Canada trip gives insight

I just finished a 10 day trip to Canada, particularly the Montreal area.  From that trip I’ve realized a significant impact of the future of the United States.

Montreal is in the province of Quebec.  Quebec is a French speaking area of Canada and all of its personality and reason for being circulates around its “frenchness.”

Some 80 percent of the residents of Quebec speak French and all signs, posters, magazines , radio and tv shows, food products and anything you can name is in French.

Canada’s history revolves around the conflicts between the French and the English with the English eventually coming out on top.  French settlers were discriminated against, their lands confiscated and many of them forced to flee to other French colonies including Louisiana.

But the American revolution made the remaining French settlers in Canada important allies to the British and to keep their loyalty the protestant British allow the catholic French to keep their religion to keep their language and to keep their own laws.

And it remained so until the 1970’s, when a small group of revolutionaries tried to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada, through violence.  That brought about changes in Canadian law which not only gave Quebec the right to secede if it could generate a majority in favor, but also put into law that Canada was a bi-lingual country and that all official documents be in both languages.

A few years ago 48 percent of Quebec voters voted to seceed from Canada, not enough, but encouraging enough to keep a separtist party in control of Quebec’s politics.  It’s anticipated that another referendum to separate will soon be before the voters again.

As far as I can tell, its the language issue which keeps Quebec from truly embracing national identity.  And, that gives all Americans pause.

A bi-lingual country cannot survive long.  Having two national languages creates two separate groups and over time, one or another of those groups will begin to feel threatened.

The United States should take a warning.  We cannot exist as a bi-lingual country.  English should be the only official language.   Quebec’s history with the French language in an English speaking country – gives us adequate warning.