Are Historic Anglos Actually Entitled To English Service In Quebec?

Today I had the pleasure of calling the government because I thought I had made a really stupid blunder.

I clicked on 9 to get service in English. They gave me a long speech about how since 2023 all service must be in French except for a bunch of exceptions. I was more or less ignoring them since I’m not indigenous nor am I new to Quebec but then they said something that caught my ear at the end.

Anyone with a certificate of eligibility for education in English is allowed to get service in English.I was like hold up, that’s me. 

What is a certificate of eligibility for English education?

The quick version is that this certificate is the thing that let me go to school in English in this province. 

I don’t know if it existed then, but it’s tied into that. 

My understanding is that should Bonnie and I procreate, our children can also get this certificate. Another way to look at it, this certificate is what brands the historic Anglos as such. Still, through all the rah raging nobody told me that I’m allowed service in English.

Today I tested it out, I got service in English.

They don’t even ask for proof. It asks you to act in good faith. I double checked and in good faith I deserve this call in English.

Then I got good English support from the Quebec government for something I needed help with.

To be clear Quebec has weird draconian laws 

The fact is, if you are an immigrant here for 7 months, you cannot receive services in English.

Also, just because I can receive English help today, does not mean in 5 years this will still be canonically correct. Depending on who wins this next Quebec election, a lot can change. Four more years of Legault is honestly a scary thought given what’s changed in the last few years.

End of the day they are chipping away at the ability for English to stay alive natively for future generations. 

At least, despite all the rhetoric, today and now I’m able to speak the language of my birth on complicated issues.

Despite our fear we need to acknowledge the present with a clear lens

Maybe I’m just ignorant, but I had no idea that I was baked into the law in a way where my rights were protected.

It’s super weird that this is a real thing. As time goes on it gets more bureaucratic and weird. We still can’t speak on how we’re ignored, if we’re actually being recognized.

Legault is campaigning now, so it could be some fake, corny politicking. In the meantime, as we complain about our reality, we need to be accurate. If not, we give Legault the ammunition to paint us as unappreciative and ignorant. 

In current reality, there’s enough fuckery that we can point to without adding fake news into the mix.

Stay informed and stay vigilant my fellow historic anglos and our allophone cousins.

Live Long and Prosper Everyone