‘Looking for a scapegoat’: Election reopens New Brunswick’s language divide
It is the most corrosive wedge issue in Canada’s only officially bilingual province: language.
Largely dormant for more than 20 years, the schism between French- and English-speaking New Brunswickers reappeared this week when voters cast their ballots along linguistic lines, creating a starkly contrasting electoral map.
Monday’s vote saw the election of three members of the upstart People’s Alliance, marking a breakthrough for a populist party that campaigned on a “common sense” platform that includes pledges that are wildly unpopular with French-speaking voters.
“Maybe it’s common sense for them, but it’s clear from the francophone perspective that francophones will never vote for this party,” says Roger Ouellette, a political science professor at the Universite de Moncton.