Tasha Kheiriddin - Mad Max has done it again. In an interview on a Halifax talk radio show on February 4, Conservative M.P. Maxime Bernier set the Quebec political class a-twitter with remarks that questioned the need for Bill 101:
“It’s like in Quebec — we don’t need Bill 101 to protect the French language over there. They know we speak French in Quebec and we will speak French for a long time, I believe it.”
Cue the predictable separatist foaming-at-the-mouth, and a technocratic retort about respecting provincial jurisdiction proffered by federal Heritage Minister James Moore. Cue also a 700-word screed by Mr. Bernier explaining his views, as a libertarian, that,
“French will survive if Quebecers cherish it and want to preserve it; it will flourish if Quebec becomes a freer, more dynamic and prosperous society; it will thrive if we make it an attractive language that newcomers want to learn and use. Not by imposing it and by preventing people from making their own decisions in matters that concern their personal lives.”
But Mr. Bernier, as well as the separatists who criticize him, fail to mention one intriguing fact. Love it or hate it, Bill 101 is one of the reasons Quebec is still part of Canada. Allow me to explain.
Mr. Bernier is right that Bill 101 messes with personal lives. It is a draconian, discriminatory piece of legislation which helped drive over 100,000 Anglophones out of Quebec in the late 1970’s. In doing so, it also messed with the marketplace, and the economy, setting Quebec back financially as capital, head offices, and taxpayers fled. Then, over the next two decades, an entire generation of young Anglophones – educated at the expense of Quebec taxpayers – also took their leave. Finally, the law discouraged talented unilingual people from coming to the province, knowing they, their families and businesses would face linguistic hurdles, costs, and discrimination.
At the same time, Bill 101 entrenched French as the language of life and commerce in the province. It helped create a French commercial class, as Francophones filled the vacuum left behind by departing Anglophone talent. Francophones could now live, work, and succeed in French: they became Maitres chez nous, masters of their own house.
Naturally, Bill 101 required a bureaucracy to ensure its implementation, everything from language inspectors in Montreal to mandarins in Quebec City. The objective of protecting French, of which Bill 101 was a central part, consumed increasing public resources and helped cement the notion that a strong (aka large) state was necessary for the maintenance of Quebec’s identity. Over time, the concept of a large state became Quebec’s identity.
This contributed to Quebec becoming the most socialist province in the country, with a staggering debt of $225 billion, dependent on transfer payments from the rest of Canada to maintain its over-generous social programs.
In short, Bill 101 allowed Quebecers to live in French without having to separate from Canada, dealt a severe and persistent blow to the province’s economy, and entrenched public acceptance of a large state (which Quebecers can’t afford without Canada’s help, if then). Bill 101 has thereby helped make separation from Canada into a mirage, floating further and further out of reach of Quebec’s secessionist elites. Polls show Quebecers no longer believe it will happen, while the government simply can’t afford it.
So merci, Parti Quebecois, for Bill 101, which helped keep our great country together. And thank you Mr. Bernier, for calling for a less statist Quebec that moves beyond linguistic discrimination. Now if only the Rest of Canada could only figure out how to stop paying the province’s bills, everything would be perfect.