Cornwall Council Losing Support
Cornwall City Council could NOT do a better job of losing support from those in the community. City Council has done a wonderful job of letting down so many in the community and this year’s budgeting process is no better!
Here is a short list of those who may feel slighted and/or left wanting more from our current Council and Mayor:
- Cornwall Community Hospital – We need an MRI machine and due to the large funding initiatives brought forward for the construction and renovation of the Hospital the community could not afford to give anymore. If council would have seen that the community was going to be affected by the recession and that the government was going to soon reduce transfer payments then it could have easily have afforded to support the hospital further by donating to ensure Cornwall gets an MRI machine! I love the Benson Centre but it blows my mind to see how much we spend on a hockey arena vs. health care! …But then again nothing surprises me with this council! This council has the potential to perform anywhere in between Amazing and WTF……unfortunately I find myself saying WTF far too often!
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- Language Fairness for All – Although I fully agreed with supporting the hospital and not for withdrawing or holding on to funds. Council could have communicated better and tried to find common ground and have supported both sides of the debate instead of one! Politically speaking these are very difficult times but nothing is impossible if believe and strive to achieve the goal! Sometimes getting involved behind the scenes and bringing two sides together is easier than you would have thought! However, staying neutral and doing nothing may reduce risk and work but you will be never become great unless you work harder than everyone else!
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- Cornwall Free News – after creating a special bylaw stating that it would not advertise with any on-line media firm who allows anonymous post; Cornwall continued to spend money with all its current media outlets but one (The Cornwall Free News); who allowed anonymous post! Why?
Only one logical reason would explain this action, the Cornwall Free News had placed articles and posted questions that highlighted or made the community aware of certain things the Mayor and Council wanted to hide behind closed doors!
- The General Public – Council Andre Rivette won a small battle vs. the rest of council and more importantly the Mayor by proving that the Mayor was out of line when he allowed councillors to attack him personally in a closed door meeting! The general public where angered and unfortunately not a single councillor other than Mr. Rivette even addressed the public.
Why, in an effort to remain transparent, where council and the clerk not informing the public of closed door meetings? Is this not mandatory or at least shouldn’t it be if you truly want to be transparent? Was this intentional and more importantly why? Should you be ostracized for asking these questions?
Why didn’t anyone on council make an attempt to respond – ex. “Council (I) would like to thank you for attending but unfortunately we cannot discuss any details at this time. We (I) would like to ensure you that we (I) are acting accordingly and cannot answer any direct questions to protect the integrity and relationships with all of those involved! When council has further information we will provide you with as much detail as possible!”……………………………Oh, wait I forgot! You would have to care and put some effort forward to do something as frugal as a proper media release! Wait don’t we pay someone to do this? Why are we paying someone to respond for our elected municipal councillors? Do they not get paid to perform as a politician? Can we cut costs by eliminating the position?
- Leslie O’Shaughnessy – Resigned after he could NOT deal with all of the scrutiny involved with so many closed door meetings……….or so we think! We were promised a reason from Leslie a long time ago but to this day Mr. O’Shaughnessy has not released anything! I respect his decision to step away from such a regressive council but he must realize his supporters deserve answers! Good Luck Leslie and I hope eliminating the work load and stresses of the position have improved your quality of life!
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- The Cornwall Community Action Group – Was formed by a leadership of Gerry Benson, Sandy Cameron, Dr. Michel Dubuc, Roy Perkins and a few others. The group claims that City Council has burdened the community with high taxes and claims that our community would benefit from a tax freeze or reduction in the tax levy. Currently we are going to see a big tax increase and despite the advertised tax rates we are paying more than the 2.9% advertise! A few years ago our average assessed home was near the $100,000 mark and now we sit around $160,000!
Due to increased assessments and continuous tax rate increases, the burden to the tax payer constantly rises unless the tax rate is decreased! Please do not be confused by this since it is very simple! Your assessed value of your home times the tax rate gives us your property taxes (not including education, water and other taxes)! If your house assessment continues to rise and the tax rate did not change (or saw a 0% rise – this is what would be advertised) you would still pay more in taxes!
Ex. 2010 – $100,000 (assessed home value) x .018 (Tax Rate) – $1,800
2011 – $120,000 (assessed home value) x .018 (Tax Rate) – $2,160
2012 – $140,000 (assessed home value) x .018 (Tax Rate) – $2,520
In a perfect world council would maintain and look for savings by holding division managers to tight budgets and ensure the community is not over burdened with taxes! Ensure our Seniors and less fortunate do not need to visit the AGAPE or use Ontario Works as frequently and continuously work to reduce the number of people on assistance by ensuring our quality of life and employment is better than any other community!
South Stormont vs. South Glengarry
Congratulations to South Glengarry for showing true brilliance! If there is no problem present then there is no need to address a negative and (for lack of a better term) useless proposal!
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Although, South Stormont had a different amendment they still didn’t catch such a clearly stated point in South Glengarry! Due to Robert’s Rules of Order you cannot reaffirm a current position and also negative positions such as “Not Mandate” are clearly out of order!
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Here is why: You cannot reaffirm a bylaw or position. What if it loses? Then you have a motion with no solution. A motion must be to make a change! Furthermore, it cannot bind future councils therefore cannot state what people cannot support! For example a sign bylaw can state dimensions and can state what languages it must be written in but cannot say that no future council can ever change the bylaw. Also, if there is no bylaw stating which language must be written on signs then you are FREE to do as you please!
Mr. Galganov wasted supporter’s money by not properly preparing nor presenting a suitable motion to council……………………..but really the only people upset with this:
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1) The Hospital Protesting Language Activist and
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2) Everyone else because we are sick of hearing this small group complain about Quebec and other counties!!!!! Stick to our current issues and trying to provide valid solutions to improve our community!
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Change the things you feel are wrong by going to those communities and stop wasting tax payers dollars by tying up our Council’s who obviously have more important things to do after coming out of a recession and staring a potential new one in the face!
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Thank You,
Mike Bedard
(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.)
Many good points that you have made regarding CCH & City Council but not factual in telling people that languagefairnessforall.org was encourage people not to give donations,LFA & CLF have stated only to those who were not donating already to call in & tell them why.
Also very disappointing to have South Glengarry not protect my freedom of expression & decide to take the coward,s way out…but hey! another election is coming before you know it
Didn’t we already hold a couple campaigns held for an MRI machine? The latest being in 2012, with a mandate to raise 3.5 million by the end of 2012? What is the status of that endeavor?
Did you read my post how to successfully build and maintain a hospital as is currently being carried out in Oakville? Cornwall is nothing more then a future white elephant just as the Complex and Transport Training Center ( NavCan) has become. It is for the same exact reason on all occasions. Small town minds with very little global experience. It is the Kaneb legacy which still infests the positive growth of Cornwall.
Good health is often easier to attain by good life practices. The Benson center is used to capacity is a great start to maintaining your health and hopefully minimizing the need for health care. It could be considered a future Endeavour on our health care system. It’s a trade off of sorts, but you need to look a little further ahead Mike.
Besides money spent on health care comes from a different coffer then Brownfield improvements or municipal infrastructure. The city could have used the government funds on Brownfield redevelopment for the Benson Center.
Your second comment seems to be a political stance without a solution. The unfortunate fact is at times you do need to pick a side and stand by it. Some may not agree with it but it must be done to make a situation work. The results or solutions should be what are best for the greater good, not the minority in order to keep only a few happy and your position in the community. We have always been a bilingual community and only recently with the globalization craze do we see municipal issues on such a out of proportion scale. How did the French ever survive since the hospital began?
CFN, I like this site and the tenacity with which they bring the news. It has been my experience that many news stories are often guided by sentiment and personal opinion and it is no different here. How ever here they choose a side and ask a direct question, something most people fear! Keep up the good work!
I think the tax concerns here are the raise in rates and no improvement in services. I believe most people wouldn’t mind paying as much if they seen what they are getting for their taxes.
As for the assessed value, If I put my home on the market at the assessed value, 200,000 and can only sell it for say 185,000 can I receive the over paid taxes for the duration of the latest assessment?
Hello good citizens of Cornwall,
There continues to be those of us who speak up when we see something wrong and those who support the wrongdoers. There is nothing new in this fact and tenet of human history. For in any human transaction, communication or dealings, there are those generally with something to gain and those who have something to lose. This factor has been, continues to be and will continue to be for generations to come. It’s part of our competitive makeup…
Language Fairness for All, Canadians for Language Fairness and Howard Galganov and supporters have been fighting what we believe to be some very frightening loss of civil liberties that have taken place in the last few years in our regions. In 4 municipalities within Ontario, the unrestricted use of languages are now considered illegal whereby business owners cannot post something in the language of their choice. In whatever language they chose to post something in, they have to ensure that at least it is posted in both English and French; never mind the language(s) they would like to see it posted in.
In addition to this, for those unilingual English or unilingual French job applicants; your merits will be sidelined and seconded and in it’s place the selection criteria will be based on how well you speak, read or write in both English or French. Now imagine this scenerio. You may be either unilingual English, unilingual French or even considered bilingual with the potential of having decades of experience in your chosen field but will always lose out to someone who may have more fancy and flowery language skills in the interview. In other words, they may not have as much experience as you but if they sound like they know what they are talking about = chances are they will win out in an interview over you who may have more experiece and/or schooling.
It’s ironic. Most of us in society are the have-nots who are exposing those in their ivory towers and calling them on their positions of power and are asking ourselves and them if they are deserving of their status. These power-brokers may very well be not deserving of their privileged positions in society but when challenged by the people they represent – they then in turn demonize the challengers rather than supporting their own arguments. These are classic cases of avoidance type behaviour on their behalf. The basic response patterns from those that follow this train of thought are as follows: Why would I bother to support my own position or take on an issue when I can instead take the pressure off of myself by demonizing my opponent’s viewpoints through such things as character assassination.
Sound familiar?
In a healthy democracy, the more viewpoints that are offered and alternative solutions that are pointed out the better the state of affairs for both the governors and the governed.
There are currently pockets of people in Cornwall and surrounding area who are tired of being fed the same dish, day in and day out. For decades these people have been putting up with and have accepted; the performance of leadership from politicians and community leaders who have shown a lacklustre approach to issues affecting us all for which we have all been the unlucky recipients of.
This is the year 2013 and in the last year people have gotten off the couch; have turned off the reality t.v and have instead opted to take an active approach in issues directly affecting their own reality. This has been done by taking part in protests, attending community oriented information sessions, signing petitions, attending City Council meetings, you name it, people have been showing up. And in Cornwall, this type of thing is just unheard of!
Zombies no more, concerned citizens are now beginning to do their part in the democratic process.
Cory
Mariah they did as much as they could. The resolution presented to Council was not only out of order but it provided NO protection. The presented resolution was totally useless … and out of order.
Mariah nobody has taken your rights away, you have the same rights you had yesterday.
What you do with them is your choice
@mariah….When someone goes on air and tells people to call the hospital and tell them why they are not donating……is that not a leading statement?
Why even bring donations into the equation if her true intention was not to impede the funding? The vice-president, **smile** by her statement was, in fact encouraging people in an indirect way, not to donate……..whether you admit or not is irrelevant.
Why does everything have to be so damm complicated.
A resolution cannot be negative. This can’t happen on a sunday unless the moon is at a 45 degree angle from the point of the horizon.
If we do this here, because of that over there then motion is a non-starter, but on Wednesday evenings only
GIVE ME A BREAK. What the hell happened to:
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID:
We want to chosse the right to put up a sign in any lagugage we please, and want to have this on the record and make it a law in SG.
Not, no by-law exists so put up any sign you want. Garbage.
We Wnat it on the record and to make sure EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT THE COUNCIL HAS SUPPOTED THE PEOPLE’S WILL BY ENSHIRING IT IN LAW.
What the hell is so damm hard about that?”
Leo
cory wrote: Why would I bother to support my own position or take on an issue when I can instead take the pressure off of myself by demonizing my opponent’s viewpoints through such things as character assassination.
yep….you got that right for once. The english freedom fighters have been bashing the french for a year now because of our culture. This country has always been a loving peaceful country……the envy of the world until this nonsense started by a few disgruntled people who want to rule.
Mike wrote: we are sick of hearing this small group complain about Quebec and other counties!!!!! Stick to our current issues and trying to provide valid solutions to improve our community!
Absolutely!!! Like I said many times…..who cares about Quebec and what they do in that province…….only the freedom fighters care because they think they want to rule.
@ stella,
can you please give examples of people bashing the french?
Canada’s dirty little secret ( bill 101) ,allowing the anglos of quebec to be second and third class citizens in their own country ,is out of the bag.
A business associate of mine, met the CEO of a large internatioasl US firm, in Calgary.
He was in montreal and treated as a typical anglo is treated in montreal, by the so called public servants.
transit employees , he encountered, police officiers to ask directions and the like.
He was so disgusted by the treatment he received, because he was English, that he sent a memo to all of his subsideries in the US and non francophone Canadian cities, to stay out of quebec, unless it was absolutely necessary and business purposes only, if that.
he also was looking at moving his division out of montreal and seriously re-locating to Europe.
Stella, the word is out, canada has allowed this type of behaviour against anglophones to go on far too long in quebec, the world is taking note.
Yiu can’t hide or push this type of behaviou under the rug, in mane of language purity forever. The law of averages catch up.
Just one of a very long list of stories that are never published, but that exist
leo
@leo
If you want to keep it simple then don’t create useless bylaws. Imagine a bylaw that said:
You may use any language you want.
You may use any colours you want.
You may use imperial or metric measurements.
You may use the 24 hour or 12 hour clock when noting time.
etc etc etc
OMG this would be a long and useless bylaw. Instead South Glengarry doesn’t have a bylaw at all. THAT’S what we should be fighting for, not more bylaws.
stellabystarlight
January 16, 2013 at 12:30 pm
“@mariah….When someone goes on air and tells people to call the hospital and tell them why they are not donating……is that not a leading statement?”
Finally you said it Stella rather then create propaganda from the statement .
You have over and over and over propagandized that LFA told people not to donate ,so whats the sudden change?
FEEDBACK Stella FEEDBACK is what its called if I were a business and customers were not happy ,I would appreciate FEEDBACK in order to keep my customers happy.
stellabystarlight
January 16, 2013 at 12:39 pm
“The english freedom fighters have been bashing the french for a year now because of our culture. This country has always been a loving peaceful country……the envy of the world until this nonsense started by a few disgruntled people who want to rule.”
First of all Stella if you want to call us freedom fighters that’s fine but it is you that is creating the bashing .
We do not fight the french culture but the Governmental Discriminatory hiring practices ,you would prefer to make it a cultural thing ,but its not.
Equality in hiring is what we ask for no more no less ,have merit as it should be ,considered first.
And propagandizing that a few disgruntled people to rule?WOW delusional , or do you really believe your own propaganda ?
Oh ya ***S***
leo…..what don’t you understand? Nobody cares what goes on in Montreal but you guys, the world english freedom fighters…..got that?
This is Ontario. If you live in Quebec, then deal with it there.
NOBODY CARES……comprends-tu? Si tu besoin d’autres explication, je suis laisse moi savoir **smile**
typo….si tu as besoin d’autres explications, laisse moi savoir…**smile**
Don’t worry Stella. These apoplectic freedom-fighters will likely burn themselves out fairly quickly. They can’t stay p!ssed off with the world forever without running into health issues.
John Macdonald, perfect, great idea, lets canvas the 4 eastern Ontario townships to remove sign bylaws associated with language!
“Instead South Glengarry doesn’t have a bylaw at all. THAT’S what we should be fighting for, not more bylaws.”
Hailey re-read my post ,I never said my rights had been taken away
All of a sudden Ed, Stella and John are singing the praises of South Glengarry Council for not passing a By-Law protecting Freedom of Expression.
Why then do you guys support the By-Laws calling for the forced bilingual usage of English and French in the other 4 Ontario Municipalities when others speak out against forced language usage on signs?
This seems like an Oxymoron to me?
John writes:
“OMG this would be a long and useless bylaw. Instead South Glengarry doesn’t have a bylaw at all. THAT’S what we should be fighting for, not more bylaws.”
Then why do you and your cohorts come on here and violently support By-Laws restricting the use of language in Russel?
That’s strange, indeed.
@Cory
1 Quote me on supporting one of the bilingual signage bylaws. Just a note, you won’t be able to because I never have.
2 There was no request made for South Glengarry to pass a bylaw there was a request to pass a resolution and the resolution provided ZERO protection to freedom of expression. It was a TOTALLY USELESS resolution.
Unbelievable!
Stella,
“Nobody cares what goes on in Montreal but you guys, the world english freedom fighters…..got that?”
No, I for one don’t get your statement, Stella? How could it only be us who cares what goes on in Montreal?
I think there are millions of people in Montreal and the rest of Canada who do care what goes on there.
You have stated repeatedly on these blogs that you don’t care what happens outside of your backyard.
Then, explain to us why would you care so much about what happens in the four Ontario municipalities and their By-Laws to comment repeatedly on them in support of them and to waste so much of your time doing so; if well, in your own words, “you don’t care”?
It seems to be you would be quite the firecracker indeed if you did care, Stella!
Cory
Having worked in Montreal for 6 years, I can assure the general population of Quebec is fed up with the French Language laws.
Most could care less and only wish to earn a viable living. But you do have a large amount of separatists and of that group most do not understand the ramifications of their deeds and desires.
If you visit restaurants and clubs all can speak English and for the most part they do. If you walk the streets and the under ground malls you hear a selection of both languages yet the primary tongue is English. However if you proceed further north and east things do change a little, but none the less people still speak English, they have to or tourism would fade.
But what does all this have to do with what Mike Bedard wrote about? You now see just how easily we are misled by our own personal goals and then let the bigger probelm fade into the night.
@ Cory. I’m not defending sign laws anywhere. It’s a non issue to me.
I’m saying that you people look like fools for publicly squawking about the fact that SG DOESN’T have business sign rules. Don’t you get how stupid it is to protest against a township policy that allows business signs in any language? Isn’t that the very policy you want in every township?
You guys are riding madly off in all directions.
Then John why keep commenting on the by-laws to begin with and to fight with those who deem it necessary to fight against them?
John writes:
1 Quote me on supporting one of the bilingual signage bylaws. Just a note, you won’t be able to because I never have.
2 There was no request made for South Glengarry to pass a bylaw there was a request to pass a resolution and the resolution provided ZERO protection to freedom of expression. It was a TOTALLY USELESS resolution.
Protecting Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a totally useless resolution?
Are you a separatist, John?
@ John,
So do you support the by-laws in effect concerning the signage laws in Russell and the other three townships?
Where do you stand on those by-laws THAT ARE IN EFFECT?
Leo
@ John
I never CREATED anything.
Is common sense not in your repitoire John?
You know very well what I meant.
pass a by- law negative, positive , neutral etc, etc, and like that, no one cares.
This by-law would guarantee ANYONE can post a business sign in the language of his/her CHOICE. That’s it.
Then they are ON THE RECORD AND SUPPORT THE MAJORITY’S WILL
That’s it, what the hell is the big deal here?
Are these so-called councillors afraid of the fall out from french zealots?
to hell with the fallout Quit being weasals like lauzon
They represent WHAT THE MAJORITY WANTS John.
There is no a purerer way to expreess the WILL OF THE PEOPLE
Leo
@ Eddy baby,
if iots a non issue with you, then get lost
Leo
Just reread Mike’s column. Good stuff, especially about the SG language gong show.
@Cory
This resolution provided absolutel zero protection for Canada’s Charter. Passing this resolution would have protected nothing and changed nothing. From day one this resolution was absolutely useless.
@leo
The bylaw you want would provide no guarantees. And besides you can already use ANY LANGUAGE you want on your signs in South Glengarry.
Why don’t you guys focus on real changes like getting Russell to rescind their bilingual bylaw instead of getting this useless resolution pased. You’ve lost so much credibility.
Hailey Brown wrote on January 16, 2013 at 7:58 am:
“Didn’t we already hold a couple campaigns held for an MRI machine? The latest being in 2012, with a mandate to raise 3.5 million by the end of 2012? What is the status of that endeavor?”
That is a very good question. Where is the money that was raised in two previous campaigns? How much was raised in 2012? Even if the CCH did not reach the $3.5 million target, did they raise at least $1 million? That is the cost of one MRI machine. Open up the hospital books, Madam Perriard. We DEMAND it!
@ Stella,
Why should they donate ,being that the English are in the majority, but yet they CANNOT ATTAIN EMPLOYMENT UNLESS THEY ARE BILINGAL (code for french ONLY)
Then why should they give to an institution that refuses to hire them?
Stella, would you support an institution that disrespected your language and culture ?
its that simple. NOW STELLA, THIS IS NOT quebec, as you say THIS IS ONTARIO.
So do you care now?
Or what french spin will you try to put on this one?
Or, do what you always do when cornered, just DUCK the issue
Aimee I hope you are reading these blogs. this will open your eyes to the types we have to deal with her ( stellas, eds and john as well as pierre, he got banned thank God)
Leo
I wouldn’t expect Madam Perriard to hear nor care four your questions.
Accountability was never her speciality.
Once again ,and I’ve said it many times before .
Its the government and its policies that divide the people:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/in-sainte-agathe-language-ruling-disrupts-a-tradition-of-harmony/article7449394/
Ed, I highly doubt this resolution will be brought to any more municipalities. For one, the resolution is out of order. How do you ask a municipality to pass a resolution that is out of order? Secondly, the resolution is totally useless. South Stormont passed it and you can use any language you want on your signs; South Glengarry didn’t pass it and you can use any language you want on your signs. Unfortunately for this ‘movement’ most of what they want is outside of the mainstream. If they had stuck to fair hiring practices I think they could have gained A LOT of support. But now the movement is associated with such extreme and militant ideas as boycotting French Canadian owned businesses and kicking Quebec out of Canada. They completely undermined their ability to be a force for fair hiring practices.
John Macdonald
January 17, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Hi Stella because this statement is propaganda :
“But now the movement is associated with such extreme and militant ideas as boycotting French Canadian owned businesses and kicking Quebec out of Canada.”
Extreme militant? -kicking Quebec out of Canada?
Because a few might say this does not mean LFA agree’s to see Quebec out .
You know John you are propagandizing like Stella ,i had not thought you to do so ,but WOW your taking lessons from the propaganda Queen.
Racism is racism when A group chooses to segregate by language “THAT IS RACISM IN MOST PARTS OF THE WORLD”
WHAT ABOUT WHITE ONLY CLINICS ?-DON’T BELIEVE IN THOSE ? I DON’T,WHY WOULD YOU BELIEVE IN FRENCH ONLY CLINICS WHEN BILINGUAL SERVICE IS EVERY WHERE.
IN MOST COUNTRIES THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED RACISM ,THE VERY LEAST SEGREGATION!
@ John
The mainstream chooses to DUCK issues that are relevant
They are afraid of upsetting the french .
in other words thay are intimidated ( Bullied)
Do you mean to tell me , that having a National language outlawed and being further redused by a Xenaphobic government is not newworthy on a daily basis.
they are afraid, john, we are not.
Boycotting a business is extreme and militant, really?
Ever hear of MARTIN LUTHER KING?
Seems to me he boycotted and then some.
What is militant about that? We certainly have not encouraged violence of any kind, nor would we. Boycotting is right we have to shop WHERE EVER WE CHOOSE TO
Where is the militancy in that John/ Please do tell?
As far as quebec goes, they are in canada in name only, by THEIR OWN CHOOSING
All I am saying , is that they are gone anyway, lets control the agenda when they finally separate. that’s all
John if you think that quebec will remain in Canadda, over the long run, you are living in la-la land
We also WANT A SAY IN WHERE AND HOW OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING SPENT
I am not a big fan of having money going to fronco organizations hell bent of destroying the English culture and heritage are you ?
In Canada, bilingualism now means racism, segregation and discrimination against anglophones. It all steams from the Trudeau’s 1982 Charter of FRENCH-ONLY LANGUAGE RIGHTS. I want Quebec out of Canada. That would render this racist law useless and will be repealed.
A group of Quebec sovereigntists including former premier Bernard Landry want to breathe new life into the separatist movement. Let’s help them to finally succeed.
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/landry-attempts-to-breathe-life-into-ailing-quebec-sovereignty-movement/article1370999/?service=mobile
@ John…….strange I basically wrote the same thoughts you just did under another topic.
The truth is, they are losing credibility big time by mingling into Quebec politics……
“Interestingly, (in 1969, during Parliamentary debates) both Progressive Conservative Leader Robert Stanfield and the New Democratic Party Leader David Lewis expressed concern, right from the start, that the Official Languages Act not result in reverse discrimination that might permit the creation of new inequalities in Canada” and that it be “achieved without discrimination and without compulsion, without creating some new injustice.”
(Mr. Stanfield) Hansard 28(1) p.1484.
(Mr. Lewis) Hansard 28(1) p.1486.
Interestingly, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.
@ Helga
Excellent, these articles cannot make it clearer than that
@ helga
great post. Not mch doubt where thye stand.
Why is good to have quebec in Canada again, anyone?
Of course boycotting a business simply because it is owned by a French Canadian is extreme. It is also bigotted and anti-French. Oh I know, you guys despise those labels. But it applies when you discriminate against someone for no other reason except that they are French Canadian. It’s the very definition of bigotry. What started as an attempt to get fair hiring practices has become a shameful movement.
@ Helga
great post, can there be any doubt as to why we have quebec as part of our GREAT NATION
Please, get them out once and for all
Stella,
Quebec politics are still part of Canadian politics and we now see that Quebec politics exist in 4 municipalities in Ontario.
We fight for equality :
The biggest abuse of equality in Canada -QUEBEC ,it is still is part of Canada.
Quebec is the beacon of light for french ethnocentrism -your mecca Stella ,but a growing resentment from the rest of Canada is developing.
This has started locally ,but this systemic discrimination occurs throughout the country from government hiring to bill 101 in Quebec ,bill z-22 in New Brunswick, french ONLY clinics in Eastern Ontario.
So Stella Do you think there should be French only clinics when all others provide bilingual?
Should the Cornwall health unit only hire bilingual people ?
Are only the bilingual people that have the education and experience?
When has language trumped merit?
I read an article yesterday in the Globe and Mail that shows both language discrimination and a reasonable response by the residents of a town in Quebec.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/quebecs-language-laws-reach-a-new-low-in-sainte-agathe/article7460761/
I find it encouraging that there are still reasonable people in Quebec that understand that discrimination, even when sanctioned by government, is wrong.
@ John
You are presuming facts that are not in play. I have very deep french roots, however, that does not prevent me from fighting to have freedom of choice.
When King boycoted businesses in Alabama , he was NOT ANTI-WHITE.
The purpose of boycotting BILINGUAL businesses is to make a point.
Where was it ever written to boycott french businesses ONLY.
The reverse is true. if french only businesses were allowed in russell we would applaud this, along with English only businesses, regarding the sign laws. So where is the bigotry
By boyotting bilingual businesses and institutions we are trying to make the point that we are in FAVOR OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
There is no bigotry here, nor is any intended.
Look at quebec, that is your future if you take away choices.
look at surrounding towns, that are NOW POSTING french ONLY SIGNS. Why are they allowed to post french only signs and in the 4 townships you HAVE TO POST SIGNS IN BOTH LANGUAGES
If you are talking bigots !!! Well come on John who are the bigots here
Spera that’s kinda retarded. Boycotts rarely work and have to be really focused and mass executed to have an impact. For instance if you were unhappy with the gas price games you’d say for all of next week no purchases from one company’s gas stations.
@ admin
Lets see, if a small community, where businesses are fairly , limited, all of a sudden loose say 20-30% of their business, do you not think this would not affect their bottm line.?
it doesn’t take much. organization, will and a cause worthy enough to follow up
Have you ever owned a business sir, I have, loosing customers is deadly.
Also my understanding, is that the jean coture in alexandia, is loosing a lot of business, because of not selling English cards.
Take away 20-30 volunteers at CCH and see if it impacts.
These are real possible actions ,within the law to make a point.
Do you have alternatives Sir ?
Retarded is kind of strong Jamie. Misguided, ignorant, uninformed, idiotic, ill-conceived, even moronic, but to use retarded is both politically incorrect, and somewhat offensive.
Carry on! 😉
Spera when you use a weapon it should always be for the right reason and with expected results. Let’s say you did that; do you expect those that it’s done to, to simply smile and say thank you? Do you think they’d instantly capitulate. No, they adjust or they boycott back.
People use Boycotts far too flimsily. And frankly boycotting over language is retarded and unproductive.
There’s a real issue and cause here that people like you who suggest dumb shite like this cause a gross disservice to the cause and actually lose support.
Instead of people realizing how important fairness is and how much injustice is going on with the hiring practice of CCH and other like minded organizations the focus gets ugly.
It’s very sad.
As an example I’ll use the boycott of CFN by certain Conservative Cornwall biz owners, the City and Chamber of Commerce, and a clique or two. The results were we raised our traffic 250% in one year. Individuals lost any leverage they had with us by behaving this way, and many businesses who were intimidated into leaving CFN or not working with CFN lost 14.392 million page views worth of exposure. In other words these idiots hurt a local business and their own community by being petty and high school like instead of frankly looking in the mirror and dealing with huge issues.
Boycotts only work when you can really choke the target. It’s like Machievelli wrote about if you’re going to go to war you better be able to take out your opponent otherwise they just might take you out.
Bottom line honest and earnest communication and cooperation are always better than fighting; any day of the week. It’s time that Canadians had an honest discussion on what we term “official bilingualism” and how it’s implemented. If over 30M Canadians think that this is honky dory then fair dinkum. If not then it’s up to voters to force their elected officials to make changes.
It should never pit neighbors against each other or become some silly English/French thing.