Efforts towards bolstering French language usage are intensifying in Quebec. The government led by Premier Legault has just tabled Bill 96, which aims to change the Canadian constitution to reiterate French language rights and introduces stringent measures aimed at promoting the language.
But is such legislation the optimal way to address these concerns?
Vincent Geloso, associate researcher at the Montreal Economic Institute and assistant professor of economics at George Mason University, is not convinced. He believes there are better ways to strengthen the vitality of French, as outlined in this report for MEI entitled Linguistic Vitality by Other Means.
His research finds that economics may do more to accomplish this goal than top-down legislation, and he proposes several policy changes that could make learning French a more economically attractive proposition.
“We have every reason to question the effectiveness of additional coercive measures put in place by the Quebec government. If the past is any guide, it is rather by favouring the prosperity of francophone Quebecers that we will ensure the vitality of French,” he says.
Geloso examines how educational reforms in the past ended up increasing the prosperity of Quebec’s francophone population, and how this had the meaningful benefit of increasing the allure of learning the language among anglophones and immigrants.
“Policies aimed at increasing the returns to education, reducing high school dropout rates, and increasing technical college and university completion rates should thus be considered as viable ways of securing the status of the French language in Quebec,” writes Geloso.
