On the eve of Quebec’s latest election, the chances of the Parti Quebecois led by Pauline Marois coming to power are great. What does this mean for the future of Quebec? Furthermore, what of the treatment of this province’s minority populations? Moreover, what does this mean for the rest of Canada?
This is really what we should be focusing on here with this election now isn’t it? What does this election mean for the rest of us? I have pondered once again this issue of Quebec Nationalism that haunts the Quebec public consciousness every few years. If the Parti Quebecois are elected, will they extend the power of ethnocentric laws such as Bill 101 that extremely limit the English language?
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What about the rights of ethnic minorities? The ‘kirpan’, ‘veils’, ‘turbans’ and other religious symbols would be outlawed in Quebec and the only religious symbol that would be recognized in secular Quebec is the ‘cross’. This would be the “exception because the cross is a symbol of Quebec culture, and not a religious symbol” as Pauline Marois has stated before. ( Taken from:http://www.thespec.com/
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Sure thing, Madame Marois! Ask the 2.2 billion Christians on Earth whether their symbol is cultural or religious. Remember this. A culture is made up of many religions and Quebec is a society whose culture is made up of more than one religion or culture. Not to permit other religious symbols is going beyond ethnocentrism and entering the field of totalitarianism.
Pauline Marois has already stated her intention to make French the only language of communication in Quebec for companies with 10 employees. The current Bill 101 regulations account for this Draconian language policy with companies of at least 50 employees. However, this French only policy in regards to communication is only the tip of the iceberg with Quebec’s Bill 101. As of today, parents who wish to send their children to an English school in Quebec need to jump through hoops in order to do so. Legislation in Quebec does everything possible to make it difficult to both live, work and even learn the English language. Why is this so? Proponents of these policies simply state that the French language is in decline and that the laws are reflective of what needs to be done to curb this trend. If this is the case, then why punish practitioners of the English language? This is tantamount to saying that the best defense is a good offense! So, I guess what is being said here is that in order to prop up my case, I need to demonize yours? Folks, this is exactly what is being done in the Province of Quebec! Our Canadian media is saturated with more and more negativity about the soap opera that has become Quebec’s daily existence. Each and every day there is more bad news from that ‘belle’ province.
To think that this cannot happen in Ontario is foolish as I wish to inform you that it already does. Coming soon to an airport near you are the language police that will ensure that French clientele are being served in the French language. Now, come on, what of this?! Every single time we hear of bilingual policies it really should read, ‘French’ policies as that is what it really entails and what the subject matter is really concerned with. Proponents of bilingual policies are really just pushing a French agenda. What are the benefits of ushering language police to Canada’s airports? I would argue that this will do nothing but alienate an already upset Canadian population who have had enough of Quebec-style politics and this subject of ‘Official Bilingualism’
We have already experienced the results of bilingual policies in hiring practices in both the civil service and private sectors that see a trend in the favouring of hiring Francophones over Anglophones. Now, however, we see a push as well in places of Ontario to ensure that signage is in both official languages. It is one thing for government offices and traffic signs to be bilingual and quite another to force independent business owners to display their signs in both official languages. But this is exactly what is occurring in Russel Township. This is akin to social engineering, plain and simple. And this does in fact fall under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 2b. It is not offensive to display signs in any language and the people of Canada should have the freedom to do so. Remember folks, the displaying of any language is not offensive but what really counts is what is written in those languages that makes the difference. How can it be classified that displaying or not displaying a sign in a particular language be offensive to others? If you don’t like it or agree with it, then simply don’t shop there!
Pay attention to what is currently occurring in the Province of Quebec with this upcoming election. Because the ties that bind us are more impactful than what you may believe. If there is another referendum on the issue of Quebec sovereignty and once again the vote indicates a willingness for Quebec to stay within the Canadian Confederation; then it’s quite overdue for that province to earn it’s respect amongst the other provinces and territories. This means abolishing that Draconian Bill 101, treating it’s minorities as equals, allowing for the displaying of religious symbols and tackling a host of other prejudices that affect that province as a whole.
If Quebec cannot play by fair rules than perhaps it’s time for the rest of Canada to hold it’s own Referendum on whether or not we wish to have Quebec remain within the Confederation. Perhaps as Canadians we need to decide if the time has come to sever the ties that bind us?
Cory Cameron
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Get me the scissors please!!!!!
Wow Corey, you said it all in a nutshell Bravo!!! Government should have never got involved in their Language laws, if their language & cultures are dwindling down they should be looking for the causes,maybe they could well learn from the second most spoken language in Ontario & Quebec & that is Chinese languages or the Italiens & others.but no Quebec wants other cultures to solve their problem which can never work,They even tried paying people to have more babies..but of course that didn’t work,now trying to force their language on ROC & that will not work either.They have a beautiful province but just can’t seem to find the right people to run it!!!
Québec wants to preserve the French language and I don’t blame them one bit – I am for that as well. As for the cross it represents the Christian faith and for those of us who are Catholic like what most of Québec represents then yes it is religious as well as cultural.
We are supposed to be a bilingual country and I am glad that I have both languages. With the time Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) will be much needed for communication with the Chinese. The Chinese will outdo the west in manufacturing, IT, etc. Manufacturing is finished in the west and China dominates the market. The Chinese, Japanese and Indians (India) are a well educated and disciplined people whereas the west is not disciplined at all. We haven’t seen very good entrepreneurs since the early part of the 20th century and before that as well. People here in the west are mighty spoiled and lazy.
Again I don’t blame Québec for wanting to keep their language and culture since we live in an anglophone culture which includes the US.
“People here in the west are mighty spoiled and lazy.”
That’s a pretty sweeping statement. I think most people who are tying to earn a living wage, and a roof over their head, would find that comment just a bit offensive.
Consider yourself very fortunate that you can afford to live in a nice apartment or condo in Ottawa. Fewer and fewer people are that lucky.
Why does the Federal government not protect Quebecs minorities?
I understand the need to preserve the language but at the cost of others rights?
Why is it that Quebec does not believein bilingualism yet the rest of Canada it enforced through legislation?
Yet bilingualism was introduced for Quebec.
Canada is a linguistic mess either you have bilingualism for All or none of it you cannot have it both ways or you create animosity of which we are seeing it throught Canada -revolution is not that far away when you mistreat a population.
Cory Cameron’s weird thinking never ceases to amaze me. That’s all that I am going to say for now about this other ludicrous waste of bandwith of a letter. ‘Bye!
Le Renard hahahahah
What the hell are you talking about?! I’m writing total fact here Renard! I’ve even supplied a quote and all of what I’m writing about has been followed very very closely as Quebec’s election looms. I’ll tell you what….
How about you take your blue tinged tail and go back to your fictitious land of Oz!
Please, for the love of Christ, take your head out of the sand for once and read what the Parti Quebecois is proposing for Quebec during this election!
Yo Blue Fox… don’t go away before you elaborate.
I’m proud of the French blood I have. But I recognize it for the minority inheritance that it is. The majority of my inherited blood is English. Since I am more English than French I naturally function more in the English language and culture. This view extends itself to representation by population. Each cultural group in Canada should be served, providing for each individual member. No more than that. No less. Large group or small. That’s equality.
My hat’s is off to Cory Cameron, on his most excellent letter and summary!
Again and again, he cuts right to the heart of the matter in simple, concise, and clear language. The turmoil created by the Liberal Party 42 years ago, continues to this day. Official Bilingualism (OB) Polices/Agendas were IMPOSED on Canada/Canadians, without choice or option. OB was “supposed” to be limited, to Federal Offices and only “where numbers warrant”. As, Canadians now know, OB has morphed to include Federal, Provincial, Municipal Offices and increasingly into the private sector.
This social engineering program was supposed to placate Quebec and the French. So, the Rest of Canada (ROC) have, by forced legislation been required to provide bilingual services.
All the while, Quebec has refused to be bilingual and has instead designated itself, unilingually and officially French. Anyone else here, see the irony of this reality.
The policies of OB, have and continue to divide Canada and Canadians, to this very day. As a policy, there is no question that OB has failed, spectacularly from sea to sea. The ROC, should emulate Quebec’s example and declare itself, unilingually English officially…once and for all.
Quote from Cory Cameron’s letter: “If Quebec cannot play by fair rules than perhaps it’s time for the rest of Canada to hold it’s own Referendum on whether or not we wish to have Quebec remain within the Confederation. Perhaps as Canadians we need to decide if the time has come to sever the ties that bind us?”
All I can say is: Hear, Hear!!! It is indeed time for the ROC to have it’s own Referendum, on both Quebec and OB Policies/Agendas, afterall Canada is a democracy…let the majority wishes rule!
Where to begin? Cory, the reason I gave you a 9 instead of 10 is that you insist on using the term “bilingualism” which simply DOES NOT EXIST in Canada. There is ONLY a policy of Frenchification in all English provinces. (This absolutely includes New Brunswick.)
As to the rest of the letter:
Personally. I DO consider the hijab/niqab offensive, but ***also*** the cross, and quite frankly, the Star Of David. Why? Because despite what Pauline Marois thinks, we are a multi-religious yet secular nation. If I can indentify you without you saying a word to me, you are displaying your religion too openly. You want to wear a cross? Fine. Do it in private schools or churches. The same goes for ANY religion. I hate siding with the PQ on anything, but in this case, they are correct. Why should my lack of religion, or lack or DISPLAY OF my religion, be of anyone’s concern?
You are, of course, dead on in your assessment of the anti-English war in Kaybec, which is not being battled by the federal government, much to their shame, nor by the anglophobic NDPQ, to their infinitely greater shame since they used to be the party of the downtrodden and the working class. (The Liberals are a long-ago lost cause.)
Kaybeckers (and although that does not include ALL francophones, the deafening silence coming from them certainly infers their support of these policies of discrimination) see English as a threat to their language, which it is not. But worse, they see it as a disease that must be eradicated, like a cancer. And they therefore treat anglophones like lepers, or worse. This is nothing new to us anglos who are still living in, or have left, the racist province of Kaybec, but at least we are taking hope from the more and more Canadians who are becoming aware of, and rallying to, our cause. It’s quite simple, actually: Canada outside Kaybec should be ONLY as French as Kaybec is English. Cut French funding down to almost nothing. Demonize them. Force English to be twice as large on business signs. (I kid, of course; Canadians would generally never be that racist and unfair. That dubious honour is reserved for Kaybec and NB francophones, or more precisely, anglophobes.)
Please note that in NB’s town of Dieppe, it is not enough that signs must be bilingual; French MUST be first on any signs. A business whose sign that fails to display FRENCH FIRST will be fined. A business with an English-only sign will also be fined. (A business with an ILLEGAL French-only sign, of course, is perfectly all right since francophones, especially those in New Brunswick, claim to be above the law, the drunk driving case being ONLY the most egregious example.) I am shocked and flabbergasted that the Ontario court basically said, “yes, these signs violate freedom of expression for business who are not francophones, but that’s okay, because we must protect francophone rights at all cost”. (Is it any wonder that francophobes like Yvon Godin are relishing the idea of forcing judges to be French, since no anglophone can possibly be considered bilingual? Mulcair’s legacy will be his choosing to listen to anglophobes like Godin instead of representing all of Canada, thereby destroying his party from within. I’d hate to be an NDPQ member, or worse, a candidate from outside Kaybec in the next election!)
There is no question Canada needs to hold a country-wide (or possibly country-wide except in Kaybec) referendum. If Kaybec truly feels it can be financially viable (and of course that is laughable since if it were in any way remotely true they would have separated years ago), they should be given the chance, minus, of course, the people and territories who vote to remain Canadian. I am personally pulling for a PQ victory as long as NO Quebec-born/based politician negotiates for Canada (conflict of interest, you know).
If anything, Cory, I would say your criticism of Kaybec and its politics is a bit muted and mild. The French blue fox says your “weird thinking” amazes him, without offering ONE counterpoint to a SINGLE THING YOU WROTE. (Mainly because he can’t.) But that’s fine because the more francophones who ignore us, the easier it will be to hold a Canadian referendum with winning conditions.
Jules, you do realize you are, wittingly or not, displaying the SAME kind of ethnocentric exclusionary attitudes we accuse the francophones of having? And where did you get the idea that “we are supposed to be” a bilingual country? We are not, never have been, and as long as YOUR racist province outlaws English, never will be. You are saying you are glad you have both languages, so I assume you work for the government. If not, why NOT learn Chinese? It is far more widely spoken. It is third most spoken in Canada now. And it sounds like it will help you in your future. (Oh, and don’t spread this around…but the language BOTH Chinese and Indians are learning to speak more than any other? I’ll give you a hint: it’s one of Canada’s official languages, and it’s not French. I’ll let you figure that out.)
Ed, if Jules is francophone, he no doubt considers himself the elite and entitled to the best Canada can offer, paid for, of course, by English Canadian taxpayers. However, I am willing to be proven wrong by him or any reasonable francophone individual, group, or party. Given the reaction to francophone demands for supremacy in this country, suffice it to say I am not holding my breath.
I can’t wait for the day that Madam Marois falls flat on her face as she darn well deserve to be punished for her ignorance. I wat for the day the language police come to me about bilingualism. I will tell them that under the Charter we have freedoms and two of them are freedom of speech and freedom of religion, so that means to me that I can speak whatever language I want and I am Catholic and I don’t push either on anyone as they have their rights as well. Let us have our own referendum to have Quebec sold to the United States and see where the Madame will pull her shit there. We sold Alaska so why not Quebec. I agree wth Cory and Lou. They are right in what they say and I am behind them all the way. So WAKE UP CANADA AND SPEAK UP FOR THE ENGLISH SPEAKERS!!!!!!!!!!! The United States didn’t go for the French as a second language so why should we?
I can’t add anything to this, it is “in its entirety” correct. Well written Lou! This should be offered to the Canadian Media as a press release. The ROC needs to see this.
There is a simmering discontent in this country ,people are frustrated with the Federal government for allowing the rights of its citizens trampled .The rights for the few at the loss of the many.
Where is the Feds in protecting the minority within Quebec they are Canadians are they not?
Or is that the sacrifice they make to appease Quebec those 1,500,000 citizens that do not speak French?
@Lou Israel. Quebec is spelled Q u e b e c.
And Jules is a sixty-one year old woman.
Just so you know.
Disagree with almost everything, but I don’t think cory your surprised. One thing you should keep doing thought is defend what you think is right. Canada is a beautiful country and we have a right to air our differences, keep doing it, even though your wrong you should keep posting. I love proving you wrong. Gf today hid my laptop, LOL says I spend too much time on the internet. I said to her, hey I’m defending my rights, she answered, Well, I’m defending my rights to keep a clean house, take out the garbage…well, I took out the garbage. LOL
Lou Israel I am a woman and I am proud to know both English and French and I am more proficient in French than English. I usually put the cart before the horse as they say because I was educated in French.
I used to work for the Federal Government but I am no longer there. French was and still is in great demand and I am talking about Ontario and the whole country. If you are not bilingual it is mighty hard to get a job. Even to work in private industry here in Ottawa you have to be bilingual.
My daughter’s supervisor told my daughter to go and try for other jobs. My daughter was considering going back to college. One girl that was working with her just left for another job and none in her area of education. This girl has a masters of economy and was working for peanuts with my daughter. The girl is not bilingual nor does she have the same skills as my daughter who doesn’t have a degree but bilingualism counts in any job you undertake. Very few jobs accept people who are unilingual. I am proud to know both languages. I am half French and I feel very at home when I go to Québec.
I worked with a woman in the Federal Government who was French-Ontario from a small rural town outside of Ottawa. She was just as racist-prejudice as those of Québec. I was fluently bilingual and she never accepted me at all as an equal. I might as well have been a Chinese or something according to her. You can’t just blame the people of Québec. The people of Québec hold very strong ties to France.
About the hijab and other religious matters, France outlawed girls from wearing a complete covering like the hijab and Québec is following French rule and not English rule. I wear a cross around my neck since I was first married and I will not remove it at all and I haven’t until I went for an X-ray lately and put it back on. I am Catholic and nothing will change that at all. As for a country Canada, the US and Europe were Christian countries and people turned away from religion for many reasons. I never turned away from religion but in fact I am stronger in belief.
One woman told me some years ago on a forum that she lived for a while in New Brunswick and that only the people who are Acadian were able to get good jobs. She later left for Toronto and she had two degrees from university. Our former superintendant was from New Brunswick and he was also an auditor with the Federal Government and another man who worked here as well from Montreal. Their wives were cousins. Till now I feel attached to them because of their Francophone warmness and we have never forgotten them. They were from Moncton.
When I go to Québec I feel like as if I am in a family and I would never put those people down at all. They are the only francophone community in a place that is mostly English.
You mentioned something about Chinese well I can tell you that eventually people may have to know Mandarin and Cantonese and China and India and some other countries are surpassing the west. Don’t be shocked to hear about that and see what is yet to come. Many westerners are heading to China and India to work and those are in professional fields like IT, teaching, medicine, etc. etc. etc. The west is dying – on its death bed. That is no lie but the whole truth.
My daughter’s supervisor is Chinese and very intelligent. My daughter hears a lot of Chinese spoken on the job.
Wait a minute Barbara we did not sell Alaska. You should learn your history. Russia owned Alaska not Canada and it was Russia who sold Alaska to the US.
As for Mme Marois she is entitled to her opinion. What you do not know is that we are going under a North American Union and there will be no Canada, no US and no Mexico. I don’t know if you ever read the book called “1984” by George Orwell real name Eric Blair but everything he says is true and is coming eventually. Immigration, and many laws are going to be integrated with these two countries and Québec is all part of this crazyness. Europe is united as well – European Union. Australia will be with the Asian Union of China, etc. Australia’s economy is better than Canada’s because of their close ties to the orient. There will be no independent country and all that is in the Bible in the Book of Daniel which is in the King James Version of the Bible which is Protestant. We Catholics have never learned the Bible in school. The Bible explains things in a complicated way and you have to know mighty ancient history to know what they are talking about. If you thought that Canada owned Alaska then you would be in trouble trying to figure out what the Bible talks about that is for sure. The Bible was written in ancient Hebrew, ancient Aramaic, and ancient Greek which are very different to the modern Hebrew, modern Aramaic, and modern Greek. I don’t think that Aramaic is modern and very few people speak that language – only a few people do today in certain Syrian villages and maybe in some areas of Israel but it is extremely rare.
One more thing Barbara. The entire world is going under a “One World Government” and this is all not a conspiracy that I am telling you. The world leaders are in on this as well as the Pope. This is going to happen when the continents are united. This has been going on for thousands of years in the planning. Know history and not confuse things like Canada selling Alaska to the Yanks. Russia owned that state. Now there is friction of Russia, Norway, Denmark, the US, and some other countries in west Europe wanting to drill for oil in the Arctic. Harper bought planes and now is getting into drones to check what is going on in the Arctic. The ice is melting and many are fighting over the Arctic. The UN is trying to get involved in this dispute.
This is part of what I mean by when I say that people do not know what is going on and are ignorant of what is going on in our world and in our own country.
Jesus said that he fears for his people because of their lack of knowledge. He sure wasn’t kidding especially nowadays. The education system in the US is #26 on the list and Canada is just one or two steps ahead which shows you how weak it is. The Chinese, Indians of India and many other countries are way ahead. I insulted someone here but it is all true. These people are mighty hard workers and mighty intelligent and the Canadians and the Yanks feel very inferior to them. People that you consider the third world are way ahead.
It reminds me of that Miss North Carolina on youtube.com – you all have to go and see this for yourselves to believe such a thing. LOL LOL. ROLF! My husband and I cannot understand a lot of the young people today the way they talk like grunt sounds like monkeys and they speak way too fast to understand any of them. They may as well be speaking a foreign language in order to try and figure out what they are saying. Even George W. Bush makes much better sense than Miss North Carolina and he even said that he met his match. LOL LOL. ROLF! Except George would feel more like a genius compared to the garbage that this girl was trying to say – absolutely no sense. I would have had much better linguistics from an African pigmy.
Don’t stop now Jules. You’re on a roll.
Jules, I guess I should apologize for calling you a man. That is my default assumption—especially when you use a man’s name. Perhaps you might look into changing that. After all, clarity o communication is essential, ain’t it?
By the way, the spelling of my racist home province DOES NOT have a French accent. Not in English. And if you’ll look carefully, that is how we write on this board. (Other than the occasional barb slung by the anglophobic trolls.)
You seem to write that bilingualism in necessary, even in private industry in Ottawa with…pride??? (As opposed to anger, shame, or shock.) I wonder why? Because you are French first, maybe, (in attitude and personality if not heritage) and the rest of us are not, even though we are better qualified for most positions? Or do you feel that (the forced Frenchification) is justified, in some twisted sense that escapes me? That the majority should be forced to speak the language of the minority? Isn’t that apartheid? Discrimination? Bullying?
Like I said, citizens of China and India are learning English. Yes, some of us are learning Chinese but that is not the language of business in the world. Well, the world outside Kaybek anyway.
I am NOT half French and yet grew up in and spent four decades in Kaybec. I NEVER feel at home when I go there, but then again, you probably don’t have customers, clerks and other “honest citizens” in your face demanding you speak English because “this is Canada”. See, most Canadians don’t practise that type of discrimination.
Perhaps I should clarify. The hijab, niqab, cross and magen davids are offensive to me. But although they should perhaps not be illegal, it should be absolutely forbidden to wear them in a public service position. It implies a racial or religious preference that should never be accepted. (It then, of course, makes someone of a different group feel, at the very least, like an outsider.)
You absolutely appear to be favouring francophones, even the racist ones, over anglophones, and that is not only offensive to me on the most basic of levels, but it SHOULD be illegal. Am I clearer now, Jules (or whatever the hell your name is)?
Let me know if I misunderstood your letters. But you DO seem to be favouring the racist francophones who demand French first, French only, French everywhere.
And Barbara is indeed incorrect. Seward’s Folly may not have been required reading for her, but Alaska was never part of Canada. Considering how racist francophones distort Canadian history, and unforgivably pass it on to their schools to misinform young students, hers is a relatively minor glitch of misunderstanding.
Some of us are aware of the efforts to form a NAU. So far we have managed to thwart it. As you should as well. Because, guess what? If it ever comes to be, the language spoken AIN’T gonna be French, nor will the racist francophones be able to complain to anyone about it.
You’re welcome. Always happy to correct, educate and inform.
Jules, blah blah blah. Please inform your Quebec friends that separation is all we ask for.
Wow Lou Israel. You are getting a little wound up, no? If you lived in Quebec during the fifties or sixties or earlier, when the Anglos ruled the province, you might understand why the backlash is still happening.
What!?
Jules, are you kidding me? One world government; the Pope; fighter jets; Miss North Carolina and George Dubya Bush?
Why don’t you throw in the so-called fake moon landings, Area 51, cattle mutilations, crop circles, alien abductions, Illuminatii and the Kennedy Assassination while you’re at it?
Had I known that my LTE would have degenerated into this mess I would never have submitted it!
Crisse,
C.
Jules: ” This unilingual girl with the masters of economy” did she ever find work in her field? and your daughter you say who doesn’t have a degree but is bilingual did she land the job because she was bilingual but didn’t have the skills? I’m just trying to understand what you wrote.
Helilo Lou,
Have read your letters, both of them. Thought, they were well written. Personally, don’t share your aversion to religion…but to each his own.
What else could I say, that you and Cory, haven’t already said…so very well!
Last point, you are quite correct…there is no rebuttal that can be made or given…:)
Listen to the lovely sounds of *crickets*
James, please provide this revision to initial letter above, thank you)
With respect to Catholic history, I often wonder why the French or rather the Catholic and Madame Marios’ religion wear and show cross’s in their church’s that have Jesus still nailed to it while the Protestants wear and show cross’s that do not show Jesus still nailed because apparently He has risen. This sure draws on the same conundrum we find ourselves in with the French and English bashing each other, and so on and so on eh!
My understanding is that all religious monuments and inscriptions were to be removed from all public, re government buildings and properties so that makes Madame a hypocrite doesn’t it as she supports only a cross in the Quebec legislature. Right or wrong, obstinacy (on all sides) as well as protectionism, has taken us down a sure fired garden path. I, like you will always wear my cross too, though unlike yours. Also, you see, the protestants take a direct line approach in prayer rather than having to go through intermediaries (Saint this and Saint that, with respect) most of the time they resite their prayers/beads.
Others such as the Jehovah Witness’s believe Jesus was crusified on a pole or stake and NOT on a cross at all while still others believe he was just a good man, yet, their is little history of him outside of the Bible at all. I welcome correction as YOU see these.
I like and respect most of the arguments above although in the language issue I do see a trilogy of French vs English challenged by the bilinguals. To this I see only long term problems…….at least 3 to 4 more generations to sort out eh! By then it may take a North American Hitler type dictator to require/demand language one way or the other as perhaps should have been done on the Plains of Abraham too many years ago.
I raise a few hot button points here because I see so many of us seeing through dark glasses, so what the hell, we may as well get it all out in the open.
And just for histories sake, thanks for the lessons (Jules). Here is a reminder for all of us that once Jesus proclaimed upon the cross ‘it is finished’ the curtains of the Temple were torn (Roman’s) absolving all the Old Testament forgiveness by the law to now give forgiveness by faith within the New Testament. So to me the best reads of the Bible for history sake, as long as you have a concordance to help with interpretations would be the Old Testament Book of Daniel and then the New Testament Book of Romans. Enjoy the exercise. I transcribe liberally so would welcome comments here, But I digress.
You are also welcomed here to offer correction by your faith and understandings. I agree with the NO HEAD COVERINGS SKULL CAPS, TURBINS ETC. ETC, as these show ‘religious’ identity just as offensive to others as to these persons our wearing of cross’s whether with Jesus nailed or having risen show our religious commitments.
Some would say well who lived here first, then all others must conform, while still others would say which religion was in the world first and again here we go, on and on.
So many unresolved curves its hard to keep up. One thing for sure, as language disputs (such as religion) lead to other seemingly unrelated issues, yet they are inherently linked.
Are we having fun yet because once the neophytes nut cases get ride of our genders and give us sterile pills and green skinl, maybe then we could all become equals and pigs will fly?
It is my understanding that during the last census (2011) that Frenchificationists played dirty pool by encouraging all bilinguals to tell Statistics Canada that they were French only. This was done through the use of Blackberry’s, Apple I-pads and of course cell phones etcetera. This grossing up the numbers of course caused much greater grants towards the Frenchification across Canada.
WISE UP ENGLISH CANADA AND ALL NON FRENCH CITIZENS OF OTHER LANGUAGES, SINCE ENGLISH IS THE GLOBAL BUSINESS LANGUAGE, IDENTIFY ONLY ENGLISH AS YOUR LANGUAGE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN IN OUR NEXT CENSUS……….YES, ‘WE CAN REBEL TOO’. I AM CALLING ON ALL ACROSS CANADA TO PUMP UP THE NUMBERS SO ENGLISH WILL NOT BE ROBBED OF ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN ALL PUBLIC/PRIVATE BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT JOBS FROM OUR CHILDREN.
Very probably they have us by the balls as few politicians who are unilingual, except in a la Kabec will be allowed to run for any office in the future. Hey listen, most Kabecors don’t even want to be called Canadians and think of unilingual English as second-class stature.
It was ludicrous for the government to spend 17 to 20 million dollars to build French only schools across Canada in sparsely populated regions of French, as in Yellowknife for example (only 40 plus French speaking citizens out of what, 10,000????). This is English tax money to rid Canada of their right to jobs in our own government for English only citizens.
How obtuse is that? We are being HAD like old whores and gigolos who are forced to pay for the privilege with our own money.
Now Ed are you going to blame Anglos for Du Plessis? It was the Church that controlled Quebec; not the Anglos. And what Anglo Quebec had in Montreal it created and built. It was not a tiny minority in Montreal. There were a few revolutions in Quebec, but you can’t grow or promote a culture/language by destroying or hurting others.
That’s what the German’s tried to do during the Nazi era and we saw how well that did in the long term….
patrick said
“I said to her, hey I’m defending my rights,”
Now Patrick what rights are that ?
The right to impose or restrict of others -such as bill 101,or the French Services Language Act .
So you are protecting your “privileged” rights !
The LFA asks for fairness and Equality of which you do not agree.
Representation by population -MOST JUST societies would not have a problem with this!
You and Mike Bedard and scant others do not believe in “freedom of expression” and agree bill 101 is just ,to protect their Lagrange!
How ETHNOCENTRIC OF YOU to violate others rights in protection of perceived loss of language.
United nations the most ethnically diverse governing body (EVER) has said that bill 101 violated their charter that Canada signed .
Jules said:
If you are not bilingual it is mighty hard to get a job. Even to work in private industry here in Ottawa you have to be bilingual.
The girl is not bilingual nor does she have the same skills as my daughter who doesn’t have a degree but bilingualism counts in any job you undertake. Very few jobs accept people who are unilingual.
One woman told me some years ago on a forum that she lived for a while in New Brunswick and that only the people who are Acadian were able to get good jobs. She later left for Toronto and she had two degrees from university.
Thanks Jules for your comments here but do you not see anything wrong with the above when outside Quebec 97% of the people speak English!
Put it this way there are far more Anglophones in Quebec then Francophones in the rest of Canada ,yet Quebec continues to violate those 1.5 millions rights ,we in Ontario protect Francophone rights and implement FLSA and 90% of our public is effected for that 4%.
If the Nation is to be bilingual that would mean all of Canada -If Quebec chooses to be uni-lingual french then the rest of Canada should choose to be uni-lingual English ,but that’s not how its works here -Ontario now pushes their institutions to be bilingual for that 4%.
I guess English are happy to be a second class citizens …….of their choice!
I understand that Admin, but during that time pretty much all business was conducted in English and it was controlled by the English. The mansions on Mount Royal were occupied by Anglos and the slums were occupied by by the Francophones. There was definitely a class system established in the work force, and the French people were at or near the bottom with few exceptions. The Catholic Church played its part as well, and thankfully that filthy outfit has been cut down to size. Every one is aware that Du Plessis was a brutal thug and he worked for the English business interests.
I was in my hometown Montreal this Summer, as well as Perce and the Gaspe. Last Summer I visited the Ville de Quebec region and had a great time. Quebec is a happier place today since all the English who refused to speak French left. Most went to Mississauga but a big gang seem to be in Cornwall where I live and Eastern Ontario, judging by the comments to Cory’s letter. La vie est belle au Quebec without all those goddamn unilingual Anglos who took the 401. The French majority of 85 per cent has rights too!
Now if the Canadiens can just win the Stanley Cup again…
Ed there were very much injustices in Quebec. I think the anger of the Quiet Revolution were focused on the wrong parties in the wrong manner. I get it. It happens in those situations some times. But 40 years after people have to get it and cut it out.
You can’t have a just society promoted via injustice…
That’s true Admin. I’m just saying that today’s mess is a result of the many decades that the French were oppressed and treated like second-class citizens. As they say, “Je me souviens.”
Yes Ed and that phrase cuts both ways 🙂
Go Habs Go wrote:
“Quebec is a happier place today since all the English who refused to speak French left. Most went to Mississauga but a big gang seem to be in Cornwall where I live and Eastern Ontario, judging by the comments to Cory’s letter. La vie est belle au Quebec without all those goddamn unilingual Anglos who took the 401. The French majority of 85 per cent has rights too!”
There you have it folks! I wasn’t going to respond to this thread anymore and let the letter speak for itself but I have decided to respond to this comment.
Go Habs Go comment here is obviously a call to arms for English Canada! I hope the majority of Quebecers don’t feel this way about their English minority!? If so, then our nation is in much more trouble than what I had originally thought! I guess this comment by Go Habs Go affirms my earlier concerns as to why there has been no mass Quebecois demonstrations against Bill 101 by democratic loving Quebecois!
And too, stay tuned everyone for another LTE I wrote last night. I have had reservations about sending it to CFN last night however after reading this redneck’s comment I feel I no longer have a choice but to have it printed here.
Hey Go Habs Go, if I were a redneck I might say something like imagine how nice Ontario would be if all of the French got into their cars and took the 401 back East!
But alas I digress, I don’t feel that way nor believe in that as well. But, after reading that thought that I wrote, see how it makes you feel, right?
Please don’t incite anymore hatred here.
Concerned Regards,
Cory
Le Renard bleu: Cory Cameron’s weird thinking never ceases to amaze me. That’s all that I am going to say for now about this other ludicrous waste of bandwith of a letter. ‘Bye!
*******The truth really pisses you off doesn’t it?
I just came on here now and haven’t read all the posts yet. I love what “Go habs go” posted. I love Québec and my mother was French-Canadian and my father was an anglo-Canadian and I love the French. I love Québec and feel like I am at home in a real family. I went to a French school and so has my daughter and I never regretted it once.
I wear a cross around my neck but Jesus isn’t on the cross – it is plain. I am completely for the people of Québec and I understand how they feel. I am stuck in the middle but I am much better in French than English. I did very well in school in French but my English was always weak because I never cared for English.
Someone was trying to make fun of what I said and said something about Area 51, Kennedy assassination, Moon landing and other things – well I am all too aware of all of this.
The Pope is behind a World Government and this is not crazy. The NAU is in the US government files of SPP.gov. Look it all up.
I am glad that “Go habs go” said about the people in Québec are a lot happier since the anglos left. LOL LOL. Yes they sure are. I love that province. I too think that France is my mother country and not England.
Someone here said that Chinese is not the business language but it could eventually be that way. Check out an American investor by the name of Jim Rogers and he took his family over to Singapore and his very young children are learning Mandarin Chinese and even he knows that the west is finished and that the east is thriving. The west is going down to third world status.
There is a professional man that we know who lives in Québec and is an anglo and his family is from England. He loves Québec and will not leave it. He lives in Montréal and Montréal is cosmopolitan whereas Toronto is more American.
Montréal est la belle province and pas pour rien. Yes most anglos went barroling down the 401 and landed in Cornwall and other areas around. At least Québec got rid of the people that were trouble makers for them and not people that they wanted to have around.
Jules the people that chose to leave Quebec were not “Troublemakers”. Statistically more Francophones left than Anglophones because of $$$$.
Most Anglophones left because they wanted to lead they lives they chose to and not be forced to do so in French. That’s not a crime nor does it make them bad people.
Du Plessis was one of the most evil men in history and was a “mild Hitler”. I read a book about the things that he did and it was horrific. The 50’s Du Plessis years are finished and the French never forget how they were treated. Now the French are taking back their rights and I am very much behind all of them and I stand up for them. “Je me souviens” are powerful words where they remember and they will never forget.
Jamie back in the 50’s era by much elder sisters couldn’t find work in Cornwall unless they spoke French. I remember that so very well. My eldest sister had French in school but couldn’t speak it but became a Registered Nurse and became head of one of the hospitals in Cornwall since she went back for a degree at the same time working in her field.
My other sister who was a secretary ended up in dead end jobs and then got married. There were no more jobs for her.
I was put in a French school since kindergarden back in the 50’s and I was one of the very few anglophones in that school and I did very well. French is a necessity and I never regretted it once. I love the French people and see that they were given a very rotten deal and now they are fighting for their rights ever since the 50’s and 60’s era and even long before but now they are getting stronger and have more money.
There was a Greek woman whose husband worked with my husband. They had a nice house not far from where I live. Next door were French-Canadian people and the words out of that woman’s mouth about that nice family because they were French and Catholic. I guess that she didn’t realize that I was Catholic and that I preferred the French. I never went back to her house after hearing her racist comments.
The last job I had in Quebec in 1970-71 was at Dominion Securities in the CIBC tower on the corner of Peel and Dorchester. I NEVER heard a word of French spoken there in the two years I worked there. I don’t even recall any French speaking clients (investors). I do recall the armed guards and soldiers protecting the Anglo financial big-wigs during the October Crisis. Interesting times for sure. When I left Quebec and went out west in 72, it wasn’t to get away from the “revolution”. It was simply for the adventure of going west. I supported that revolution 100%. It had to happen.
Ed I agree with you. I liked Levesque and rebelled against my own father reasoning that a lot of what he was advocating made sense. No, I never liked the language laws and many Anglophones hated Robert Bourassa for pandering and in the end Mr. Charest’s pandering are doing him in as Bourassa’s did as well.
Quebecers are very astute voters in that they tend to vote en masse and love voting for the winner sometimes more than their own politics. It’s like a street buzz as we saw with the Orange Crush.
Again; you can’t save a language or culture by forcing people to stop using another. The real challenge for French in Quebec and Canada is how to grow it in uses other than at home. That experiment has been going on now for over 40 years at BILLIONS of dollars of tax payer money.
It’s time that Canadians and Quebecers had a say and voice in this muddled process. It’s time for Quebecers to sign the Constitution and play a bigger role in a United Canada before Mr. Harper and his friends slice and dice us to the highest bidder as it seems is our sad path at the moment helped by people like Ms Marois whose policies are repellent to millions of Canadians outside and even inside Quebec.
Jamie I sent you a message on another post and will put my two cents into this one. I just thought about something here. Québec pays the highest taxes in Canada and gets the least in return. Bridges are caving, roads are in terrible disrepair and have been for a mighty long time.
People complain about Québec and French and I see so many posts on yahoo.ca and other spots putting the French people down when all the time they are plain and themselves. They love family and their culture. They are not the French of France but have their own culture and that is to be preserved and to be given their dignity. Many go and say “go your separate ways” and the anglos are only pushing these people further into this. Well I can tell you Jamie and everyone the more you push these people and other people in the world into civil wars, etc. you will see the New World Order come into fruition and this is what the “banksters and corporations” who own the world lock, stock and barrel want.
If you do not believe what I say go on youtube.com and listen to former president George H.W. Bush speak at the United Nations in New York City back in 1991 giving a speach on the New World Order. George H.W. Bush is the father of George Jr. the chimp.
I like Ed’s story. When I finished university my first job was with a public relations firm located in C-I-L House across from Place Ville Marie. We had French account executives to handle the French side of things. One day I heard my boss Vince, the vice-president,
talking on the phone. He was saying “well I just moved here from Vancouver and haven’t learned to speak French yet.” Vince, aged about 50, was from NDG and had lived in Montreal all his life.
Grace au bon dieu, Vince is dead and the people who thought like him have left.
Admin ,
I must say I enjoyed your viewpoint till the anti Harper issue,but we all are allowed our veiwpoints .
So Jules ,Did you morph again,or have you just returned from Quebec from a recent brainwashing event !
You have no issue with Quebec and Bill 101,would you have an issue if Ontario had its own English bill 101?
I personally think language laws are OPPRESSIVE !
Oh ya correct me if you want (with stats please) that the Quebecer pays the most in taxes and it goes to the large Provincial social security net .
Quebec pays no more federally per capita then Ontario or perhaps others provinces.
But Quebec does receive Last time I seen the stat -near 50% of the transfer payments !
Habs you said-
La vie est belle au Quebec without all those goddamn unilingual Anglos who took the 401. The French majority of 85 per cent has rights too!
Now I say the 97 % outside of Quebec have rights too…..and they far outnumber you…….this reeks of tyranny of the minority.
Besides Habs you confirmed to others by your statement that you are a R*C*S*T.
My rights are no better then yours whether you be Black ,a Jewish person ,or any ethnicity we are to be treated the same under law , sadly in Canada this does not happen!
Oh Jules please I have a life when writing get to the point!
Yes admin and Go Habs Go. The mess and injustices going on in Quebec now are a direct result of the years and years of oppression inflicted on the French population. Sure, we can say that it was over forty years ago, but forty years isn’t a long time in our history. It also doesn’t help that our federal government is now controlled by red-neck knuckle-draggers from Alberta.
As for Pauline Marois, if she does win the election, it will be a minority Gov. that’s for sure. As for seperating…..sorry to disappoint the english, it won’t happen.
Jules absolutely….in the “50’s french was needed also in order to find a good job. This isn’t new, but suddenly it became an issue because one man was turned down for a job. I have many friends who live in Ville Lasalle who don’t speak a word of french. Actually, one is from Michigan and a dentist there and her business is thriving. The English use the language isssue as a crutch and claim that english speaking people do not get good jobs……not true. One must take the initiative and do something instead of always blaming others for their failures.
Highlander……..what is it with you and name calling?
When I wrote, a little over forty-eight hours ago, that I would say no more for the time being about this letter to the editor authored by Cory Cameron and published on 1 September, that is exactly what I meant; I would eventually elaborate. Oh, my goodness! Some people on this forum have little patience.
[Please bear in mind that, as I am writing this comment, I have not read any of those that have been posted in the last forty-eight hours. Thank you.]
First of all, in order for what is going to follow to make even more sense, I might as well explain that I am originally from Quebec. (Yeah, I know… ‘‘Quelle surprise’’!) Furthermore I am even from a part of Quebec where English is very rarely spoken. However I live in Ontario now and I have been here for several years. In the last fourteen years of my life, I have also been quite all over the place in Canada. I am thus familiar with several regions of this country.
By ‘‘weird thinking’’, I meant what I think of Cory Cameron since, say, the end of July. What he says in his comments and letters to the editor shows that he is very pessimistic about several things in life and quite into conspiracy theories. Any well-read person knows that such ideas are generally wrong, exaggerated or plainly senseless. Thus, contrary to what Mr. Cameron says, there is no social engineering related to bilingualism or anything else in Canada for that matter that is taking place, no one is pushing a ‘‘French agenda’’ and there is nothing draconian about laws in linguistic matters in Quebec.
Cory Cameron asks three questions in his first paragraph. I am going to try to answer them one by one.
For the future of Quebec, if Pauline Marois indeed becomes the Premier and her party, the Parti Québécois, indeed forms the government (especially if it is a majority government, which yet has to be known), such a turn of events means, in my opinion, that environmental issues will be dealt with more seriously and in a more truly ecological way, that Bill 78 (which is actually draconian… against people who simply want to demonstrate peacefully) will be repealed at once and that the French language will have much better chances of not only surviving but also keeping on thriving everywhere within its boundaries. As for the treatment of minorities in Quebec, not a whole lot is going to change for one of them in particular: there will still be hundreds of elementary and secondary schools, several colleges and three universities for a community that makes up barely eight per cent of the population (while nearly half a million Ontarians still do not have a university that they could call their own). However, admittedly, people and immigrants of other origins will have more reasons to be integrated in the general population of Quebec while being able to keep their respective languages and culture. (As evidence of this, people who immigrate to Quebec or are born to them and live in Montréal do retain their respective languages much more than those in the same situation who live in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. Thus, there are a lot of trilingual people in Montréal, which is great: they speak French, English and, as the case may be, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Swedish or another language.) For the rest of Canada, not a whole lot will necessarily change either, as Pauline Marois, yes, will ask for a better fiscal balance between the federal government and provinces and, probably, for subsidies to fund projects in Quebec, but, really, there will be little difference between that and what Premier Jean Charest has done.
I really and strongly take issue with calling the Charter of the French language – better known as Bill 101 – ethnocentric, draconian and unfair. Yes, indeed, its stated purpose is to make French the only official language of Quebec and the language that is common to all people who live in Quebec. It was enacted in 1977 in order to repair the wrongs that had been suffered by the majority of Quebecers, who were French speakers, at the hands of English speakers, who were mathematically the minority but would act as though they were the majority up to that point. The government of Quebec, led at the time by René Lévesque, and many other Quebecers were very sceptical about the commitment, sincerity and willingness of English Canadians when it came to bilingualism in Canada. In fact, in the 1970s, official bilingualism did not stop the anglicisation of then-Hull (now Gatineau); the Charter of the French language did.
Now I realise that there is – currently – no law that curtails the rights of French speakers elsewhere in Canada and that there is – still currently – no active harassment against them either. (There actually was at some point, most notably in Ontario a hundred years ago, in the form of the infamous Regulation 17, but I digress… And I am not even going to talk about the hostile attitude that certain Albertans show as soon as they see a Quebec license plate or hear anyone speak French or speak English with a French or Quebecois accent.) Well, those who would like to see French disappear there, especially in Western Canada, only have to press provincial and municipal governments to do nothing to help French speakers exercise their rights; the crucial part of the work of assimilation was already carried out several decades ago and, now, all that they have to do in order for the assimilation of French speakers to continue its course through to the end is to follow the policy of ‘‘non-intervention’’ or indifference. I suspect that it is one of the main reasons as to why there is no such thing as the equivalent of Bill 101 for the English language in the rest of Canada: it would be unnecessary since the effect of the current policy really is the same… to a much greater degree.
There are many more points that I could make yet, but I am going to conclude with this. Actually, I am probably going to repeat myself, but, apparently, such an explanation still has not sunk in with certain people on this forum. So, Mr. Cameron says that many (English) Canadians are already upset because of official bilingualism and, especially, the fact that a number of French Canadians do make a good point of demanding French service in major airports in Canada, for instance. Well, I do not understand how they can be so outraged since they have actually not even put nearly as much effort into learning the other official language as French Canadians have. To those who complain that French speakers alone take the lion’s share of jobs in the federal public service, I say that French speakers cannot be blamed if they did what they had to do in order to meet this hiring criterion as well as all the other ones while English Canadians would generally show that they did not care to learn French. So, for several decades, they have let French speakers carry the better part of the burden of official bilingualism and shown little goodwill in that respect and, now, they complain that they cannot work in the public service or in other sectors where the knowledge of both English and French is deemed necessary. (Actually, not all jobs or even all top positions in the federal public service are designated bilingual, far from it, and most of them are actually held by unilingual English speakers, but I suppose that it is beside the point…)
Oh, I am sorry, but I have almost forgotten to tackle yet one more issue, namely that of religious symbols. As far as I know, they will only be banned in public buildings and, especially, government offices. However, there is one thing, I am afraid, that Cory Cameron fails to understand: in certain cases, two different categories of human rights can clash. I am talking specifically about religious rights and women’s rights or, more to the point, the opposition between exercising one’s rights as a Muslim by wearing a hijab, a burqa or a niqab (for a woman) and exercising one’s rights as a woman by refusing to be forced in any way – be it by her husband, by other people in her family or by a mullah – to have to do something that men get out of doing. Personally, I would rather choose the latter, I think that this is what the Parti Québécois will do if Pauline Marois indeed becomes the next Premier of Quebec tomorrow and I believe that it is the right thing to do.
So, yes, considering all of this, people on this forum will not be surprised to hear that I shall be happy if the Parti Québécois wins the election, especially if this party gets to form a majority government, will they? Good night!