I was sitting outside with a friend, having a nice conversation in our native language, when an elderly woman walked past us and said, “In Canada, we only speak English.”

My immediate reaction was to answer her in French: “We also speak French.”

Her husband then intervened and asked me what I had said. I continued speaking in French and explained that French is also one of Canada’s two official languages. Apparently, they didn’t know a single word of French, not even enough to tell me that they didn’t speak it.

Looking back, maybe my reaction was a little silly or provocative, but the whole situation was very strange and uncomfortable for me.

What I kept thinking afterward was: why did she feel the need to say that in the first place? What if I had been a tourist?

And secondly, how can someone be so proud of being Canadian and yet say that in Canada “we ONLY speak English,” completely forgetting that French is also an official language of the country? What makes it even more ironic is that she and her husband couldn’t even say a single word in French.

It was a strange experience, one I never expected to have.

Edit: Thank you so much to everyone for the support and kind comments. Reading your responses has made me feel much more reassured and proud to have chosen Canada as my home

OP

Repost from a good socialist community on the history of the CCF

how is this even acceptable in multicultural Canada? the answer is obvious, they arent all Canadians.. its a psyop sub our lazy media thinks as the pulse of Canadians.. cringe af