SELFIES (Seeing English-Language Families in Engaging Situations)

ELAN is collecting stories from the many groups that make up Quebec’s English-speaking communities. We all arrived in Nouvelle France, Lower Canada or Quebec at different times and from different places. English was the mother tongue for some, and for others it became the first official language spoken.

Political, social and linguistic conditions have changed over time, so each discussion group is formed with participants whose roots in Quebec go back to a shared period. We are referring to these periods as immigrations waves. The first wave consisted of groups that arrived in Quebec prior to 1945. The second wave of groups that arrived between 1945 and 1970.  The first two fascinating discussions were filmed in early December and our production team is busy editing videos of those conversations.

We plan to film four more discussion groups in late February or early March, once Covid restrictions are eased. The third wave will consist of people whose families arrived in Quebec from 1970-1995, followed by 1995-2010 and final wave of newcomers who have arrived since 2010. We are also filming a discussion group with regional participants, who all live in dramatically different worlds. The 60 participants in these wave-of-immigration discussion groups will present a complex and thought-provoking portrait of what it feels like to be an English-speaking Quebecer today.