Post by D

@driusan I think it does make sense for immigrants and indigenous language speakers. We have the continuous problem of having very few language rights and are envious of the protection and funding for the two official languages. So when you ask a person like that “which languages are important to you”, they’ll likely go off on a tangent. @stephanie

@driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect
Yeah I really didn't understand what they were asking because of the phrasing. English is my first language, but I answered French because it's the official language I have to use when communicating with my municipality and health care professionals.

@dillyd @driusan @transitionalaspect Yeah, it should have been "Between French and English, which language would you call you mother tongue/first language" or something like this.

(I swear, the quality of comms in both languages has gone down so much)

@driusan @dillyd @stephanie @transitionalaspect I didn't find that question ambiguous (did the survey in French)

@hub
I just read it in French, and still find it ambiguous. Not clear if they want to know which language I feel more comfortable with (English for me) or which language I use more in public life (French for me). "Principale" could be read either way.
@driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect

@dillyd @driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect "have to use"? No option?

@deborahh
Yes. When I call the city, the recorded message that they play while you're waiting to be connected, explicitly says that they'll serve you in French only, unless you fall into the limited exceptions in the legislation. As an immigrant, I don't get an exception.
@driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect

@dillyd @driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect oh, wow. That's not what I'd expect. Sorry to hear it. Well, my answers went in that direction: services should be available in both languages, if we claim to have two *official* languages. There may different ways to implement that in different places, but I'd expect there would be options. 🙁 #sorry

@deborahh
To be clear, I'm not complaining. I moved to Quebec specifically so my kids could learn French.

@dillyd lucky kids :-)

@dillyd I don't know how immigration works here - did you get a choice of which province you'd settle in?

@deborahh
Québec has a lot of power in immigration questions. I got a certificat de selection to immigrate to Quebec. Of course, somebody could immigrate initially to another province, and then move to Quebec, I suppose.
https://www.canadavisa.com/quebec-immigration-quebec-selection-certificate.html

@dillyd @driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect I left Quebec for Ontario 20+ years ago. Living in Montreal, I never had an issue getting service in English. *But* now I wonder if maybe there was a flag on my file? (I *am* entitled to that exception you mention). Perhaps immigrants had another experience.

Also, I know things have changed since I left. 😥

@deborahh

@dillyd @driusan @stephanie @transitionalaspect

This is quite a recent change - bill 96 (law 14) was just signed in 2022, and I think it took another couple of years for this part of it to really get implemented.

@jaddle
I had no idea. Thanks.