Speak my language?

From policy makers, politicians to people with an axe to grind, many will try to use language data released by Statistics Canada yesterday to their advantage.

West Islanders won't be surprised to learn English is the mother tongue of the majority in four local cities -- Baie d'Urfé, Beaconsfield, Pointe Claire and Senneville -- but they may find it interesting to note that French mother tongue speakers (2,070) in Ste. Anne de Bellevue are outnumbered when you combine anglophones and allophones (2,610).

In two West Island municipalities, allophones (a term referring to people whose mother tongue is neither English nor French), outnumber francophones. In Kirkland, there are 6,090 allophones and 4,850 francophones. In Dollard des Ormeaux, allophones (18,340) almost equal the number of anglophones (21,800) and are way ahead of francophones (8,095).

Another interesting note in the West Island city stats seems to indicate that some francophones speak English at home more often than their mother tongue. In Pointe Claire, 6,680 people listed French as their mother tongue, but only 5,785 said it was the language most often spoken at home. A similar picture unfolds in Kirkland, where 4,850 people are francophone but only 4,075 speak French most often at home.

It is also clear more West Island allophones speak English at home rather than French, with some dropping their mother tongue in favour of English at home as well. In Dollard, for example, there are reportedly 18,340 allophones but only 9,495 speak a language that is not English or French more often at home.

Based on the 2006 Census data, more immigrants are locating to the suburbs in Greater Montreal than they did in 2001.

Allophones now account for one-fifth of Canada's population.

Another interesting tidbit is that the vast majority of residents in all West Island cities say they have knowledge of English and French.

One thing that is clear for the West Island is that allophones, whose mother tongues range from Arabic to a Chinese dialect, have become a significant percentage of the population and that municipal, provincial and federal decision makers should take note and see what services are lacking or could be offered. For instance, 880 people in Dollard say they have no knowledge of English or French, so maybe access to language education should be looked at.

Quebec's recent reasonable accommodation hearings may have opened a Pandora's Box in some regards, but our society has to deal with the fact around 200 languages are spoken in Canada today.