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So much for history. Or at least Anglo-Quebec history.

If I still lived in Montreal, where I was born, I would be considered a 鈥渉istoric Anglo,鈥� and not just because of my relic status. My English would be tolerated, a kindness bestowed. Less historic Anglos could expect no such favours. In official Quebec, Canada鈥檚 other official language is simply not welcome, a reality that no longer even raises eyebrows in the province or the rest of the country.

Barely tolerable smidgens of English have become inconvenient remnants of a colonized past. Stop whining, Anglos.

And most Quebec Anglos, accepting that their mother tongue now belongs in the public dustbin, have stopped whining. But listen to the nationalist rhetoric, or look at the policies of the ind茅pendantiste Parti Qu茅b茅cois, which will form the next government if current polling numbers hold. It鈥檚 not just English that鈥檚 being given the boot; it鈥檚 also Anglo-Quebec history.

Which is both tragic and immoral.

No politics can justify erasing a history that boasts: Canada鈥檚 oldest brewery (Molson, 1786); Canada鈥檚 first bank (Bank of Montreal, 1817); North America鈥檚 oldest continually operating shipyard (Davie Shipbuilding, near Quebec City, 1825); Canada鈥檚 first art gallery (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1860); and Canada鈥檚 first radio station (CFCF, 1922).

Admittedly, much of that legacy was created by wealthy Anglos, the people Ren茅 L茅vesque dismissed as 鈥渨hite Rhodesians.鈥� So also consider contributions of a different kind.

Consider McGill University, which for more than 200 years has been turning out celebrated jurists, politicians, Nobel laureates, astronauts, architects and scientists. Consider the progressive hospitals founded by Anglo-Montrealers, including Dr. Wilder Penfield鈥檚 pioneering Montreal Neurological Institute and the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Dr. Norman Bethune developed surgical techniques when he wasn鈥檛 out ministering to the city鈥檚 poor.

Among writers, appreciate the brilliance of Mavis Gallant, Hugh MacLennan (with his wrenching insight into Quebec鈥檚 鈥淭wo Solitudes鈥�), Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen, Naomi Klein. Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson was a Montrealer, as were actors William Shatner and Christopher Plummer. Legendary pianist Oscar Peterson grew up near Rockhead鈥檚 Paradise, the famous jazz club that brought such greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington to the city.

If you鈥檙e a baseball fan, thank councillor Gerry Snyder for bringing the major leagues to Canada via the Montreal Expos. If you love hockey, know that the first club in Canada was at McGill. If your mouth waters for Montreal smoked meat, visit Schwartz鈥檚 on 鈥渢he Main鈥� (aka Boulevard St-Laurent) and gratefully remember Reuben Schwartz, who opened the iconic deli in 1928.

When you鈥檙e browsing at Indigo, think of Heather Reisman, the company鈥檚 founder, born and educated in Montreal. When you鈥檙e playing Trivial Pursuit, tip your hat to the two Montreal journalists who invented it.

That鈥檚 Anglo-Quebec history, which is also personal. I鈥檝e buried family at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Canada鈥檚 largest cemetery, where the first burial, in 1855, was of an Irish woman. Dr. Penfield operated on my father-in-law, a war veteran. Snyder was a neighbour, his daughter a friend. In the serene beauty of St. Patrick鈥檚 Basilica, founded in 1847 by an Irish community that included builders of the Lachine Canal, I鈥檝e sat where D鈥橝rcy McGee, a Father of Confederation, once sat. Like our grandparents before us, my brother and I were each married there. At the annual St. Patrick鈥檚 Day parade, the oldest in Canada, my kids regularly froze their tongues on green Popsicles.

Despite their shrinking population, Quebecers who claim English as their first language still total more than a million, not an insignificant number. Not an insignificant community.

For nearly three centuries, Anglo-Quebecers have been a nation-building force for both province and country. When we forget their contributions 鈥� consigning remembrance of their strength, passion and vibrant genius to the dustbin like so much linguistic detritus 鈥� we betray Canada鈥檚 identity and historical conscience.

And we turn Quebec鈥檚 history into fiction.