By Marian Scott, Postmedia News March 14, 2011 MONTREAL — Politics is the lifeblood of French-speaking Quebec — but many non-francophones do not share that passion. So says a new survey by Leger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies.
Three-quarters of French-speaking Quebecers say they are interested in Quebec politics, according to the Internet survey conducted in January.
But among allophones — people whose first language is neither French nor English — only 40 per cent say they are interested in provincial affairs. Among anglophones, 67 per cent express interest.
Why are French-speaking Quebecers fascinated by politics while allophones — and a third of anglophones — dial out?
The answer lies in many allophones' and anglophones' feeling of having little say over decision-making in Quebec, said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association.
"My sense is that a lot of anglophones and allophones don't feel they have as much impact politically in Quebec," he said.
"They don't feel the politics of Quebec connect to them or reflect their aspirations as much," he added.
Feeling unable to affect political decisions leads to disengagement — also reflected in lower voter turnout among anglophones and allophones, Jedwab said.
The poll also shows that francophones are less likely to be interested in Canadian history than anglophones and allophones, while anglophones are less likely to read up on Quebec history than francophones and allophones.
Just 15 per cent of French-speaking Quebecers are strongly interested in learning more about the history of Canada while 41 per cent are somewhat interested, it reports.
Among anglophones, 36 per cent are strongly interested in learning about Canadian history and 42 per cent are somewhat interested.
Among allophones, one-quarter are very interested while 42 per cent are somewhat interested.
The poll also shows that 37 per cent of allophones read a book about Quebec history in the last year, compared to 28 per cent of francophones and 22 per cent of anglophones. Jedwab said the higher response among allophones may reflect the fact that newcomers feel a greater need to learn about their adopted country.
Interest in the history of Quebec and Canada is strongly linked to people's federalist or sovereignist leanings, the poll suggests.
Among francophones who are very attached to Canada, 75 per cent want to learn more about Canadian history, 77 per cent say they are interested in Quebec politics and 25 per cent read a book about Quebec history in the past year.
Among francophones who feel no attachment to Canada, only 27 per cent want to learn about Canadian history, 83 per cent are interested in Quebec politics and 47 per cent read a book about Quebec history in the last year.
"The sovereignists feel they have a greater knowledge of Quebec history," Jedwab noted.
The survey results are held to be accurate within 3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


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