Language Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Quebec Among Canadian University Students (Report‪)‬

This article explores factors that structure attitudes toward Quebec in the rest of Canada (ROC) using a survey conducted in 2004 of college students at English-language universities across the country. Public opinion regarding Quebec in the ROC is important because the country's long-term future may depend on how the ROC can deal with the challenge of Quebec nationalism. Concessions to Quebec that might undermine the appeal of sovereignty to Quebecers will require public support in the ROC, and positive attitudes toward Quebec increase the possibility that such concessions can be made. Conversely, the ability of the ROC to maintain a tough line against separatism in the event of a third referendum may be enhanced by negative attitudes toward Quebec in the ROC. We expect that attitudes toward Quebec in anglophone Canada will be influenced by the amount and the quality of the contact that anglophone Canadians have with Canada's Francophones. The contact hypothesis holds that "more contact between individuals belonging to antagonistic social groups tends to undermine negative stereotypes and reduce prejudice, thus improving inter-group relations by making people more willing to deal with each other as equals" (Forbes, ix). The contact hypothesis suggests that contact among members of different groups leads to greater communication either through living side-by-side or by having the linguistic ability to communicate, and such contact improves inter-group relations.