The difference in nationality, moreover, has endowed religion with special rights unknown in our country, for the French Canadians are solidly Roman Catholic. They insist that they should have in the other provinces the same rights as English Canadians have in Quebec. Every motion in Parliament has to be put in both French and English, members may deliver their speeches in either tongue, and all federal publications-the Dominion laws, the debates in Parliament, and government reports-appear in two editions, one French and the other English.īoth languages are official in the province of Quebec, too, but not in any other province-and naturally the French do not like this. It is echoed in the Supreme Court of Canada and in the houses of Parliament, where, according to the constitution, French stands on a par with English as an official language. It dominates Canadian politics, for almost every public question must be viewed with a French eye and an English eye, or it will be seen out of focus.Ĭanada’s dual nationality is published on every postage stamp and on the paper currency issued by the Dominion government, for they are printed in both French and English. There are few countries in the world-and not another in this hemisphere-where such complete duality prevails. Double nationality is very foreign to American ways of thinking, but it has to he recognized before one can begin to understand Canada. The Dominion is a country with a dual nationality. French Canada and English Canada each form, as it were, a nation within a nation. In Armed Forces on December 31, 1944: 759,879Ĭasualties to May 31, 1945: 102,954 How deep is the division?Ĭanada is like -a double-yolked egg. Indian, Eskimo, Negro, Others: 1.65 Occupations of Canadians over 14 Nationality Backgroundsīritish Isles: 49.68 (English 25.80, Scotch 12.20, Irish 11.02, Others. That was an object lesson for all time to come. What stopped it was the establishment of colonial self-government on a basis of equality for French and English. The strife did not end until the middle of the nineteenth century. The attempts promoted bitter racial strife, and only hardened the determination of the French to retain their separate identity. There was no lack of attempts at assimilation the other way round, but they defeated their own end. There was little assimilation, and that little was mostly of English-speaking people by the French. And three-quarters of a century passed before the English-speaking population was as numerous as the French. The history of Canada as a French colony is almost as long as that of the United States as republic.Īfter the British conquest of this French colony in 1760, a quarter of a century elapsed before any real English-speaking population settled on the soil of old Canada (Quebec and Ontario). They went there to live as French men under the French flag. The French did not go to Canada to be Anglicized. But assimilation was out of the question. Many Americans wonder why the French in Canada have not been assimilated-swallowed up in the English majority. French is the native tongue of three out of every ten Canadians. French Canadians form considerable minorities in every other province except British Columbia. A considerable minority in Quebec, nearly 20 percent of the 3.3 million in that province, are English Canadians. Though it is focused in Quebec and Ontario, the problem is Dominion-wide. In this connection “English” Canada means all the population, whether of British or other origin, that speaks English. Canada’s conscious and successful striving after unity should be borne in mind as we examine another great and permanent problem of the country: preserving and encouraging harmonious relations between French Canada and English Canada.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |