A month ago, when The Gazette published poll results showing at least a significant minority of French-speaking Quebecers hold negative attitudes toward the anglophones in this province, some people were quick to express skepticism.
Among the findings of the poll, conducted in late-March by Léger Marketing for The Gazette and the Association for Canadian Studies:
61 per cent of Québécois – that is, French-speaking Quebecers – disagreed with the statement that “most anglophones in Quebec speak French satisfactorily.”
53 per cent disagreed that “in Quebec most anglophones feel positively about francophones.”
51 per cent disagreed that “in Quebec, most francophones feel positively about anglophones.”
44 per cent agreed that “English-speakers are the main threat to the French language in Montreal.”
38 per cent disagreed that “relations between English and French Quebecers have gotten better over the past five years.”
31 per cent disagreed that “Quebec anglophones have made a positive contribution to Quebec history.”
The skeptics dismissed it as only a single, isolated poll. Or they questioned its reliability, since it was conducted using the web-panel method instead of by telephone.
Well, recently there was another poll in which francophone Quebecers were asked about their attitudes toward anglophones. It was conducted by a different polling firm and by telephone, using interactive voice response. Yet the results of this poll, conducted April 23 by Toronto-based Forum Research, were similar to those of the earlier Léger-Gazette-ACS survey.
Among all respondents in the Forum Research poll, – English- as well as French-speaking – 19 per cent believed that English Quebecers have made “a negative contribution … to Quebec culture.” The polling firm described that in a news release as a “substantial minority.”
Predictably, the proportion was even higher among Québécois: 22 per cent.
That balanced the 23 per cent of French-speakers who believed that the English have made a positive contribution to Quebec culture.
And 50 per cent of Québécois said we have made neither a positive nor a negative contribution.
Respondents were also asked whether they believe “anglophones in this province have the right to communicate publicly in their native language.”
In what Forum Research called a “stunning finding,” 29 per cent of all respondents answered that we don’t have the right to communicate publicly in English.
Again, the proportion was higher among French-speakers: 32 per cent.
The wording of this question is open to interpretation.
Did the respondents understand that they were being asked about their knowledge – that is, whether the English do have the right to communicate publicly in our own language? (Legally, we do.)
Or did they understand that they were being asked their opinion – that is, whether we should have the right?
For what it’s worth, only nine per cent of all respondents said they didn’t have an answer to the question.
And, perhaps more significantly, the proportion of those answering “no” was highest, and by a significant margin, among declared Parti Québécois supporters.
(In fact, on all questions in the poll about the English, the proportion of negative responses was highest among PQ supporters.)
There was one more question on the English: “Have anglophones in Quebec made enough of an effort to integrate into Quebec society?”
Both this question and the answers to it appear to leave little room for interpretation.
Among Québécois respondents, 54 per cent answered “no,” nearly doubling the 28 per cent who responded “yes.”
A poll is just a poll. But two polls with similar results start to look like a pattern.
dmacpherson CHK montrealgazette.com
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