Official Bilingualism

New Brunswick is proud of its heritage and its self-appointed status as the only officially bilingual province in Confederation. Unlike Quebec where only French has official status, while English is barely tolerated and there are no regulatory recognitions of English-language rights, New Brunswick balances off its language priorities. So that's the nice, workable solution to francophones and anglophones living side by side in harmony then, isn't it?

Well, apparently not. Unfortunately, as it happens, New Brunswickers are no further ahead in solving the seemingly insolvable than is Belgium with its Walloon-speaking portion and its French-speaking portion at odds with one another. Throw in the German-speakers just to round things out. Comparable say, with Canada's French-English heritage languages, and our large immigrant demographics with speakers of German, Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, etc.

But just as in the rest of Canada, and particularly in Quebec, signage is irking English-speakers in the province to protest. A new take on the old Confederation of Regions Party which struggled to repeal the accommodating 1960 Official Languages Act is rearing its head. "We pretend to be a linguistic paradise, but we're definitely not there yet", according to the Acadian Society of New Brunswick.

Never will be, it would appear. In Moncton, two-thirds of the residents are anglophone. English-speaking business owners are resisting a new proposed bylaw that would require all new commercial signs be in French and English. Which has resulted in those English-speaking business owners receiving threatening telephone calls, with francophones screaming their vitriol into unwilling ears.

Moreover, ears that are English-tuned, and French-aversioned. The majority English-speakers are resistant to "forced bilingualism". Fifty years of official bilingualism and there is little compatibility between the isolations. A fairly accurate reflection of what's happening in the rest of Canada where French language imperatives irritate the hell out of majority English-speakers.

Doesn't seem reasonable does it? Other than making comparisons. For example, bilingual signage to accommodate French-speakers on federal property throughout the country, but grudging to no accommodations within Quebec for the minority anglophone and allophone populations who feel more comfortable with their own language. Kind of lop-sided as a mutual accommodation; lacking even as a basic courtesy.

But what really gets the dander up of most English-speaking Canadians seeking employment with the federal government is the lack of opportunities available for unilingual English-speaking Canadians. And this too is reflected in a statement out of Keswick, New Brunswick: "It seems like there are zero administration jobs unless you're bilingual - if there are any, they are few and far between. I'm very annoyed."

And that is a gross understatement of fact.