Miller puts foot in it over French
No sooner back in cabinet as minister responsible for official languages, Marc Miller put his foot in it by saying he doesn’t think French is in decline in Quebec. Legault thinks Miller won’t dare show his face at any cultural event in Quebec again.
Kevin 17:27 on 2025-12-02 Permalink
I know Legoon is appearing to be upset, but that’s not actually what Miller said.
Miller said that French is fragile and that what he deplores is the neverending politicization of the topic, all while he hates that certain groups refuse to recognize that it’s a complex discussion and instead use it for identity politics.
Legault then, once again, said that the decrease in the number of ethnic mother-tongue francophones living in Montreal is a sign that French in Montreal is in danger — exactly the kind of identity politics that Miller denounces.
Ian 17:38 on 2025-12-02 Permalink
Historically, there is no final purity test.
Legault thinks French is in decline if it’s not the majority language, increasingly, in all facets of life – including at home. If that is ever satisfied, ethnonationalists will demand an increase in mother tongue francophones. After that, French ancestry. After that, founding families. It’s all Blut und Boden bullshit.
Kate 18:43 on 2025-12-02 Permalink
“What I refuse to accept is the dogma that certain political parties want to promote, which is that French is in total decline,” he said.
Okay, it’s meta, but it’s a kind of denial.
Kevin 08:49 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
95% of Montrealers speak French outside the home.
So if your concern is about the language in the city, it’s safe.
But if your concern is that people aren’t speaking French at home, you are an identitarian who is upset that non-Franco-Quebecers exist.
jeather 10:49 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
I believe that even if they speak French at home, it doesn’t count if they also speak another language at home.
Paul 11:17 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
A greater proportion of people speak French in Montreal then at anytime since the 1830’s. The only thing in decline is French origin Quebecers (or unilingual francophones). The argument that French is in decline is based purely on ethnonationalism.
Some statistics:
-According to Statistics Canada, 75 per cent of Quebecers say French is their first language,
while 94 per cent can converse/function in French.
-Yes, the % of people who ONLY speak French at home is in decline, but there is an increase if you look at the % of people who speak French at home, including those who mix it with another language:
Quebec (2006–>2021): 83% –> 86%
Montreal (2006–>2021): 56% –> 65%
So French is only in decline if you believe in complete linguistic purity. Which is an absurd concept in the 21st century.
https://www.lapresse.ca/contexte/2023-12-03/ecrits/le-francais-quel-declin.php
-Considering French in decline because people speak a different language at home is disingenuous. Look at the statistics related to knowledge of French and levels of bilingualism and the picture becomes clearer
1991–>2021 Connaissance des langues dans QC
Seulement EN: 5.5% –>5.3%
Seulement FR: 58.1%–>47.3%
EN&FR: 35.4%–>46.4%
Total FR: 93.6%–>93.7%
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Quebec&DGUIDlist=2021A000224&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&HEADERlist=0
azrhey 11:26 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
I speak about 85% French at home ( 15% Portuguese in case you’re wondering ) .
I always ALWAYS answer OTHER in the census, because the first time I was ever able to vote as an adult was on the 95 referendum and I am still salty about the Vote Ethnique comment. I am a francophone, I have a nice honours degree in Linguistique de La Langue Française and a good part of my job is translating English documents into French. But I will always answer OTHER. When I used to live with my partner and my French at home was about 99% it was still OTHER. Because I am a effin’ Vote Ethnique.
Grump
jeather 11:50 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
Yes, I’m not saying they are correct to define “French in decline” as “exclusive use of French at home in decline”, but they are doing that.
bob 14:19 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
In these times where people are so concerned with privacy issues, how is it any of Legault’s f*cking business what I speak at home?
These totalitarians are just so insipid and lifeless. They want to protect a “culture” which is actually just the bleached bones of a living body they want to murder. Let’s compare what the CAQ has done to actually promote French, rather than just shit on the impur laine – Muslims, specifically.
And how many of their discussions with their kids at home are designed to practice the English they learn at private school?
Uatu 16:36 on 2025-12-03 Permalink
Caq should outlaw subversive content like anime. So many francophone kids watching One Piece or K Pop Demon Hunters instead of ti-Jean. The horror…