CFN– It was a campaign of strong rhetoric from PQ leader Pauline Marois. With just over 30% of the popular vote she earned a minority government and had her first assassination attempt all in one night marring the success of having Quebec’s first female Premier.
Hate politics are not new or unique to Quebec. They usually come in tough economic times, but always have an impact and effect with the public.
More anecdotes are coming to light of people being attacked for speaking English.
I had that happen to myself while living in Quebec years ago and while rare instances they are usually shrugged off as meaningless, but when you’re born in a place and told that you aren’t one of “them” enough it get’s weird.
Video of the Shot
Richard Henry Bain, nabbed as the alleged shooter shouted.
“the English are rising up,” and “there’s going to be fu***ng payback.”
Quebec needs to talk and listen more. Yell and scream less. We need politics that unite people and work together all across the world. The politics of hate and intolerance have a history of only one thing; suffering and blood.
Man Yelled at for Speaking English in Montreal!
This is the slippery slope. This is what happens when you institutionalize injustice. This is what happens when you ignore the charter and wiggle under the “not withstanding” clause.
When people lose their faith in the integrity of justice and fairness they make up rules as they go. When others tolerate them chaos breaks out like cracks in a dam with little trickles until towns get washed away.
At some point Quebec has to make some big decisions. The good news is that Quebecer’s didn’t so much vote for Ms Marois and her policies as they did more to chuck out Jean Charest.
Even though I’m one of those Quebecers that gave up and left la belle province doesn’t mean I don’t hold hope that one day it will regain its sanity and start to move forward again and realize that everyone is part of the culture of Quebec; not just a quaint dream of a time that has long passed by.
Culture and people change all over the World. You can’t hide. And with Social media today anyone with a phone can expose people’s hate and ignorance.
The question is what are YOU going to do when you see it?
You can post your comments below.
Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News
(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)
In a New Brunswick school, for example, out of 300 immersion graduates only 2 (two) attained full bilingual certificate.
Governments should NOT force people to learn language they do NOT want.
Patrick, seems to me assimilation is not only way here….LOL
Ontario puts in over 1.4 billion to french school boards plus the immersion programs. Since we have leagal right to mobility, people should use the right and get to where the education is that they want. People move for jobs, and many move to a new geographical area for college or university.
It is kind of like moving to within 3 streets of the airport then complaining because you do not have the same quiet as 20 KM away….
Don’t get me wrong, a school is better then no school. Seems to me your kinda favoring english schools cause you think that there are no english speaking individuals in immersions schools…well, your wrong on that. Immersion programs are full of good teachers, excellent workers…favoring programs that are unilingual is kinda of pointless. When one program offers more…why would you favor another that offers less.
At 1.24 billion, it is allot of money. It could be better spent. It is just not right that a 5 year old would be in a bus for 1 hour a day to go to school, what some parents are doing is just looking at the closer school…chances are its an english school and parents regardless of language will say… I’ll send my kid to a closer school and save 5 hours a week.
-¨Since we have leagal right to mobility, people should use the right and get to where the education is that they want. People move for jobs, and many move to a new geographical area for college or university.¨ Good argument for bilingualism…and a good argument to invest more for our childrens education.
NO good argument to push bilingualism,its already too costly .
If Quebec were bilingual then ROC could ,but we cannot have it both ways otherwise its French only .
Québec is already more bilingual then the rest of Canada. Id say less then 1 % of Canada’s national budget is not too costly. Since it would benefit more then 20..if not 30 % of Canada’s population.
Patrick yes of course English kids are in French Immersion schools, that is why they exist. Hard to understand why parents of French speaking children register their kids in French Immersion schools though. And it because of this, that even the receptionist in Immersion Schools (which were created for the English child) must speak French..When will they really look at what is happening. There you go with your comment “favoring programs that are unilingual is kinda of pointless” yes Patrick like I said before, some of you think we are stupid for doing that to our children. But how is that different from yours attending French only schools, when and what subjects to they take in English Patrick, seems to me that your comment “favoring programs that are unilingual is kind of pointless” suits that scenario too don’t you think.
This never ending BS is really tiresome. Most immigrants to Quebec learn at least three languages…English, French, and what ever they spoke before arriving. In Europe, most people are fluent in two or three languages if they want to be successful (decent job). I can’t imagine living in Quebec, and expecting a decent life without learning to converse in French. What is so scary or repulsive about learning a second language? Take a tour through northern Ontario and into Manitoba. You’ll hear lots of French being spoken. This is Canada, folks, and like it or not, the French language and the French people are a big part of it.
Do you have English immersion schools for francophones in Quebec, Patrick? LOL
WHy would you need english immersion when you could cross the street and hear english..while you can’t say the same of the french language. If your in alberta, saskatchewan, manitoba, british-colombia, or even parts of ontario, you might be lynched if you speak french. You need and french is a harder language to learn then english…english has the advantage of being the international language…and it doesn’t have nearly as many grammatical exceptions. IF you put some effort into it…you can learn french…but as admin said, anglos don’t owe us that curtesy.. he would let the language die.. its ok if the french learn then language…but if the same is asked of the english…oh NO!!! god forbid.
This is why there is this whole language debate…a small percentage of anglos just don’t get it. Because most francophones learn english…to some anglos, that means they don’t have to learn french. Curtesy goes a long way…
(even with la loi 101, of which education wise it doesn’t restrict anglo Quebecers from attending anglo schools. As I have said before you can achieve great success in Quebec and be unilingual anglo..the president of la caisse de dépot, the mayor of bay durfé were all unilingual anglo…any other unilingual francophone that you know that achieved great success from a province other then Québec. )
“If your in alberta, saskatchewan, manitoba, british-colombia, or even parts of ontario, you might be lynched if you speak french”
Please! Really Patrick? Hyperbolize much??
~~~
“but as admin said, anglos don’t owe us that curtesy.. he would let the language die..”
Again, really? what colour is the sky in your world?
~~~~
And this is why it is pointless to argue with you. You are just making it up as you go along. You accused me and many others, of saying things we didn’t to bolster your argument, and now you are just making things up and demanding that we believe them as fact. Just stop!
PS. No offence, but this is killing me because it is my mother tongue, and I struggled to learn all the rules and spellings and uses, but “your” is of you or yourself, “you’re” is you are. I know there are a lot of subtle little tics in the language that are hard to pick up, but if you take your time you can pick it up by “when you could cross the street and hear english.” Please, stop insulting my culture and and my brain, and use it properly.
Yep….while reading an article this AM about Bain the english man that killed a man in Quebec and injured a few others while being arrested was yelling “the english are waking up” Hmmm wondering where I read that before? Sounds familiar. How pathetic is that?
Ed absolutely right, we will all need to learn a third language soon. The go getters will do what must be done in order to get the better paying jobs, while others will watch the parade go by and later cry discrimination when they are turned down for jobs.
@Ed RE: September 9, 2012 at 8:08 pm POST
Highland already addressed your post and said it best with his comment in this post.
“NO good argument to push bilingualism, its already too costly.
If Quebec were bilingual then ROC could (maybe), but we cannot have it both ways otherwise it’s French only.” (i added the “maybe”)
And, RE:
“What is so scary or repulsive about learning a second language?”
–
Nothing, as long as i am not “forced” into it just to be able to run to be the Prime Minister of my own country which is 90% ENGLISH. something definitely “SCARY and REPULSIVE” about that.
AND…
@Patrick Boucher RE: September 10, 2012 at 3:47 am POST
Patrick said, “you can achieve great success in Quebec and be uni-lingual Anglo.”
Really? I guess that depends on how you define “great success” doesn’t it. I highly doubt you could be premier of Quebec without speaking French. And, as for “the premier” and the idea that they MUST be bilingual or know English to accommodate the English in Quebec — P. Marois — I rest my case.
And good luck with any retail or commercial jobs as well.
Heck, they even have trouble with the Canadian flag in that Province.
–
Anyways, nuff said. Have a good day all and … Just a reminder. Be sure to check out the September video…
Available at http://youtu.be/QnPIt2Vc_4Q
Why add the “English man” to the blurb? He lives in and has a business in Quebec and speaks French. Maybe you or he are confused with the “red coats are coming”….which may or may not have been said by Paul Revere. He should have said, the blue house coats are coming….LOL
Why do we have to learn a 3rd language? All that does is distract, besides, the discrimination is already going on.
Sorry folks. Problem with September video. Working on fix now.
September video fixed (i hope) … Enjoy
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http://youtu.be/q9Z-5CzrKQg
Bella if all you can only come up with a criticism of my grammar…then thank you YOUR saying i’m right. Because of a lack of rebuttal on facts or a coherent argument, YOUR RE reply is basically telling me..you can’t come up with an intelligent one therefore I’m right. Again…thanks
Kilroy, Did you read my post. I provided 2 examples of 2 great persons that achieved great success… AND they are unilingual, google them if you don’t believe me. The mayor of bay durfé Québec…and the former head of one of the most powerful financial institutions in Québec, la Caisse de Dépôt, are both unilingual anglo. Nothing wrong with that…now, can you name me 2 individuals, unilingual french from outside Québec, that achieved great success.
Ed for your information, I used to think it was a great idea to learn another language and it is exactly what I did but guess what, it wasn’t good enough Ed. So you see I wasn’t about to do the same to my children. What was it all for is where I am coming from. I realize now that you don’t learn French just to have a second language here in Canada, you learn French to serve the French speaking population of Canada and that’s the problem. Because you never speak French well enough to pass the test to serve this population. You must see from posts here that if it your French isn’t perfect then it is no good at all. Jeune Swissess said it all in her post. So you are right, this never ending BS is really tiresome.
Rosie good point .
It up to the culture to maintain that language not to institutionalize it and mandate for all for those coveted positions .
For this only serves ONE CULTURE.
And that Patrick is why you are such a poor debater. Have you no comment on the rest of my post? Can you defend yourself and your comments? Or is it easier just to cherry pick and hyperbolize?
@Patrick. Yes, I did read your post but, as I said in “MY” post, it all depends on how one defines “great” success. Sure there are “examples” like the ones you pointed out but again, “great success” may mean to some being Premier and THAT my dear Patrick would BE IMPOSSIBLE for an Anglophone in that “province” that is run by what amounts to a fascist regime. You know the one… The “province” of Quebec.
Now, a French ONLY (for all intents and purposes) Premier in Quebec like P. Marois IS somehow COMPLETELY possible even though she lives in a country that has a dominant language called English.
As for “2 unilingual French individuals outside Quebec who achieved great success.”
How about, Nicolas Sarkozy (the French politician who served as the 23rd President of the French Republic). And uhmmmm… Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte. Hey, you didn’t say where from, or if they should still be alive. So there! Anything else you want me to look up for you?
Here’s one for you. (see next post)
@Patrick B.
Of course, this doesn’t apply quite as drastically because French is NOT a majority language (such a shame) and thus, that oh so poignant —
“hey, what the hell is going on? How can this tiny minority group be pushing us, the majority group around in this way?”
— feeling does not apply in quite the way it would if we were to add that undeniable abused feeling to this whole thing but, try to use your imagination a bit if you can. Here goes…
How would you feel if you, being among the imaginary majority, woke up and the city you worked in and lived in passed a law (let’s call it Bill 010) which stated that ALL the working people in your imaginary city were not “obligated” to speak to you in your imaginary majority language. No one AT ALL — NO ONE — Not at airports, or in Federal government, or public transit, or anywhere. AND, add to that this law also said that you could not display ANY of your countries majority/dominant language (which is your imaginary majority language also) on buildings, or vehicles or anywhere in your city without it being an offense punishable by fines of 6000.00 for first offence and up to 20 thousand for subsequent offences if you didn’t “reform your ways.” And add to that, most of your government MP’s cannot speak to you in your imaginary “majority” language. AND, last but not least add on the fact that this city of yours is in a country where by the people outside your city all speak “your” majority language but they don’t seem to be concerned that your city was doing this to you.
I know it’s a tough one but, can you dig deep and get any inkling of what that would feel like to someone who should have that feeling of hey, I am in the majority, how can this be happening? So… Did you feel it ? OK, well… If you did.. That would be how the English in the “province” of Quebec feel.
Either way, feel it or not Patrick, What the “province” of Quebec is doing can easily, on its lowest level, be viewed as frustratingly ridicules and on its highest level; it can be viewed as theeeeee most egregious form of fascism anyone has have ever heard of.
The fact is and always will be.. Language and culture CANNOT be legislated. It doesn’t work on ANY practical level.
Hey, have a nice day eh… And be sure to check out my new video at this link… http://youtu.be/q9Z-5CzrKQg
Oh my, I didn’t even add in the language police. I let you off easy 🙂
¨any other unilingual francophone that you know that achieved great success from a province other then Québec.¨
– From my first post… you knew what I meant, as far as I know..Sarkozy and napoleon arent canadians….you know that, you just being a …..
– Could be dead…and there have been 2 unilingual anglo premiers from quebec… (1) John Jones Ross
(2) Edmund James Flynn
– Kilroy are you serious, have you ever been to Québec ? The airport in Mirabel is fully bilingual, all of west island is mostly anglo…and on top of everything else..The english language is IN NO WAY limited in QUébec.. bill 101 protects the french language.. from assimilation… and it only slows down the process. In my opinion, I agree with marois..101 ..not strong enough.
Nicolas sarkozy and napoleon arent unilingual french…both of then can-could express themselves in english. SO THERE
Quebec is full of brown shirts. A man was attacked for speaking English at Jewish hospital.
http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10436569
@Patrick Boucher RE: September 10, 2012 at 7:35 pm POST
Nicolas sarkozy and napoleon arent unilingual french…both of then can-could express themselves in English. SO THERE.
Ha ha ha.. OK, you got me. I’ll give ya that one 🙂 It was basically just tongue in cheek humor. As you can tell i will never be in Montreal auditioning for the Just For Laughs festival.
John Jones Ross and Edmund James Flynn, unilingual anglo Premiers of Quebec? LMAO…Patrick, you are so uneducated. No such ever existed.
1) John J. Ross, 7th Premier of Quebec (1884-1887) – “Notwithstanding his father’s Scottish background, Ross was channelled towards his mother’s French Canadian traditions, which he adopted through his upbringing and education. Seen as a “French representative” by both English- and French-speaking Canadians, he professed a profound Catholic belief and a deep-rooted conservative outlook”.
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=41159
2) Edmund James Flynn, 10th Premier of Quebec (1896-1897) – “Bilingual and Roman Catholic, Edmund James studied at the Séminaire de Québec… and the Université Laval in Quebec City…”.
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=8139
@Patrick B. I have two posts for you today…
First…
Oh my good lord Patrick. Re: those two “English Premiers” you named as past Anglo Premiers of Quebec.
Edmund James Flynn (November 16, 1847 – June 7, 1927)
And
John Jones Ross, (August 16, 1831 – May 4, 1901)
Seeing the dates helps me realize why you don’t see what kind of grief this Bill 101 law of yours is causing our fellow English Canadian citizens who live in a “province” which is still within their own country, a country called CANADA.
I get it now… You must have completely slept through the quiet revolution and two (or was it three now?) failed referendums. A lot has happened since those two, as you called them “Anglo” premiers were in power back in the 1800’s/1900’s. You obviously must have also missed the mass exodus of approx. seven hundred and fifty thousand (that’s 750.000) people (mostly English) from that province as a result of those restrictive laws and the “province” being run as a fascist state by a few power hungry elitist who believe the “province” is there own little mini country.
That mass exodus, the “failed” referendum attempts by the French, and those wacky laws… Bill 22, and Bill 101 have fixed things now so that my statement is indeed a valid and correct one. That statement being, an English Premier in Quebec is and would be a total IMPOSSIBILITY at this juncture.
Also, on some level you surely MUST realize that your so called “protection law” works its “magic” at the expense of the freedoms and charter rights of other citizens of this country, nes pas?
@Patrick B.
And second…
Yes, I have been to Montreal Quebec. And, as I said in my previous posts, I grew up in Quebec but, not Montreal mind you. My mother was 100% French Canadian. This is where I get the — “stand up and speak out against injustices” — French blood from. (Shhh, don’t tell “them” I said this but, this is something I believe the English are lacking but desperately NEED.)
–
Anyways the thing is, this fear the French have of being assimilated is born from lack of confidence and a deep sense of insecurity about how wonderful the French culture and language truly is. I have lived it personally and although we all have our faults, I can vouch for the fact that there are many characteristics within the French culture that are AMAZING. (IE: The language (yes, it is quite nice), the food (which is downright scrumptious), the sense of political liberal fairness that tends to lean towards anti war and helping those less fortunate (a great asset) and of course, the one we cannot forget, their strong “stand up for what you believe in sense of being.” All things that no amount of legislation can “protect or save” as they are NOT (pardon the use of my own made up word) legislatable… And yes, there are other good traits but I don’t want to inflate your ego too much 🙂 Oh and please — DO NOT FORGET — I did also say, “we all have our faults.” And yes, that includes the French as well!!
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So, if the French simply trusted in, and showed confidence within these positives while attempting to put their insecurities aside, I honestly believe they could achieve the same goal of growing their numbers and staving off this so called, “assimilation” while doing so in a much more rewarding way that is a great deal less spiteful to those they are trying to outlaw —
(in this case all other ethnic groups AND the English)
— which is much better than using the current lack of confidence insecure restrictive laws method they are using now which only serves to inherently create a great divide and disdain for all the wonderful French traits I previously mentioned.
Just a thought.
Have a great day eh 🙂
The way I see it is its not for speaking english, its for telling a woman where to go…look at more then one news report.
Wow Helga: Ccan you believe this statement from above -now how ETHNOCENTRIC OF ANYONE TO STATE THIS .
The english language is IN NO WAY limited in QUébec.. bill 101 protects the french language.. from assimilation… and it only slows down the process. In my opinion, I agree with marois..101 ..not strong enough.
It is hard to believe how insecure the francophones are about their language and culture. They are in effect saying I don’t want to lose my precious French so I demand the whole country should speak it. None of the other ethnic peoples in this country do this. They are liked and far more respected than the French. I just wish the piece of land called Quebec could be erased or whited out from a map of Canada. I have had it.
Hey, at the least I proved that an anglo can be premier in the big bad province of Québec. Kilroy, Parles-tu français sans l’aide d’un engin de traduction? Es-tu capable de t’exprimer dans la langue de molière. Probably not ! You just proved me right again, your (you or you’re…I DON’T CARE) a victim of assimilation.
Kathy….french are insecure?? You must be kidding. Wondering who said “I demand the whole country speaks it” where on earth did you get that? Learning french is a personal choice….no one has to learn or speak it…but if you are wise, you will. Just a reminder, we live in Ontario which is part of a country that has two official languages….so get used to it.
Yap, yap, Patrick. And francos have never been Prime Ministers of Canada. Ever! Not one! LOL
Helga, couple of google searches does not an intelligent person make . WHen we say we need to protect the french language… your reply is..its not up to us to save it. You’re right!! We aren’t asking you to save it. Bill 101 simply protects the french language…is it stopping you from attending an english school ..nope, is it stopping you from putting up a bilingual sign ..nope. *granted there are exceptions to the rule like the french part has to be on top and much larger…but the sign is bilingual. So, before saying ohh those bad seperatists, they hate anglos..do you guys speak french ? Is the english language in decline in Canada ? Are you at least making an effort, are you at least offering curtesy to your fellow francophones by at least saying merci…à la prochaine. YOu don’t have to answer, jaime answered it for you guys.
Kathy said:
It is hard to believe how insecure the francophones are about their language and culture. They are in effect saying I don’t want to lose my precious French so I demand the whole country should speak it.
Absolutely ,We all pay the price because their culture is weak and they are unable to teach it to their children.
If we really concerned for a loss of language what about the aboriginals they were here first -why can we protect their language of which it truly is near extinct.
What a minute the government is only concerned with the ONE language to be protected !
Good point TIM,
That could be why our fine country is no longer fine , successive french Prime Ministers had only coddled Quebec.
We need to wean this parasite of a province off Mommy’s breast ,and let them make a go of it themselves …..Ya right their so broke they can’t afford to pay attention .
Canada has only enabled this parasite of a province to continue.
* Listen to the sounds of the crickets * Right Colleen!
Okie, Patrick. You protect your French language in Quebec (Loi 101) and we protect our English language in Canada (repeal OLA). Let’s two solitudes go their own separate ways.
@Patrick B. It never ceases to amaze me how “selective” you are with what questions you reply to, and also what information you deem to be applicable and relevant enough for your rebuttals and responses. You asked, “do I speak French?” Well, the answer is, yes, with a caveat. I “speak” French very well but I don’t write is so well. However, as a direct result —
(remember this “as a direct result” statement that I am making here as it will be important later on. And yes, there will be a test.)
— of all the injustices the French have been doing (IE: passing laws to diminish the rights of my fellow Canadians in the “province” of Quebec, treating my countries flag with disdain and little respect, pushing the majority English speaking people around by forcing “EVERYONE” to know a minority language in order to get jobs in their own province, and government (both levels). Not to mention the ROC paying for these “privileges” through hefty transfer payments to Quebec. I could go on and I am sure you will simply deny all of these “truths” in that “oh so familiar George Bush type, “(insert dumb Bush accent here) what? We never said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq” type of way, as you normally do. But, suffice to say, I have decided NOT to speak French to ANYONE anymore. Apart from a few “written words” here, in my opinion THEY do not deserve me making that effort anymore as they have abused my kindness and my trust … Oh and my pocket book for far too long now. And this is that test… READY? Think hard now… Why would you think I would decide not to speak French anymore? Tick tock, tick rock… Ding… Time’s up… It is as a “direct result” of what “THEY HAVE done.” No, I didn’t wake up in the morning and decide I was NOT going to speak French to ANYONE for NO REASON. I decided this as a “direct result” of what THEY HAVE done which has literally forced me to make this decision. THEIR radical anti English actions have FORCED ME …
– Done deal… No more “effort” given or deserved…
As for takign credit for “proving Anglo’s could be premier.” Do you think I don’t read other peoples posts.
Helga September 11, 2012 at 1:20 am proved you wrong with her post (which included links) … “John Jones Ross and Edmund James Flynn, uni-lingual Anglo Premiers of Quebec? LMAO…Patrick, you are so uneducated. — No such ever existed. — ”
–
She posted this shortly after I allowed you to win that one. It was easier than doing the research myself since it was something that really didn’t matter that much anyways as it was eons ago. (Still glad Helga did the research/foot work to prove you wrong though – Thanks Helga 🙂
Oh and, have a good day eh… Kilroydude… A proud Canadian…
@Patrick Boucher RE: September 11, 2012 at 7:39 pm POST
–
Helga Wrote, “its not up to us to save the French language”
Patrick B. Wrote, “We aren’t asking you to save it.”
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That is SOoooo true Patrick. Well done, you spoke the truth for once. You are right… You are NOT “asking” us to save it, you are “FORCING” us to save it. HUGE difference … This is done through manipulation and laws which force the ROC to spend our 90% to 10 % ratio of tax money on French only this and French only that and millions of dollars for schools for 16 people. Not to mention HUGE transfer payments which are manipulated so Quebec gets more of the already HUGE chunk they get before they manipulate things. Isn’t it wonderful Patrick. All this “forced” spend spend spend… on the French… Bzzzttttt … NOT !!! I know.. you have a completely different view of all of this but, guess what? You’re wrong.
Have a nice day eh… 🙂
@Helga RE: September 11, 2012 at 9:48 pm POST
– Helga wrote,
“Okie, Patrick. You protect your French language in Quebec (Loi 101) and we protect our English language in Canada (repeal OLA). Let’s two solitudes go their own separate ways.”
–
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, and yes, and ah hemmm yes yes, and yes again… Did i give the impression that this is a great post? Woooo hooooooo… If not then i say it OUT LOUD YET AGAIN… YESSSSSSSsssssssssss… Perfect idea and great post Helga.
This is a great plan… There’s an inherent, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” sense of fairness and equity in this idea. However, they will reject this kind of idea with the same selfish, one sided egocentric mentality which allowed them to pass a law saying Quebec is uni-lingual while pushing laws for the ROC to be totally bilingual. Within a country that has been forced by the French to brand itself to the rest of the world as a bilingual “COUNTRY.” Guess they need to be versed in the definition of the phrase “the “country of Canada is bilingual.” The audacity is just beyond belief.
.french are insecure?? You must be kidding. Wondering who said “I demand the whole country speaks it” where on earth did you get that? Learning french is a personal choice….no one has to learn or speak it…but if you are wise, you will. Just a reminder, we live in Ontario which is part of a country that has two official languages….so get used to it.
Stella, I will never get used to it. It was put out by trudeau, under cover by the way, to make this a French nation thereby marginalizing English speaking people who are of a multitude of ethnic backgrounds and who are Canadians. I will not and many more will not learn French, a minority language in North America, to satisfy the whims of trudeau and every Quebec politician today.
I would rather fight back against the injustice of forced frenchification of my country which has a British history. A history that many French want to destroy. As the Quebecois, as they call themselves would prefer not to have English speakers around or Canada attached to their borders, I fail to understand why we should entertain any attempts at bilingualism at all.
You support your province as part of a country and support the language of another province that does not support your province or your language. hhmmmmm
Kilroy, en ne parlant pas français, tu me donnes raison, Tu as perdu une partie de ta culture.
– What you don’t get is the english language is in NO WAY threatened. Not even in Québec, as i have proven, anglos have achieved great success in Québec and will continue to do so. Transfer payments, what if Québec kept all their tax revenue. If they became sovereign …they would do fine. But, that is not what I want.
Most of us are doing fine, could we do with a little more in our pocket, maybe. It is It is not only dumb, but borderline lunacy, to blame our debt, to blame the fact that you can’t get employment in your field on bilingualism. At less then 1 % of the national budget…you have to come up with a better excuse then that. Try and blame the weather.
Now I’m not going to ramble on like you with baseless facts because I actually work for a living and have neither the time or the interest to prove you wrong for the 100th time.
Patrick, we are bored to death “to prove you wrong for the 100th time”, as well. So keep defending your French language (Loi 101) and we will keep defending our English language (by repealing OLA). Let’s two solitudes go our separate ways.
Why on earth should I learn French if I already speak 3 other international languages? That does not make any sense in our officially multicultural country of Canada.
Patrick ……voila!!! You nailed it good this time, like you have so many times before. At this point it is a waste of time, waste of energy and hopeless to debate with people who have a personal agenda and want to conquer and divide. Ills ne veulent rien savoir, pourquoi perdre notre temps?
Stellababy and patrick. You both are right. It’s useless to debate with you who have a personal agenda and want to take a silly revenge over what happened 450 years ago on the Plains of Abraham.
As Helga said, let’s two solitudes go their separate ways. You keep defending your French language (Loi 101) and we will keep defending our English language (by repealing OLA).
@Patrick Boucher Re: September 12, 2012 at 3:54 pm POST
You need to re-read my post Patrick. I clearly said I “choose” not to speak or write in French. It was not something I “lost.”
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As for “Quebec doing fine if they kept all their tax revenue.” That is a pipe dream Patrick. Wake up, Patrick… Wake up… You must be sleeping…
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As for Quebec becoming sovereign, I say go. Get it over and done with. And yes, you MAY be doing fine financially but that is in great measure because of the ROC. What IS unbelievable is that you don’t even recognize that “fact.”
@Patrick Boucher Re: September 12, 2012 at 3:54 pm POST
Patrick said, “What you don’t get is the English language is in NO WAY threatened.” That’s fine Patrick. I “DO” get it but repeating it ad nauseam accomplishes nothing. We also get that the French are threatened by assimilation. However, just like when the population of the wolves up north was threatened by humans wiping them out (comparing “just the concept” to the French situation) we saw what happened when humans re-inserted the wolves into the food chain and artificially protect there small numbers for a few years. Guess what happened? They grew from a small group to such large group that they had begun to take over yet again and a new cull had to be ordered just to bring the population back to a manageable state. Sound familiar? If not, I will spell it out for you. Generally speaking, the only people that care about the French NOT being wiped out or assimilated IS THE FRENCH themselves. And, with their numbers being so low they literally have had to FORCE others (like the English in the ROC) into taking up their cause. But, guess what? We don’t CARE to continue being forced into championing a cause that is increasingly becoming more and more detrimental to our own livelihoods and well being. We are fed up with beating that old and tattered drum for the benefit OF THE FRENCH just so they can take over the ROC one day. Just as they have done with the “province” of Quebec, using those oh so infamous fascist laws.
I take this opportunity to insert this poignant quote that should seriously be pondered by ALL Anglo’s reading this…
It revolves around a conversation a French host was having with a Mr. Kim Abbott at a restaurant overlooking the Plains of Abraham. The words of his Quebec host: “You won the battle, Mr. Abbott, but you lost the war.
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And here’s the kicker…
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Your mistake Mr. Abbott was to give us our language and our religion.
I can assure you that once we regain power we will not make that same mistake.”
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Seriously, do you honestly think ANYONE in their right mind wishes to continue assisting in their own demise in this way? The answer is a resounding, NO. Do you think the Caribou up North that were being eaten to the point of annihilation by the ever growing number of wolf packs were happy that humans had assisted in carefully protecting their original small numbers to a point that saw their population grow to that highly threatening level? If they could, I am sure those caribou would answer a resounding, NO as well. The “moral of the story?” If you can save yourselves on your own merit, then fine. Good on ya’s. But, be aware, no matter what info you deny here, and no matter how much info you choose to ignore here, one thing is for certain. The majority of Canadians are getting wise to this charade “out there in the real world” and the days of forcing the ROC to pay for, (through shady accounting deceptions) and continue to help you with “your cause,” are coming to an end.
Oh and, remember … Have a nice day eh 🙂