Uses of the "Canadian model" in the French-language press

The expression & DLANGBRAC; Canadian model & drangbrac; is often used in journalistic discourse because it reflects a desire to compare social institutions. For the French-language press, the issue is whether this formula hides a set of statements in which Canada represents an example to imitate or, on the contrary, to be avoided. In order to assess the scope of this normative enunciation with consequences in the field of nation branding, the article relies on the longitudinal analysis of two French-speaking corpora to identify the frequency of use of this formula as well as specific enunciations. The results show that this expression is used to underline the distinction with the American model but also the Quebec model. The French press perceives this & DLANGBRAC; Canadian model & drangbrac; as a door that opens the American market society, but also as the symbol of a multicultural contract in contrast with the French republican thought based on a unitary model with a universalist vocation.