Peter F. Trent: Anglos aren't to blame for Montreal's anglicization

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In 1968, I happily accepted being transferred from Toronto to Montreal, although Quebec anglos had already started to go the other way. In fact, between 1966 and 2006, thanks to the FLQ, Bill 101 and two referenda, the net anglo out-migration totalled more than 336,000.

While the 1971 census for Quebec gave 4,866,000 francophones, 789,000 anglophones and 373,000 allophones, the 2021 census tallied 6,411,000 francophones, 737,000 anglophones and 1,259,000 allophones. Anglos had dropped from 13.1 to 8.8 per cent of the population.

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Anglos were not, however, the only language group massively migrating during the last 50 years. What often gets overlooked is the extent of the francophone internal migration from Montreal Island and Laval to the outer suburbs.

In 1971, the island of Montreal had 2 million residents, of whom 1,200,000 were francophone: they amounted to 25 per cent of all francophones in Quebec. In 2021, the island’s population was still 2 million, but there were only 921,000 francophones, or 14 per cent of the Quebec total. And Laval, which was 81 per cent French in 1971, is now down to 55 per cent French.

Back in 1971, census respondents could declare only one mother tongue: French, English or Other. Now they have a farrago of additional choices. English and French. English and a non-official language. French and a non-official language. English, French and a non-official language. Multiple non-official languages. Whew! In 2021, 308,000 Quebecers gave multiple responses for mother tongue and thereby claimed to have been multilingual toddlers.

Luckily, Statistics Canada can distribute these multiple responses to produce French, English and Other.

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“Mother tongue,” by the way, is your first language learned and still understood. Asking “What is the language spoken most often at home?” gives higher French and English results, as it includes respondents whose mother tongue was not French or English. But one’s mother tongue is hardwired, unlike the mutability of one’s current family language.

The 2021 census showed that the urban region surrounding Montreal and Laval is 80 per cent French. Why is that? Well, some respondents were francophones living in rural areas that became urbanized and therefore part of the Montreal metropolitan region. But others decamped there from Montreal and Laval. Were they afraid of losing their language and culture? Or is it that they didn’t like the immigrants, the English or sharing a métro wagon?

Or — more likely — is the exodus explained by the fact that living off-island is cheaper by a long chalk? There are no Montreal property taxes, and land doesn’t cost $100 a square foot. And excepting Longueuil, their towns were not merged.

The anglicization of Montreal Island really sticks in Premier François Legault’s craw. But with fewer mother-tongue French-speakers around, further anglicization is almost inevitable. While I have always deplored the long-standing francophone flight from the island, it is clearly not the fault of the diminishing number of anglos. Legault should be wagging his finger at his linguistic compatriots who have abandoned the island of Montreal. Left to take their place are all those immigrants who seem to upset him so.

I have yet to see a comprehensive study about how to reverse this pernicious linguistic sprawl that will, economically and socially, continue to undermine the Montreal region and therefore the whole of Quebec. It will take much more than just getting a bonjour high.

And while undoubtedly noble, Mayor Valérie Plante’s fixation on social housing will not lure back expatriated francophones, most of whom are middle-class.

Francophones have to feel at home in Montreal and be assured that English is not a threat to their language, but instead gives them an essential, global economic tool.  

Whatever happens, though, I am not returning to Toronto. 

Peter F. Trent, a former inventor and businessman, served five terms as mayor of Westmount and led the Montreal demerger movement. His Merger Delusion was a finalist for the best Canadian political book of 2012.

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