Honourable senators, Francophonie Month is drawing to a close. It was an opportunity to think about our identity, what unites us and what still divides us. For a long time, the accent issue was a source of distress for me. I grew up in two different countries, Canada and France. As a result, I was insulted as a student in school and as a journalist for the way I speak French. I was seen as “that damned French woman,” a snob, a colonizer and an elitist because, as I was told, I spoke French in a hoity-toity way, with a French accent from France. Yet, I never tried to speak with any particular type of accent.

That is my little story of privilege, which, I am aware, is nothing compared to the real discrimination faced by francophones around the world. This linguistic discrimination is known as glottophobia.

In the 1960s, to be hired as an announcer at Radio-Canada, a person could not have a strong Quebec accent. There was therefore a major disconnect between our public broadcaster and the people. Things have changed in favour of our national affirmation, but not everywhere. I have met francophone journalists outside Quebec whose career progress has been halted because of their accent. I have seen others do everything they could to lose their regional accent in order to get into the industry. What is even more ironic is that immigrants from France often had a better chance of being hired in the media than francophones outside Quebec.

Accents reveal our roots. They are profound identity markers, but we have a strong tendency to make quick, irrevocable judgments about people based on what is most obvious: their accent. La Presse quoted French linguist Philippe Blanchet on the subject:

Depending on how you pronounce words, people may consider you untrustworthy, irresponsible, poorly educated, or not presentable to clients or the public.

In France, the melodious accents of the north and south, much like the foreign accents of northern and western Africa, are ridiculed. In the public sphere, the accent of the Parisian elite is considered the standard of proper speech, and it is associated with knowledge, power and intellectualism. The consequences of this are significant: 16% of French people surveyed a year ago said they had been victims of hiring or career discrimination because of their accent.

In November of last year, an elected representative from southern France, Christophe Euzet, got a bill through first reading that would make discrimination on the basis of accent a criminal offence punishable by three years in prison and a $70,000 fine, which is the same penalty that applies to discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender or disability. The goal was to initiate a change in attitude.

That definitely makes us think about our own prejudices.