The community in which we live is held to be 33% francophone. The rest is comprised of anglophones, including a good percentage of fairly recent immigrants whose first language is not English. On the street where we live, there is an excellent mix of people, hailing from India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Russia, China, along with indigenous, or long-term Canadians, making it a fairly diverse population mix.

When I first began two decades ago after moving to the street, to do door-to-door canvassing on behalf of charitable medical or social organizations there was an initial period of holding back, where people not given to responding to such solicitations on behalf of charitable enterprises were suspicious and loathe to make charitable donations. Over the years many of those same people have since become personal acquaintances and the canvass process turns into a bit of a social event at each house.

It became noticeable to me that among the general population it always seemed to be those of French-Canadian backgrounds who were indifferent and uninterested in assisting charities. Those among them who have become personal friends now give, their disinterest somewhat allayed. Those whom I do not personally know because they tend not to want to be known, among the street's francophones remain distant, distinctly unfriendly, and uninvolved although of course it is the entire society that benefits from support of these charitable groups.

The general unfriendliness bordering on outright hostility of francophones living in a majority anglophone community, or francophones reacting to the presence of anglophones was brought home to me during the Thanksgiving week-end. This represents the one time of year when the season invites people to take recreational pathways through our neighbourhood urban ravine and forest. On the week-end just passed we came across more people rambling through the ravine than we have ever encountered on any previous occasion.

Invariably, people were cheerful and appreciative of the natural beauty of their surroundings, and more than willing to greet others whom they passed, sometimes stopping for a brief chat. Everyone acknowledged the presence of other people with at least a smile of greeting, though they were strangers to one another. With the notable exception of francophones. Who studiously ignored greetings that reached their ears in English.

And this includes the children, who sullenly, like their elders, look right through you.