What annoys the young anglos

Dominique Scali

Saturday, 17 February, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Saturday, 17 February, 2018 00:44

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The little access to the public service

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Anglophones are so little represented in the provincial public service is that “it is obscene,” growls Colin Standish, aged 31, who grew up in Cookshire-Eaton, in Estrie, before moving to Toronto two years ago.

Only 1 % of public service employees in quebec are anglophone, while they represent 13.7% of the population, according to figures of the Secretariat for relations with English-speaking Quebecers.

“I have the impression that it is more hard to find a job with the government of Quebec because it is English,” said Chelsea Crook, 24 years old.

In addition to a likely discrimination based on language, there is also a reason geographical to this, since most departments are located in Quebec, where the proportion of English-speaking residents is low, ” explains professor Richard Bourhis.

The incidents, ” we are in Quebec here “

Photo Dominic Scali

This summer, Anthony Williams was in a restaurant in Montreal with friends visiting from Toronto. It said that the server has refused to respond in English, reminding them that in Quebec, we speak French. “But they were tourists ! exclaimed it. I was so embarrassed. I do not cease their boast in Montreal, and now an incident, horrible as it happens. I was disappointed. ”

There are also bus drivers who are rude, who only answer in French, even in the parts of Montréal where there is a lot of English speakers, abounds Chelsea Crook. “Those who have a mentality of “them against us”. But I believe that most people are reasonable, ” says the young woman.

Feel judged

Photo Dominic Scali

Kevin Black (on the left in the photo), age 23, has sometimes the feeling of being judged by the French when it serves clients in French. If it can’t find the right word, he is embarrassed and sometimes has the impression that the customer is enraged, ” says this young actor, who grew up in the west of Montreal.

“I was in Paris recently. People found it
cool that I speak French. I was so happy. It was the first time that I was proud to speak French. ”

Be told not to use ” Hello, hi “

Photo Dominic Scali

Well before the controversy last fall, Jennifer Saint-Louis (photo on the left), was scolded by a francophone client because she had welcomed him by saying ” Hello,
hi “. It is this very kind of incident that gives him the impression that, in some contexts, the relations between anglophones and francophones are conflicting.

Young people feel affected by the controversy because they are likely to work with the public, particularly in the context of their job, a student, observes Anthony Williams. “Some have said : “My God ! I could lose my job if I would stop to say hello,
hi” ” shows there.