Vive the difference
C’est officiel: French is not under threat
LANGUAGE, more than anything else, defines Quebec. The province, after all, is the only significant French-speaking region not just in Canada but in North America. For three decades, defensiveness has defined the provincial government's approach to language. And the best way to defend French is to stop people speaking anything else—especially English.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Vive the difference”
From the June 16th 2001 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from The Americas
Armed groups are terrorising Colombia’s border with Venezuela
The government has declared a “state of internal commotion” in response to the worst humanitarian crisis in decades
Brazil’s ragged finances are holding back its green ambitions
The transformation of its largest private port has lessons for the country’s aspirations
Donald Trump turns an angry gaze south
Relations with Central America are likely to worsen
Can Brazil’s left survive without Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva?
Brazil’s current president, a titan of the Latin American left, has no apparent heirs
Donald Trump is targeting Mexico like no other country
The United States’ southern neighbour is bracing for a wave of deportees and trapped migrants
The race to lead Canada’s Liberal Party hinges on handling Trump
Mark Carney and Chrystia Freeland are the front-runners