As you may have figured out by now, I am from Montreal. I speak English, as well as French, because my parents sent me to English school so that I could be perfectly bilingual - you see, they thought it would be an advantage to speak two languages.
For some of you who may not know what is going on in Quebec - and I will not get into the 'nitty-gritty' because I'd be writing about it well into my 90's! - half of the population wants to 'separate' from Canada and the other half wants to remain part of Canada. It makes for very interesting family parties!!
Usually, French presidents don't dare delve into this very sensitive topic, but Sarkozy did dare and now the separatists have their knickers in a knot. A lot of them are saying that his comments were inappropriate, that he should mind his own business, etc... Funny how they didn't say that about Charles de Gaulles' comment, "Vive le Quebec libre".
I digress. What will it take for the French Canadian or Quebecois to feel good about their language and their culture? Will it take separation? Is that the answer?
I think we need to shed our 'inferiority complex'. Yes, very often, we get comments such as, "You don't speak proper French" (do you hear people saying to English Canadians or Americans that they don't speak proper English?). How do you shed this inferiority complex when people keep reminding you that you are 'less' than what you really are? Maybe we need to examine how the English Canadians and the Americans came to think of themselves as worthy.
