Montreal: It's All French to Me

THE MONTREAL BIODÔME’S scarlet macaw named Bouton “will be deported to the Toronto Zoo next Friday after she only spoke English during a government inspection,” The Beaverton reported in July 2013

- Fiona Harrigan

The outlet quoted a government official as saying that the bird “asked for crackers, not craquelins,” violating Quebec’s laws requiring French in the workplace.

None of that actually happened, of course; The Beaverton is to Canadians what The Onion is to Americans. Though the story of Bouton was “a spoof,” The Economist reported, believers were still “shocked” by it. Such is Quebec’s reputation for zealously defending the primacy of the French language.

Montreal, Canada’s most bilingual city, is a place where English and French coexist easily. When you approach a bagel shop or poutine hideout, you’ll most likely be greeted with “bonjour, hi”—a choose-your-own-adventure invitation that recognizes the linguistic diversity of the colorful city. Teenagers on the streets flip constantly between French and English, weaving in American slang.

This linguistic diversity is, in many ways, something the provincial government has tried for decades to stave off in attempts to preserve spoken French. Under British rule in the 1800s, French Canadians lost much of their political power and language rights. They eventually became the linguistic minority in Canada. Beginning in the 1960s, the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was created and the Front de libération du Québec, a militant separatist group, carried out terrorist acts. The so-called Quiet Revolution of that decade saw government secularization, the creation of a welfare state, and pushes for Quebecois independence.