Many Anglophone Canadians are indifferent to French even after 54 years of official bilingualism, according to domestic federal research.
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Most residents of British Columbia and Alberta say they don’t know anyone who speaks French, Blacklock reports.
Interest in cultural products in another official language is higher in the East than in the West, rising from 23% in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to 24% in Alberta, 29% in British Columbia, 35% in Ontario, 37% in the Atlantic, and 62% in Quebec,” says the report from the Canadian Heritage Department.
Less than a third of Anglophones, 31%, said they were interested in French films or music. Only 16% said they had a basic knowledge of French, sufficient to understand it in common situations such as ordering a meal in a restaurant. Only 4% said they attended a cultural event in French.
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The report notes that 44% of Anglophones said they did not count Francophones among their “friends, neighbours, relatives or colleagues”.
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In British Columbia and Alberta, the number was 51%.
The researchers said that British Columbians and Albertines preferred to learn Spanish over French.
“Positive statements about bilingualism are more numerous among people living in the east of the country than in the west,” notes the Study on Appreciation and Perception of Canada’s Official Languages.
The study used questionnaires from 5,020 people nationwide.
When asked if they agreed with the statement “The fact that Canada has two official languages is an important part of what it means to me to be Canadian,” 49% of native English speakers agreed. agreement, and for French speakers, this rose to 76%.
And when asked if they agree, “Relationships between francophones and the analchophones are more positive than they were 10 years ago,” 40% of anglophones agree, as do 49% of francophones.
