There is another ugly incident recently posted on social media showing a person berating an Asian customer service representative in a drug store in Burnaby for speaking a language other than English in front of her. This is really surprising as we are a country that prides itself as tolerant and accepting of multicultural communities.
In 2003 I wrote an op-ed piece for the Vancouver Sun in response to a similar incident in one of the bank branches where I worked. In that incident, a customer complained to me about a customer service representative speaking Chinese to the customer he was serving.
For a great number of immigrants coming from countries where English is not their mother tongue, that attitude is not only hurtful, it is also incomprehensible.
Is this country really what it advertises itself to be?
I grew up in Hong Kong, but lived and worked in Holland for several years before I immigrated to Canada in 1974. While I was there, I never heard people complain when others spoke a different language other than Dutch in their presence. In fact, most Dutch people speak one, two and sometimes three languages other than their native tongue by the time they finish high school.
In B.C., high school students are taught French because we are officially a bilingual country. But how many British Columbians can really function in French? An interesting fact is that there are many immigrant children from Asian countries who are interested to learn French. After visiting Vancouver’s Alliance Française in 2008, former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Reffarin wrote in a blog on the consulate’s website, “French language is alive and well in B.C. thanks to the Chinese immigrant youths.” Almost 80 percent of the students that he saw taking French classes were Chinese-Canadians.
In recent years, I have traveled extensively to many countries as a tourist. I have seen English being used at almost every tourist destination. I seldom detect even a wisp of resentment when I speak English to them.
So why are we seeing this kind of bizarre behaviour by a Burnaby drugstore customer recently, in a Richmond parking lot in August and at a bank almost 16 years ago?
Some may say the behaviour is based out of fear – a fear that Canada will be overrun by people who are unable or unwilling to speak any one of our two official languages. The fact is that during my years of service at SUCCESS, one of the largest immigrant settlement services agencies in the country, I have yet to come across anyone who is unwilling to learn English.
Yes, I have seen quite a number of individuals who are unable to learn to speak English. But have you ever tried to learn a foreign language as an adult? Linguists will tell you that it is exceedingly hard for a unilingual person to acquire another language beyond the age of 40. We should, nonetheless, continue to encourage and help newcomers to improve their proficiency in English for their own as well as the society’s benefit.
Still, it is a minority of recent immigrants who are unable to communicate in basic English. For the past several years, immigration applicants must have level four English-language skills (as defined in the Canadian Language Standard) before they will be accepted by our country.
In fact, most immigrant parents who I speak to complain that their children are rapidly losing their ability to speak their mother tongue. So the fear of being overrun by non-English-speaking immigrants is, to state it mildly, overstated. Or, to state it bluntly, irrational.
We should be more concerned that Canada is losing its competitive advantage as a country with people able to speak multiple languages. As a trading nation, this loss is a real threat to our long-term sustainable prosperity.
Others may argue that resentment about people speaking another language is motivated by patriotism, that language and, therefore, culture, is what binds us together as a country. So, not speaking English in public means that they are not and will never become “real” Canadians.
But census data indicates that the overwhelming majority of Canadians who speak another language also speak English. If people speak to one another in another language, most often it’s for no other reason than convenience.
Our core value of supremacy of God, the rule of law, equality, fairness, and justice is baked into our Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedom.
Our criminal code also spells out in very precise terms on what is and what is not acceptable behaviour.
Our culture, as expressed by our language (both English and French), our fashions, our food, our arts, our architecture, our literature, and our music are, on the other hand, constantly evolving. New elements of our language are added every year. What we like to wear is tracking what is fashionable around the world. Fusion food is all a rage in cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. In that sense, successive waves of immigrants have brought with them their culture and add them to our unique multicultural mix. This is what makes Canadian culture vibrant and world-leading.
The fear that by letting people speak their own mother tongue in public is that it will diminish our culture is misplaced. Values are constant, but culture is fluid as is language. What makes Canadian culture vibrant and unique is the fusion of foods, languages, and traditions brought by successive waves of immigrants.
To be afraid of such changes is as ridiculous as suggesting that we should all speak Shakespeare English, dress in top hats, pointed boots and live in thatched-roof huts. Such a nostalgic view of the world is unrealistic and futile.
The only remaining plausible explanation of such abhorrent behaviour is racism. But I simply refuse to believe that was the motive for the woman in the Burnaby pharmacy who in front of her own child said such foul and hurtful things.
I was taught that humans by nature are kind and generous and that bad behaviour is learned from family and friends.
Did this person learn that from her parents just like the child is learning from his?
Considering the racist history of British Columbia and Canada towards Chinese, I would not be surprised. It’s only two generations ago that Chinese-Canadians were allowed to vote and it’s only a few years ago that many discriminatory statutes.
So what to do? The best course of action is education. Being part of Canada in the 21st century means respecting and celebrating the diversity of language, dress, and cultures.
After all, this is my country and my home as much as it is for those who are unilingual and uni-culturally English or French.
- A shorter version of this article appeared in The Province and The Vancouver Sun
