QAHN Policy on "Identity" in English-speaking Quebec

--December 7, 2020.

The following policy resolution was adopted unanimously at QAHN's 2020 Annual General Meeting, held by Zoom on November 14:

Whereas Quebec’s English-speaking communities have deep roots in the province stretching back several hundred years;

Whereas Quebec’s deeply rooted English-speaking communities have always represented a diversity of mother tongues and cultures;

Whereas there has been discussion at the political level in Quebec of limiting the definition of English-speaking identity in Quebec to so-called “historic Anglophones”, at least as far as it relates to the provision of public services;

Whereas the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network is concerned that such a limitation will, in the long term, alienate many citizens from association with English language institutions, and undermine the demographic social and cultural vitality of Quebec’s diverse English-speaking communities;

It is moved that the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network explicitly adopt and communicate an inclusive definition of English-speaking identity in Quebec.

Further, it is moved that the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network, adopt as a matter of policy, affirmation of its commitment to recognize and celebrate the history and heritage of all citizens and communities in Quebec that share English as a common language.

PROPOSED BY: Ann Montgomery
SECONDED BY: Norma Husk
ADOPTED unanimously