In launching its six-month consultation on the status of the French language, the Quebec government said it hopes "to create a consensus amongst the citizens of all regions of Quebec around an inclusive and coherent language policy which is adapted to modern-day realities."

The PMLQ thinks that the politics of language in Quebec can be grasped fully if one examines it in the context of the aspirations of the Quebec people for self-determination. For over two hundred years, the patriots of the province have been campaigning for their right to exercise control over their affairs as a nation in Canada and to protect their culture, economy and customs and traditions.

Instead of recognizing Quebec's right to self-determination, the federal government along with others assert that the trouble lies in Canada's linguistic duality. According to these authorities, Quebec is a distinct society because of French, not because it has all the characteristics of a nation - its own territory, economy, culture and psychology. Language is one element of the definition, but it does not possess any status in itself. The integrity of nationhood is crucial to Quebec's political and spiritual identity, but not language alone. When the British occupied Quebec, they guaranteed the secure position of French in return for control of everything else. This basic policy has never varied, and it appears that politicians today are constantly trying to resolve a crisis that does not exist.

The PMLQ calls for a final settlement of the language issue. It is opposed to using the language issue as an instrument of retaliation. The PMLQ also considers that attacks on immigrants in the name of "integration" and protecting the French language are unacceptable, as is any narrow-minded attempt whether from English language or French language chauvinists to rally public opinion for the division of the country along linguistic lines. Such things cannot solve any problem facing the people of Quebec but merely fuel conflicts and inflict wounds. The PMLQ opposes any conception of patriotism which leads to discrimination and attacks on the rights of a part of the same nation.

The PMLQ also firmly states that the language question is an issue of rights and should not be reduced to an issue of economic competitiveness. The nation of Quebec exists in spite of those, whether Francophone, Anglophone or Allophone, whose approach to the language question is narrow-minded. 

The PMLQ has closely followed all the regional and national hearings of the Commission and thinks that the principles which should guide the solution of the language question are not generally presented to the people of Quebec and are not seriously discussed. The PMLQ stands firmly for the fraternal unity of the people and is putting forward some of these principles which it thinks merit serious attention and should guide the solution to the language question.

Language Is an Instrument of Communication Amongst Human Beings 

1. Language comes into being with the birth of a human society and dies with the death of that society. It is an instrument of communication amongst human beings, a way to develop, preserve and exchange ideas. It is directly connected to thought. Language registers and fixes in combinations of words the thoughts of people. But it does not influence or alter the character of their thoughts. 

2. Language is a cognitive tool available to all its speakers, regardless of their social status, and it is not part of the superstructure on an economic base. Hence language remains a necessary component of the definition of a nation, and it develops along with a nation's economy and culture. If a nation is free and independent, so is its economy and its culture, and its language will flourish. The fortunes of a language begin to languish if a nation is colonized, oppressed, or dominated by another country. The question of the promotion of French cannot be dealt with properly until Quebec has won the right to self-determination by removing the Anglo-American domination of its economy and culture.

3. To equate the French language with Quebec is to postulate that Quebec is not a nation. Common language, territory, economic cohesion and psychology are the four characteristics of a nation like Quebec. All four of these characteristics must be present for a nation to be a nation. One cannot take one of these characteristics like language, and thereby define the nation.

4. The threats to the national status of the French language cannot occur unless they are part of Quebec's national oppression. As matters stand now, one would have to acknowledge that the primary forms of oppression are economic, political, and cultural, not linguistic. Nobody is limiting or restricting the freedom of francophones to read and write in their language; they are not being forced to give up their language. Nonetheless, the pressure of economic competitiveness leads some to feel that it is more advantageous to speak English and to succumb to the pressure to use English in the workplace.

5. The primary objective of the federal and provincial Liberals is to divert people's attention from the national question. The Quebec government must not play into their hands by encouraging francophones and anglophones alike to assume that their language rights can be protected without reference to the national problem. Since the oppressor and the oppressed can and often do speak the same language, the French language in itself does not bring any benefits; but the framers of this policy are suggesting that it is necessary to have linguistic divisions and hostilities so that people do not pay attention to their oppressors. For example, when Prime Minister Chrétien or Paul Desmarais speak, whether it be French or English, what they say reflects their thinking. There is no such thing as a language which can colour Chrétien's or Desmarais' thinking and transform them into Quebec patriots!

6. The future of the French language cannot be separated from that of the nation. Since the French language is the result of the evolution of history and the efforts of many generations over several centuries in Quebec, it has little to do with the social and political conflicts of the nation. Phrases like developing, enriching and enhancing the prestige of French are empty words, because nobody can set out to develop a language independent of history. A language reflects the stages of development in a nation's culture or economy. One can speak of a decadent culture but not of a decadent language. The French language will develop and grow in step with the progress of the nation. If the nation of Quebec can protect its economic and cultural identity, its language will also be in good health.

7. A language cannot be equated with culture. Culture directly reflects the economic base. The predominant culture in Quebec is that of the Canadian and Anglo-American ruling classes, supported and promoted by the ruling circles here whether their origin is French-speaking or not. Furthermore, the residents of Quebec do have their own press and media, their own book publishing and their own educational institutions, but there is little discussion or analysis of the role these institutions play or could play to raise the level of language and culture. The people of Quebec have their own culture and traditions, which are at loggerheads with the culture of the bourgeoisie and their system. There is a class division. But the French language serves both cultural aspirations. When the sovereignty of the nation is affirmed in economic terms here and the U.S. domination of Canada is replaced by a self-reliant and independent country, a new culture reflecting the people of Quebec will come into being, and the French language as well as other languages will serve this new culture.

Minority Rights

8. A historically stable community is not a race or a tribe. Fascists defined the German nation as a tribe or race and carried out genocide and war on this basis. In these troubled times, people should think about this.

9. In Quebec the mother tongue of a majority of people is French. But there are others whose mother tongue is other than French. There are those who were an integral art of the Quebec nation since its inception such as the English-speaking minority and the First Nations. Then there are all those minorities of immigrant origin who are an integral part of the Quebec nation as well. Whether or not they speak French, they belong to this historically evolved stable community with a language, territory, economic life and psychology. They live in the territory of Quebec, they participate in the economic life, and they have the imprint of its general psychology and culture. The people of minority origin who have made and continue to make Quebec their home end up with little contact with their original homeland in proportion to their everyday life in Quebec. It is inevitable in this situation that the Quebec society leaves an imprint on their character and psychology.

10. The concept of majority and minority language rights should be rejected. The French language is the official language of Quebec, but this does not mean that other languages should be suppressed. The concept of majority and minority language rights, where the majority declares its superiority and other languages and citizens are relegated to second-class status should be rejected. This is what the British colonialists did to the people of Quebec, and we cannot see how a people which is fighting for true independence can accept such a thing.

11. Defending and respecting the language and culture of those whose mother tongue is not French is not in contradiction with the defence and the development of the Quebec nation. While French is common to the entire society and a result of many generations, many centuries of evolution, it does not belong to any class; nor does it belong to any economic system.

12. French cannot be developed by destroying other languages. In Quebec, to win people over to speaking the French language, the Francophones have to raise the prestige of the French popular culture of Quebec in a fraternal and open-minded way. In this way people who are part of the Quebec nation but whose mother tongue is not French, will gravitate towards the French language. Seeing that the Francophones are the majority, it is the honour and duty of this section of the people of Quebec to set an example. It is by positive example, and not by putting down others, that the French language will develop further. By respecting the cause of the non-Francophones in Quebec, the Francophones will gain respect for French, which is the official language of Quebec. The same principle applies to the non-Francophones. In a word, the spirit of fraternity and equal rights for all is the key to the solution of the language question.

Necessity for the Fraternal Unity of the People

13. The demand for equal rights is a very complex one. It has to be raised by keeping the well-being of the working people in mind. Without the productive force of the working people, who are the vast majority, society is nothing. In providing the language question with a permanent settlement, these are the interests which should be kept in mind. This is a very crucial question.

14. Arguments about collectivity and individuality must not be used to divide the polity. Those who want the French language to dominate justify their stand in the name of collectivity. They consider it a higher level of principle. Those who want equal status of English with French speak of individuality to justify their position. Neither side bases their argument on the necessity for the fraternal unity of the people; instead, they use collectivity and individuality as justifications to keep the people divided along linguistic lines.

15. Arguments concerning collectivity and individuality to justify dividing the people along linguistic lines should be simply dismissed. They are counter to the higher ideal - that is, the fraternal unity of the people. The demand for equal rights for all languages is the only one that allows for the feelings of the working people, and their feelings are not only for their languages but also for the end of linguistic conflict. 

16. Everyone must accept without reservation that French remains the official language of Quebec. At the same time, other languages, even though they are not official, should be allowed to flourish. The government should pursue a policy of helping the official language and all other languages, including facilitating primary education in the mother tongue of Quebec residents. This is the only just position that will help the fraternal unity of the people, solve the linguistic problem in Quebec and raise the level of education and culture.