MONTREAL – Gail Letarte can’t help but notice the changing times at the Longueuil library in Greenfield Park.
The librarian says the number of Anglophone customers is diminishing. But that doesn’t mean the chapter is closing on members borrowing English books.
“It’s not just the English population that reads the English books. It’s also the French population who live in Greenfield Park who read English books,” she says.
The voice of the Anglophone community is entrenched in the one hundred year history of this borough.
A book documenting Greenfield Park’s Centennial illustrates English in this area is as old as their street cars.
People living here want to make sure the language of Shakespeare doesn’t become a thing of the past but is protected for the future.
Just ask Anne-Marie Maher who moved back here after living in the U.S.
“We speak both languages at home because we’re looking forward. We don’t want to look in the past,” she says.
The City of Longueuil promises to back Greenfield Park residents.
Its council plans to pass a resolution to ensure public services are offered in both English and French.
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“The bilingual status is fundamental to the history and tradition of the community,” says Michael O’Grady, Longueuil City Councillor representing Greenfield Park.
That status is under threat as the PQ government looks to pass Bill 14 which would strip communities like Greenfield Park of its bilingual status.
O’Grady insists he and Longueuil Mayor Caroline St-Hilaire will do all they can to make sure that Quebec City doesn’t decide the language destiny of Greenfield Park.
“I think it’s more important that the communities decide these things for themselves rather than some faceless, nameless bureaucrat,” O’Grady says.
The percentage of people declaring English as their mother tongue in Greenfield Park is in the mid 30s and is declining.
But people working here insist that’s still high enough to merit protection.
“If I’m able to speak English with someone the customer is happy. And he will feel happy in the business,” says Jean Ledoux of Trade Your Coins on Churchill Boulevard in Greenfield Park.
SOUND OFF: Should bilingual status be protected – even if less than 50% of borough residents speak English? Join the debate on Facebook.
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