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The future holds some real challenges for the Anglophone community in New Brunswick. They are unilingual at a time when the French language has been elevated to the position of “critical” in the job market.
This rise of the French language has changed the makeup of the work force so that today, the Anglophone community is under represented in both the Provincial and Federal civil service and their percentage is continuing to decrease.
For those in the English speaking community this is serious. There is a lot of similarities to what happened in Quebec in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s where over 500,000 English fled the language laws of the time. Without action being taken by NB government other than simply advocating that Anglophones learn French, more and more Anglophones will be leaving here.
The Paramedic situation demonstrates that the language laws dictate that French capability is legislated in all areas of the province even where English speakers constitute 96% or better. In these areas we’re seeing the government refusing to hire Anglophones and train for language.
The remedy for Anglophones is to become involved politically and only support a party that will provide a “fair participation” policy for Anglophones.
Start using this term often and demand it of the parties. THEN only vote for the party that commits to “fair participation”.
The future holds some real challenges for the Anglophone community in New Brunswick. They are unilingual at a time when the French language has been elevated to the position of “critical” in the job market.
This rise of the French language has changed the makeup of the work force so that today, the Anglophone community is under represented in both the Provincial and Federal civil service and their percentage is continuing to decrease.
For those in the English speaking community this is serious. There is a lot of similarities to what happened in Quebec in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s where over 500,000 English fled the language laws of the time. Without action being taken by NB government other than simply advocating that Anglophones learn French, more and more Anglophones will be leaving here.
The Paramedic situation demonstrates that the language laws dictate that French capability is legislated in all areas of the province even where English speakers constitute 96% or better. In these areas we’re seeing the government refusing to hire Anglophones and train for language.
The remedy for Anglophones is to become involved politically and only support a party that will provide a “fair participation” policy for Anglophones.
Start using this term often and demand it of the parties. THEN only vote for the party that commits to “fair participation”.