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Article: Quebec `Language Police' to Resume Enforced Use of French
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 14, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Canada, in an effort to embrace and dignify its linguistic
minority in Quebec, recognizes two official languages -- English and
French.
Quebec declines the gesture. It has just one official
language: French.
Between those two solitudes lies the issue that, more than any
other, has polarized society in Quebec and Canada for more than a
quarter-century. Other nationalisms are calls to ethnicity, or
territory, or faith; Quebec's is a call to the mother tongue.
This may begin to explain why -- unprompted by public opinion
and heedless of public relations -- Quebec plans to resume strict
enforcement of language laws in the province, where French speakers
are in the overwhelming ...