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A responsibility to preserve and protect the French language

QCGN AND COMMUNITY SEEK COMMON CAUSE WITH FELLOW QUEBECERS 

Report from QCGN President Eva Ludvig 

Next Thursday, the Quebec Community Groups Network, along with our partners The Montreal Gazette and the Fondation Notre Home Foundation, will host a bilingual conference focused on the future of the French language in Quebec. Our objective is to provide an opportunity to look toward the future, to work in partnership with fellow Quebecers of all languages, and to work together to try to identify possible solutions to the issues and challenges to achieve a better linguistic "vivre ensemble" in Quebec.

Our panelists include Jean-Pierre Corbeil, a Université Laval professor whose demographic research challenges assumptions made about the decline of French in Quebec. Most recently, he edited a book of essays entitled Le Français en déclin?: Repenser la francophonie Québécoise. Two of its contributing authors, professor Mario Polèse and journalist Jean-Benoît Nadeau, will also be joining us for what promises to be a riveting discussion. The panel will be moderated by Montreal Gazette columnist Allison Hanes.

What I find most heartening is the degree to which Jean-Pierre and many others share our view that all Quebecers, regardless of their mother tongue, have a responsibility to preserve and protect the French language.

For this is the primordial defining characteristic of Quebec, the reason we love how this place is different than the rest of the country, and why we embrace the richness it brings to our daily lives. It is about how we miss it when we travel beyond Quebec's borders, and how we feel a certain special sense of insider access when we are able to understand what many of our friends and relatives in other parts of this country cannot.

This conference underlines our desire to find common cause with our fellow Quebecers to build a more respectful Quebec that recognizes the importance of protecting the French language while respecting minority communities because we are all equals and all Québécois. I encourage you to participate in this important dialogue. (Full details and registration link in the ad below.)

Forging ahead

These are exciting times at QCGN, as we are forging ahead with our longstanding process of renewal and taking some aspects of our operations to a whole new level.

Following a human-resources review of our communications unit last summer, we began to expand our marketing strategy, added messaging capacity and developed a comprehensive situational analysis of where we are, what we're doing and what we'll need to do in future. All of this was done within the contexts of Quebec's social and political situations and the shrinking media landscape on which we depend to deliver so much of that messaging.

At its most recent meeting on March 21, the QCGN's Board of Directors heard presentations on that situational analysis/communications plan and a plan to increase organizational self-awareness – an "us" exercise – that will help us tighten up our understanding of who we are and the work that must be done for the vitality of Quebec's English-speaking community.

Our Board understands that to achieve a higher level of communications activity, including an expanded social media footprint, an updated visual identity and a modernized and more user-friendly website, we need to allocate resources and support a considerable amount of work. This is not only for the coming months as some of our tools are rebuilt or refreshed, but in longer term support of increased staff resources to maintain and enhance our presence and reputation in the media, compensate for shrinking time and space in traditional media, and establish more effective communications with our members, both organizational and individual. 

Along the way, we will streamline and strengthen our government relations efforts at all levels of government and reach out to like-minded community groups as allies in our continuing effort to articulate the need for the protection of our rights and access to government services in English.

More details will follow, but don't be surprised if someone asks if you would be interested in joining one of the several focus groups we will hold between now and our Annual General Meeting in June to dig down into just who we are and what we have to do to support our renewed Vision and Mission.

QCGN SEEKING INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

In early 2024, the QCGN reached a one-year milestone since introducing a category for individual members. As this is the first time in QCGN history that such a membership category has been offered, we spent the first year dipping our toes in the water and learning from our community. Our gratitude goes out to all individuals, organizations and board members who took part in discussions and consultations concerning the member experience, contributing greatly to this key renewal priority.

With exciting things still to come on the horizon, the QCGN is thrilled to be welcoming new individual members. Our member registration process is now quick and easy, and we encourage all those who support a harmonious and equitable Quebec, all those who support the vitality of minority English-speaking communities across the province, to sign up. While new member materials and opportunities are being developed alongside other innovative projects in the works at the QCGN, members will continue to benefit from fast and reliable information, networking opportunities and the right to cast their vote for candidates of the QCGN's Board of Directors and approve other governing motions as regulated by the organization's bylaws.

"We look forward to growing our network of individual members and continuing to learn from the expertise, experiences, and identities of the diverse members of our community," commented QCGN President Eva Ludvig. "Working together our voice will resonate clearly and confidently as we foster an inclusive definition of what it means to be an English-speaking Quebecer in this province."

ACCESSING SENIOR CARE IN ENGLISH IS A CHALLENGE  

By Elizabeth Zogalis,

QCGN Manager, Marketing and Communications 

Quebec's English-speaking seniors are especially vulnerable these days and are concerned about access to health care services in English. Almost 50 per cent of English-speaking seniors over the age of 65 speak little or no French.

English speaking seniors represent 15.5 per cent of Quebec's English-speaking population – a number that will likely grow, said Walter Duszara, president of Seniors Action Quebec (SAQ).

"Language is the greatest barrier to access and the greatest source of the stress for English-speaking Quebecers in crisis," said Duszara, adding that QCGN's report on Accessing Senior Care in Quebec provides the community and government agencies at all levels with evidence of the many of the challenges English-speaking seniors confront when accessing health care.

During a recent Lunch & Learn, the Quebec Community Groups Network along with Seniors Action Quebec discussed systemic barriers for many seniors accessing services in English, in CLSCs, long-term care facilities, and other health care institutions across Quebec. More than one third of English-speaking Quebecers who replied to a QCGN survey who accessed these services in the past two years found it difficult to do so. That was due to a lack of information in English about services; an almost total absence of information on the web in English; and the difficulty in finding staff and health care providers who speak English.

Webinar participants also learned that English-speaking seniors are hesitant to complain when they or their caregivers face these barriers.

"After having contributed their lives and their taxes and their contribution to Quebec society, they need this help and we have to make sure we leave politics and language out of fundamental things such as health which is a fundamental human right," said Gerry Sklavounos, QCGN's senior legal affairs advisor.

Both QCGN and the SAQ feel that Bill 15, the provincial government's overhaul of the health and social service network will only further complications for English-speaking Quebecers.

"This is the time to definitely push back," said Sklavounos, who presented 13 recommendations for ways in which Quebec's Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) can take action to improve access to the Support Program for the Autonomy of Seniors (SAPA) program services in English in Quebec.

• Mail bilingual booklets outlining programs and services to all seniors when they turn 60.
• Translate documents and forms available for download on CI(U)SSS websites into English.
• Bilingual staff be provided to English-speaking seniors at request.
• Implement a staff recruitment program for racialized English-speaking communities.
• Develop a plan to connect English-speaking seniors and caregivers with bilingual staff.
• Mandate health care institutions to hire bilingual doctors, nurses, and administrators in proportion to the English-speaking population.
• Subsidized transport for English-speaking seniors and caregivers in CI(U)SSS areas with limited access to services.
• Implement monitoring mechanism for CI(U)SSS areas with limited access to services in English.
• Mandate a re-evaluation during any organizational restructuring to assess if health and social services in English have been compromised.
• Make regional access programs accessible on each CI(U)SSS website through an English-language page.
• Facilitate collaboration between the health ministry and regional community organizations to offer English-language information.
• Encourage Ministry collaboration with the QCGN, the Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN), and partner organizations to identify community groups capable of completing support for seniors across all regions.

Our Lunch and Learn marked the beginning of the QCGN's Access to Justice series which will showcase various research reports.  

Read the report, consult our presentation and view the full conference on QCGN's YouTube channel.

MEDIA DROUGHT IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING QUEBEC 

By Rita Legault,

QCGN Director of Communications and Public Relations

Local newspaper, television stations and radio stations, play a crucial role in fostering community cohesion and vitality. They keep readers, viewers and listeners informed about what is going on in their communities, contributing to a sense of connection. Despite their importance, community media outlets face significant and growing challenges due to online competition, declining revenues, and reduced government advertising.

The economic downturn, particularly since 2008, has led to a significant decreased advertising revenues resulting in hundreds of media closures and significant job losses. Between 2008 and 2021, some 450 news outlets across Canada, including local TV and radio stations and newspapers, shut down in more than 300 communities. In Quebec alone, 104 media outlets, including newspapers, radio, and TV, either ceased operations, merged, or shifted to an online-only format since 2008.

This decline disproportionally affects English-speaking Quebecers, according to Shannon Bell, a journalist and research associate with the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN). Among these closures, nearly one quarter – 22 per cent – were English or bilingual publications. English-speaking Quebecers represent 16.9 per cent of the provincial population.

Bell presented the finding of her research brief Avoiding the News Desert: Addressing Challenges Around Community Media in English-speaking Quebec during a recent lunch and learn with panelists Magda Konieczna, associate professor of journalism at Concordia University and Hugh Maynard, publisher of The Huntingdon Gleaner. The video recording of the conference will be posted on QUESCREN's YouTube channel shortly.

Lunch and Learn participants were told that news deserts are becoming more common – particularly impacting isolated and minority communities. Daily media outlets mainly based in Montreal fail to provide much coverage beyond city limits, leaving gaps in local news particularly for English-speaking populations in rural and isolated regions.

A news desert refers to a region or community where there is little to no access to local news and information. This lack of coverage can be due to the decline or closure of traditional news outlets such as newspapers, radio stations, or television stations. As a result, residents in these areas are often left without timely and relevant information about local events, issues, and government activities. Research indicates that the decline in local news is associated with reduced voter engagement and a lack of civic engagement; reduced accountability of local institutions and increased corruption; heightened polarization and the election of more ideologically extreme officials; and diminished community cohesion. This crisis for democracy underscores the importance of addressing the changing landscape of journalism to ensure the vitality of local news.

A study by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in 2017 entitled Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada's Media Landscape emphasized the significance of media for linguistic minority communities, aiding in their development and vitality. In its brief to the committee entitled Nurturing Media Vitality in Quebec's English-speaking Minority Communities, the Quebec Community Groups Network stated that "English-speaking Quebecers need a full flow of information in their own language about their own local and regional communities". We noted this was "becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve and maintain on a consistent basis because of the francization of daily life in Quebec; and the decline and in many cases the demise of traditional community media."

More recently, QCGN President Eva Ludvig, commented that media layoffs are a loss for our community. Ludvig was being interviewed about BellMedia job cuts that impacted CTV Montreal. In a letter to Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, the QCGN expressed deep disappointment with BellMedia axing thousands of reporters as well as plan by CBC/Radio-Canada to cut 800 jobs - almost 10 per cent of our public broadcaster's total work force – over the next year. We told the Minister that the cuts would further deprive our minority communities of vital local news and programming that English-speaking Quebecers depend upon.

"The QCGN believes that a strong media presence is essential to the vitality of our community," said Ludvig. "English media is important to reflect and inform English-speaking Quebecers and I told CTV Montreal that these cuts are especially hurtful at a time when our provincial government is communicating less and less with our community in English."

Bell's brief notes that governments have taken some measures to help address the challenges faced by the media industry. These include Bill C-18, known as the Online News Act, proposed a "link tax" on tech giants to tackle the dominance of Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) in online advertising revenue. There is also the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI), a federal program that supports small media organizations in underserved communities by funding the hiring of reporters to produce civic journalism.

However, Bell points out that while some efforts have been made to support local media, such as government funding, the impact on community engagement and cohesion remains a subject for further study.

Thank you for reading our regular newsletter. For up-to-date news about the Quebec Community Groups Network you can visit our website at www.qcgn.ca or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram.

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The QCGN is funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.