for Quebec to separate from Canada). We have seen the "Office of the French Language (OLF)" come into being. We have had two referendums (1980, 1995) on whether Quebecers want to separate.

All of this information sounds pretty tense, but the problem today does not seem to be as big as it was years ago. We still have the French and English debates in Quebec, mainly because the "old guard" in the Parti Quebecois have not retired or died off and let the moderates take control.

The average guy on the street does not really care about the English/French debate anymore, as we are more concerned with healthcare, infrastructure falling apart, and the educational system.

The only thing that still bothers me about the whole English/French issue is that it is very hard for me as an anglophone in Quebec to accept that my language is taboo here. I see no problem promoting the French language, but when they have to do so by trampling on the rights of others, then it crosses the line in my opinion.

For example, in the news recently, an English bookstore owner was visited by the OLF because someone complained about the sign "Come In! We're Open" on his door. It is an English bookstore, but the French laws state that he cannot have an English-only sign that the public will see outside his store.

It's just too sad that they have to penalize the English language instead of promoting the French language... It seems to me we have gone from one extreme to the other.

Answer 2

In addition to her great response, I just wanted to say that another part of the problem is that the country is huge and it's really expensive to travel around within the country, so, for example, people from the west are way less likely to get to Quebec and are consequently less likely to have patience for the squawking they do.

Also, it's really bad that anglos in Montreal just expect everyone to speak English, but on the other hand, if you try to speak French, they (politely and trying to be helpful) reply in English, so we can't even practise!  

The history, though, of how the anglo governments treated Quebec is really really bad.  I think people have forgotten that history.

Answer 3

Hi I'm an English speaking Canadian living in a French speaking province...Quebec.  I think the biggest problem here is that the french want to keep their culture..which can fade really fast if they don't be careful. I agree with them on some points and disagree on others.  I agree that this IS a french speaking province and that people should at the very least attempt to speak in their language (it's like going to japan and EXPECTING them to speak english..they aren't english)  On the other hand, I think they are pushing it too far, enforcing it too much on the english speaking to the point where nobody wants to stay here anymore, everyone is afraid to start up business and some companies won't even sell their products here because they have to include french in their manuals etc...which costs too much for such a small community.

I hope this helped some, not sure if it's what you were asking, but like I said, I love where I live and I love the fact that it's french and a little different from the rest, but at the same time, it can be a big inconvenience in may ways....trust me, I know...I live with an Australian who is having a very hard time finding work due to the language barrier...

lol I don't think this is what you were asking....

the problem with English speaking Canada and French speaking Canada is that the French want to seperate from the rest of Canada.  Now lets make it very clear that most of them don't, it's the extremists who do and of course are the loudest. English Canada is fed up of hearing about it and I don't blame them. I'm very split on the whole situation because I live in it daily and I can see both sides of the problem

Answer 4

kewl