An article in the Le Devoir today that will "delight" one of the forumers here. It's called "In the land of the «Eastern Townshippers»". In it, Lisa, from the municipality of Brome Village, where 62% of the population are native English speakers, expresses her outrage at Bill 96, but says she won't vote anyway, because her little vote will make 0 difference, it is Legault who will have the last say anyway, she says. She also says it will become impossible to receive health services in English.
She says she's going to sell her house in the Eastern Townships and resettle in Ontario, "where it's English", "where you can read road signs and know where you're going".
It's pretty incredible that someone could have lived their whole life in Québec and made absolutely no effort to learn even minimal French to be able to read road signs... In the article she says that Bill 96 was "the icing on the cake", and has determined her to leave.
François, a recent retiree from Saint-Léonard (Montréal) who settled in Brome Village during Covid-19, says he feels no tension between French and English speakers, but he says "I can't accept that Anglophones make no effort to speak French. It shows contempt, as far as I'm concerned." Nathalie, his Francophone neighbor, adds: "As for me, my father came from England and he learned French".
In the nearby village of Stanstead, at the US border, several people also bemoan Bill 96. One Anglophone, called Naomie, describes it as "a screw around your neck, that is getting tightened ever more". Another Anglophone, called Kim, says Anglophones and Francophones get along well, but she says there are people in the community who are "feverishly anti-Anglophone", and it's shameful she says. She also says she speaks French better after a bottle of wine.
The article is here:
https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebe...ec-2022-au-pays-des-eastern-townshippers
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