The English Montreal School Board has released its new slogan to promote bilingualism in the district.
The issue for one English activist is the slogan on the signs are in French only.
The sign says “Être Bilingue, C’est Gagnant” – something that doesn’t make sense to one English activist who has taken opposition to the campaign.
“When I looked at it and I said, ‘OK, it’s great to be bilingual, but is it only to hit francophones? Does it hit anglophones as well?’ So it just didn’t make any sense,” Harold Staviss, attorney and English rights activist, said.
The campaign hopes to reach parents, promoting that their kids can learn both languages.
“I think the advantage to coming to our school board over and above the French is learning the English in a fluent capacity to both really be bilingual and fluent in both languages,” Angela Mancini, chairman English Montreal School Board, said.
The main point of the campaign, which is bilingualism, is the reason why Staviss wants the signs to be changed.
“You know what? We’re in Quebec. Having both languages is legal and especially an English school board that is trying to attract or encourage people to be bilingual, why not have the sign in both languages?” Staviss asked.
Mancini said the French-only campaign is a way of reaching out to parents with English children who are attending French school.
“People already knew we spoke English,” Mancini said. “We really tried to emphasize the french at this time.”
The school board says the signs are staying as is, but Staviss says uni-lingual campaigns put the English language in jeopardy.
“We have to protect the English language because slowly but surely it’s diminishing and it has to be treated with respect. It has to be treated as a language and not a disease.”
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