New publication released

Border Living the case of Gatineau’s anglophone minority 

 

Laurent Robillard-Cardinal

Border living provides a complex living situation for residents especially for minorities living in Ottawa and in Gatineau. Four University of Ottawa geography professors looked into this intricate reality in the book entitled La frontière au quotidien, (the border on a daily basis), published by Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.

 

One chapter composed by Anne Gilbert and Luisa Veronis, looks specifically at the case of the anglophone minority community living in the City of Gatineau and in Chelsea. The title of the chapter, Habiter Gatineau depuis la marge anglophone, would lead the reader to believe that the text focuses on Gatineau residents, but there’s an important part dedicated to Chelsea residents. Strangely, the authors barely talk about anglophones living in Buckingham and the east part of Gatineau.

 

The authors begin the chapter by stating that the sense of exclusion characterized by the francophones has, since the 1960s, been transposed to Québec’s anglophone community. Mostly excluded from the provincial sphere, anglophones have turned to the places of powers that remain accessible to them, such as schools and municipalities. This is one reason they explain why anglophones considerably contested municipal mergers across Québec, but the situation was not so in the City of Gatineau.

 

During a 2004 referendum, Aylmer voted to demerge from Gatineau, but voter turnout was too low. The authors explain that Gatineau’s proximity to Ottawa can explain why the contestation was not as strong in Gatineau as compared to other anglophone municipalities in Québec.

 

The West Quebecers of Gatineau, benefiting from a strong foundation, have willingly, according to the authors, slowly excluded themselves from the francophone majority and the municipality. To fill voids, anglophones often prefer crossing the river towards Ottawa.

 

Getting the pulse of Gatineau’s anglos

To get a pulse of Gatineau’s anglophone community, the authors interviewed residents from Aylmer, Chelsea and the Plateau. The authors noticed that comments from the interviewees indicated that the communities anglophones live in play a vital role in their identity, even in new neighbourhoods, such as the Plateau. The Aylmer residents the authors interviewed even talked about an anglophone community, omitting the important francophone majority. The same applied to Chelsea residents.

 

Interestingly, the authors also mention that while anglophones in Aylmer and Hull sometimes occupy other social spaces near their community they never cross the Gatineau River towards the east. Many interviewed find Gatineau just plain ugly. They mention that the homes have no character, commercial centers are uninteresting, traffic is dense and the population are bad drivers. All the participants said they are uncomfortable in Gatineau, a predominantly French-speaking area.

 

The anglophones interviewed are also primarily unwilling to participate in organizations or institutions where French is dominant. When unable to obtain what they want in their community many cross the river to Ottawa to participate or obtain services in their language, rendering the border, represented by the Ottawa River, invisible.

 

However, the interviewees acknowledged that both cities offer differences, such as the more developed commercial services in Ottawa, the quality of recreational, public and health services. For a West Quebecer, Ottawa, the big city, has everything to offer Gatineau does not. Heading to Ottawa, also allows the anglophones living in Gatineau, to avoid being a minority, but they don’t always feel welcomed in Ottawa. Certain Aylmer residents have had the impression that they were “taking up space” in Ottawa and sometimes felt like strangers, complicating their identity and reinforcing their pride of being a Quebecer even if they include themselves in a region which includes Ottawa. Authors reiterate that the neighbourhood remains the main hub where anglophones participate in city (la cité) affairs. While anglophones avoid municipal affairs they participate in sports, churches, social organizations and most importantly in education.

 

In schools, anglophones evolve in an isolated structure where students rarely encounter the ‘other’ which include francophones and immigrants. That’s because most immigrants must attend francophone schools. The authors argue that because of this situation anglophone students are unprepared to participate in the world’s diverse society.

 

In conclusion, the authors note that West Quebecers, fragilized by measures to reaffirm French in the public sphere, have withdrawn towards organizations they still control, which exclude the municipality in Gatineau.

 

The unique geographical situation in Outaouais and specifically for Aylmer, allows West Quebecers to exercise their citizenship elsewhere instead of locally. This explains the small fight Aylmerites put up against municipal mergers in Gatineau. The proximity with Ottawa favours, argue the authors, the emergence of a new type of citizenship in which the modalities have yet to be established to allow West Quebecers to fully exercise their right to the municipality.