Hypothetically, if Quebec were to separate from Canada, do you think that Canada should remain bilingual?

And Alberta!

Yes but those are specific ethnic populations with separate histories and cultures from Québec. Im an anglo Québécoise engaged to an Acadienne from New Brunswick. It's a completely different group.

Sea lioning

Looks like you’re using a “just asking questions” approach to try to stir up frictions.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/sealioning-internet-trolling

Your quote ---

Disclaimer: This post is not an argument for nor against the separation of Quebec from Canada ^[1]^, nor the upholding of bilingualism in Canada ^[2]^.

Guess you didn't really mean that, eh?

In this context I see a baseline as a language that

1. A majority of the speakers have above-trivial skills in it, say above a sixth grade level in both written and spoken.
2. More than one-fifth of the population has this ability.
3. said language has extreme density in certain geographical regions, leading to dominance in those regions

And for some countries, there would be several that could fit both criteria. Switzerland would likely have French, German and Italian meeting all thresholds, allowing all three to be baseline languages.

Unfortunately, French does not meet the minimum-used criteria for Canada, as only 18% of citizens can speak it with any great skill. However, the geographical concentration criteria would likely overrule the usage criteria (via Québec), thereby allowing it to remain a baseline language.

Secondary languages would have similar criteria, only relaxed somewhat.

Like, every service by law being available in both seems like overkill. It's good to have services available in other languages than English, so there's no reason to shut it down proactively, but native languages, Mandarin and Punjabi seem like equally major priorities without Quebec.

I suppose French on every label would also be overdoing it, by that logic, although without that it would feel less like home.

I'm a bilingual french-english Canadian, raised outside of Quebec. French is my first language. Having access to both languages in school, at home, and in professional settings has created in me and my bilingual peers a strong sense of identity, a strong sense of empathy toward those who don't speak English as their first language, and it has allowed me to impart a sense of culture to my kids without anchoring it in religion.

That said, I have been through the 1995 separation referendum. I've also been harassed and mocked for speaking French. There are those who don't care about rich cultural lives, and they have no shame in asking brazen questions like this. Given the framing and feigned innocence of your question, I think you are one of those.

What is your motivation to stir such a sensitive question among Canadians?

Source

Man, that 6% must have it rough. I'd rather not speak French living in France, because at least they aren't worried about being erased.