In 1994, I graduated from St.Lawrence College with Distinction as a Registered Nurse. Over the years, I have worked locally & in the USA specializing in four areas; Critical Care, Operating Room, Post Anesthetic Care Room & Hemo-Dialysis units.
Recently, I resigned from the Cornwall Community Hospital due to the inability to obtain full-time employment or advancement in my career. My obstacle being that I am English only and not bilingual (English and French). There is a systemic problem with unfair language requirements in healthcare in my hometown of Cornwall, ON. This is worrisome to me on several levels. Are the most qualified healthcare professionals being hired? Are people in our community getting the highest quality healthcare they deserve? And finally, what is our government doing to protect the rights of English speakers?
My children are enrolled in French Immersion; but at the end of the day will they be deemed “French” enough to garner a good job? Will they benefit from this social engineering? An RN must speak A- French to work at Cornwall Community Hospital. An RN must be bilingual to work at Community Care Access Centre. When an RN must be bilingual to administer a Flu shot, and yet, at the same time, life-saving CPR training is only considered an asset for employment at the Eastern Ontario Health Unit; I ask, where do we draw the line?
I am thankful to have my New York State Nursing licence. I am currently employed at a hospital in New York State as a Full-time Nursing Supervisor. However, many professionals in our community are not so fortunate and are forced to either relocate or give up their careers, entirely. Sadly, highly educated nursing graduates from St.Lawrence College will never have the opportunity to work in their own community, due to this unfair language legislation.
Recently, a group of concerned citizens formed a non-profit organization; Language Fairness for ALL. Our goal is to promote fair hiring practices. If you are concerned about your future, your childrens’ futures or your grandchildrens’ futures, I urge you to support LFA. Together we can make a difference!
Debbie Cameron RN
Long Sault,ON
(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.)
Not sure about the worms Admin, but I will bite the head off a chicken for a small fee.
@ Kilroy. Your endless youtube links are getting pretty tired. Franco flags on the 416? I didn’t see any from Prescott to Ottawa and back last Saturday.
Whine on!
CTV Quick Poll – Oct. 21, 2013
Have you ever felt unwelcome in Quebec for speaking English?
Thanks for your vote
Yes
1064 (84 %)
No
202 (16 %)
@ EDUDYORLIK, I believe this may be the straw that breaks the camels back….
http://proenglish.org/news/mainstream-media/931-bilingual-blues-wife-of-canada-cancer-patient-yelled-at-for-speaking-english.html
Wife of Canada Cancer Patient Yelled At for Speaking English –
See more at: http://proenglish.org/news/mainstream-media/931-bilingual-blues-wife-of-canada-cancer-patient-yelled-at-for-speaking-english.html#sthash.cFZoD3n1.dpuf
Nailed it concerned citizen 2.
These people have no shame and no respect for the English language and the English people AT ALL.
It’s time we wake up and realize THAT FACT, and act accordingly. Sure, we’ve all heard it before. — That does not mean all French people are like this — and that is true BUT hey, if you find yourself constantly saying the phrase , “That does not mean all French people are like this” over and over and over again then there must be enough of this cr@p going on to call it more than just a few.
Let’s face FACTS.
If you think this hospital story is just “a one off” or “something that is not the norm” then guess again. This kind of disrespectful cr@p happens AND IS HAPPENING quite a bit and doesn’t get the public scrutiny because much of it goes unreported.
Just listen to this woman who is a health care worker in Quebec. She say’s, “these are REAL situations that have been brought to me many times.”
http://youtu.be/JjEbOizpWUY?t=2m30s
In a relatively short period of time we have heard of dozens and dozens of “situations” (shall we call them)
— (pssst, these are for you Furtz. Oh, and also FOR ALL THE hundreds of other viewers who either read and don’t post or may stumble on this forum as I did back when and will have more exposure to what is REALLY going on because of these — “NEWS” — videos
— A priest being told not to expect service in English then when he called to complain being told that his complaint means nothing and being hung up on.
http://youtu.be/JjEbOizpWUY?t=7m24s
— A young kid screaming and cursing at another young Canadian from a different part of Canada just because he wasn’t speaking French.
http://youtu.be/DdwZOewd-hg?t=50s
— A woman who was literally punched and beaten by a “public servant” ticket agent because she dared to speak English in Quebec, Canada
http://youtu.be/k3CMpi8TxCU?t=3m45s
— A Woman politely asking for help on the “public” transit system in Quebec, Canada and being treated like absolute dirt because she spoke English. Which is contrasted by a French whiner (Thibideau – speaking perfect English) complaining and demanding he be served in French like he is some kind of royalty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GUkNVjM4Gc&hd=1
— A Mayor having his car and his house vandalized because he stood up for English rights in Quebec, Canada.
http://youtu.be/6AIg11uJw94?t=46s
— An Italian restaurant being ordered to remove the word pasta from their menu until the owner went to the media. Then the “story” suddenly became — it was an”overzealous language police employee” Yeah right !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AIg11uJw94&hd=1
— A father who was worried and concerned about his young child’s health during an emergency situation being told by the ambulance attendant “with a lot of hostility in his voice. NON Mois je parle Francais” and that he (the father) MUST speak French as they are in Quebec, Canada.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3t72RUYAls&hd=1
— Justin Trudeau going around saying, “this country belongs to the French.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDNKcLea8Cw&hd=1
And… IF ALL OF THIS cr@p was not enough…
We can then add to this litany of disrespectful behavior the fact that the Premier of that forsaken province is going around calling the “province” of Quebec, Canada — a country – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InMfQuYwZls&hd=1
while shoving that little “the country of Quebec” message in the face of the majority Anglophone tax payers who send money to that “province” under the guise that it is indeed a “province”
So, how does all this make YOU feel?
DISRESPECTED?
I’d say… It all adds up to … BLATANT DISRESPECT at its highest level for the English people and the English language while they go around demanding French (what they call bilingualism) in ALL the ROC..
This newest disrespectful act of treating this man who served in the military for this country with such disrespect is definitely “a last straw type” call to all Anglophones to begin the process of
NO LONGER accepting this BS anymore.
Every act of disrespect by the French powers from this point forward, no matter how small, MUST be met with a complaint. Just like they did to get to where they are now.
.
WE MUST SPEAK UP.
As is spelled out in this clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQayTw7FF3o&hd=1
Life in Quebec is akin to “living in some kind of theater of the absurd” Which they are trying to keep quite from the rest of the world for fear they’ll be ridiculed WHICH THEY SHOULD BE.
Language police??? REALLY ?? In a democratic society???
PS: Anyone wishing to criticize the “news” clips i CHALLENGE you to be specific.
@English Lassie RE: POST on October 21, 2013 at 7:47 pm
CTV Quick Poll – Oct. 21, 2013
Have you ever felt unwelcome in Quebec for speaking English?
Thanks for your vote
Yes
1064 (84 %)
No
202 (16 %)
GREAT POST English Lassie. I have a good feeling one could add a question like, have you ever been turned down for work in Ottawa (a city with a unilingual English population of over 96%) because you are unlingual ?
And get similar (if not larger) numbers
Oh look Furtzie!!
Here’s one at St Laurent and the Queensway…
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=st+laurent&ll=45.420924,-75.633655&spn=0.001536,0.003484&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hq=st+laurent&hnear=Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario&t=h&fll=45.420649,-75.632141&fspn=0.001544,0.003484&z=19&layer=c&cbll=45.420924,-75.633655&panoid=_dWxmOvyk1Cuex1HOzTARg&cbp=12,23.69,,0,-3.53
And here’s another at Woodruff and the Queensway
http://goo.gl/maps/3jLxw
Just another way to “mark their territory” in ONTARIO, CANADA.
You know, like animals do to let everyone else know THIS IS FRENCH LAND NOW — STAY AWAY —
“A little bit at a time, a little bit at a time.”
“A good analogy of what’s happening to this nation.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_231390&feature=iv&src_vid=BW33xkVB-oI&v=2QxIINYjeUc&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW33xkVB-oI&hd=1
Have your say folks, vote & be heard!!!
http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/community/poll-results
Furtz, his post said 416, but he forgot to add HST to come up with hwy. 417.
Did you notice along the 416 the big signs for the Veteran’s Memorial Highway? Even though expensive, I have no problem with the duplicity of separate English and French signs that thank our Vet’s and serving military.
edudyorlik, there sure has been a coordinated front to put these large flags in high traffic areas. Seem to me Jacques Cartier was fond of similar things. “July 24, 1534 he planted a 10 meter cross bearing the words “Long Live the King of France” and took possession of the territory in the name of the king.”
Appearently long life was only 225 years.
English Lassie, looks like people can vote more than once on that poll, watch for a big swing once people start checking emails……
Internet polls are a joke. Anybody can vote multiple times.
Now that is funny. Polls where people could vote as many times as they want. How credible is that!!!! It only proves what we have been saying all along…..you excel at fabricating numbers and stories. Yep have your say a 100 times if you wish..no one is keeping records on the amount of times you vote. If you can’t get want you want in a fair and balanced way…..cheat.
Heading there now and will vote every 15 minutes
Sorry Furtz; not on CFN polls which are done by ISP or outside service.
Yes stella, just like the Ontario liberals changing the definition of Francophone in 2009 to increase the numbers, so as you say ” If you can’t get want you want in a fair and balanced way…..cheat.”
I doubt the Canada Census numbers given are false.
Furtz, not all polls are created equal, CFRA for example uses a one computer IP one vote system.
Stella wrote:
“Polls where people could vote as many times as they want. How credible is that!!!!”
.”.you excel at fabricating numbers and stories.”
“If you can’t get want you want in a fair and balanced way…..cheat.”
Then you admit that you” Heading there now and will vote every 15 minutes”
This goes to say what character you have by accusing of which you have no proof others of cheating then doing it yourself ….see folks out there this is who we are dealing with ….she has no credibility,but once again NO SURPRISE HERE!
Well it looks like the PQ wants to strengthen their Charter of Racist Values
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/story.html?id=9062860&fb_comment_id=fbc_388606357936759_1849735_388637561266972#fd76e30db6174b
They are more then welcome in Ontario, where they will only be treated as second class citizens because of the french services language act,they may be unpure laine but that’s alright for us Ontarian’s we judge you by your Qualification’s ,its the GOVERNMENTS that judge you by language !
True, Admin, but this poll is clearly a joke.
@highlander…….just looking out for you guys because I care. Aren’t you always crying and asking for support? Voting every 15 minutes will help your cause. God knows you need all the support you can get. We must prove to all Canadians that we are behind the English and that French is not welcome in this country.
@Furtz the poll was probably sent to the Ottawa CTV News by one of the freedom fighters
highlander wrote but that’s alright for us Ontarian’s we judge you by your Qualification’s ,its the GOVERNMENTS that judge you by language !s.
Hmm…..which is it? Now Ontario judges by a person’s qualification?…..hmmm!!! Aren’t you guys complaining and claiming that qualifications didn’t count in Ontario? Now you claim it does. Which is it?
I don’t know,Stella, but as long as the poll confirms their opinion, that’s all that matters.
stellabystarlight written:
‘We must prove to all Canadians that we are behind the English and that French is not welcome in this country”
WELL FOLKS HERE IS STELLA’S PROPAGANDA ONCE AGAIN ,stella are you that dense we have always advocated for fairness and representation by population ,but keep spinning your PROPAGANDA we wouldn’t expect any different from you.****smile****
I repeat for those dense ones ***smile*** “,they may be unpure laine but that’s alright for us Ontarian’s we judge you by your Qualification’s ,its the GOVERNMENTS that judge you by language !”
Oh by the way Stella here is that poll.
Quick Poll – Oct. 21, 2013
Have you ever felt unwelcome in Quebec for speaking English?
Yes
2967 (86 %)
No
491 (14 %)
Total number of votes: 3458
Jamie perhaps you could do a similar poll ,but beware those franco supremacists will claim that its not creditable….but we all know they even deny valid Government stats too ….they are looking with eyes closed !
ON October 22, 2013 at 2:32 pm Highlander quoted Stella:
“Polls where people could vote as many times as they want. How credible is that!!!!”
.”.you excel at fabricating numbers and stories.”
“If you can’t get want you want in a fair and balanced way…..cheat.”
then Highlander added
Then you admit that you” Heading there now and will vote every 15 minutes”
Yup, that seems right in character for the “agitator gang” type. Those folks will DO ANYTHING TO WIN or “appear to be ON TOP. ANYTHING. Even cheating on a poll she knows she can cheat on.
It’s all about image. There is ZERO integrity involved.
That’s why they MUST USE double speak. To hide behind the unsightly “TRUTHS.”
You know, like Marois saying to the English people, “Don’t worry, your rights will be fully protected.”
Yeah, if they had rights in Quebec Pauline. If only they had rights.
Hummm pretty quiet out here.
Could it be this is because the agitator gang are worried about having to hide under a rock as a result of yet another inane “ANTI ENGLISH” episode in the “province” of Quebec, Canada?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jstXuq288Sc&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obcLVp3NT3Q&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Yup, that’s right folks, and —
instead of a public servant picking on some nice polite woman on a city bus, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GUkNVjM4Gc&hd=1 or public transit workers picking on a soft spoken priest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjEbOizpWUY&feature=youtu.be&t=7m24s&hd=1 trying to buy a day pass
— this latest “sense of entitlement” — we are French hear us roar — episode has a public servant — hospital orderly — barking at a dying elderly patient — while also demanding that his worried family and relatives speak to him in French don’t_cha_know cause well, he is in Quebec don’t_cha_know. Uh huh, yeah right !!
Hey Stella, didn’t you and “da gang” say there were “two official languages in this country?”
Seems someone forgot to tell the French in Quebec this little tid-bit of info.
Could you have a word with them for us please. Tanx eh 🙂
Further proof that THIS ISSUE has gotten WAY TOO ENTRENCHED NOW and is too divisive. There is no longer any use in trying to stay as one country when a good portion of the French part of this country detests the English language to the degree that one of their ilk would have such a level of disrespect and entitlement that he would actually order a dying mans family to speak English at a time like this.
Now, where have we seen this kind of — ordering a worried family member to speak French — kinda thing before? Oh yeah… HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3t72RUYAls&hd=1
Oh, and before the defense wagon begins to circle claiming whatever you wish to “try” to claim about “a YouTube video”, keep in mind that there were other people in that hospital area who witnessed the whole thing and corroborated the story according to the family’s side of things AND NOT the orderly’s side.
* Special thanks to Don for the second video.
I have never heard such an instance in Ontario ,but once again this is not isolated many issues as such have occurred.
Has anyone heard at a hospital in Ontario “I am English (superior) as opposed to Quebecois this is Ontario we speak English here “.
First of all the French language is respected in Ontario ,I do not take insult if a Francophone speaks french it remains their choice,but had that happened in Ontario ….wow the phone calls,letter writing ,lawyers the scope of the incident would have been far bigger then this incident in this Hospital .The language commissioner would have been all over it ,but then this was an English issue the language commissioner will stay quiet on this one …….yup double sets of standards……Graham Fraser where art thou!
We see or hear instances similar to this often ….and to think most go unreported….Don’t let your rights get trampled SPEAK UP.
Keep it going, Kilroy… Yer on a roll..
Fight on!
@yorlik….you really know how to tug at a person’s heart strings……I can’t stop crying, I am on my third box of tissues since yesterday. Those you tube videos are heart wrenching. The French are bad and heartless people, we must get rid of them all.
yorlik wrote: Now, where have we seen this kind of — ordering a worried family member to speak French — kinda thing before? Oh yeah… HERE
Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the hospital worker, knowing both official languages of this country, was more comfortable speaking French. When dealing with the family of a sick person is it not wise that both parties are on the same page and understand each other.
When dealing with health issues to be understood is imperative for both the patient and the caregiver.
Ordering a family to speak French in a hospital seems a bit farfetched…..like I said before, anyone one can make a you tube video…..enough said
Today I will be voting every 15 minutes again to help the cause. United we stand!!!!
Stella the sick family’s language always trumps. The workers comfort linguistically is not an issue. Even if the staffer wasn’t “bilingual” they should at least try and not make a hospital stay a political exercise. Shame on you for that one.
Certainly the Orderly should be trying his best to make the client comfortable. Something we see increasingly is the push to have staff work and also be supervised in that employees language choice. Besides ensuring more bilingual positions, it removes accountability to the customer, and a feeling for only French in Quebec has sifted down from the government.
One can always find and post examples of rude, insensitive and stupid Francophones. The same can be said for Anglophones.
Yes , Shame on your Stella.
ON October 23, 2013 at 8:31 am
stellabystarlight wrote,
“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the hospital worker, knowing both official languages of this country, was more comfortable speaking French. When dealing with the family of a sick person is it not wise that both parties are on the same page and understand each other.”
This is what were up against folks. A sense of entitlement that even stretches beyond a NORMAL level of human decency.
Not that it’s possible Stella but, had you been “HUMAN” and simply said,
“yup, this goes beyond the borders of decency and since there are indeed (as you are so fond of ramming down everyone’s throats) two common languages in this country, the orderly SHOULD have done everything in his power to comfort a dying man and his family”
people may have maybe been able to eek out a tiny morsel of respect for you. But NO, you are filled with the type of “French is better indulgence” that knows absolutely no bounds.
I have a feeling even your ol pal and mentor Hungry for lies would condemn you for this one, and rightfully so.
And, you know what Stella? Though you may not be sick or dying right now, lord knows we all travel that path one day and when that time comes — FOR YOU Stella — perhaps (because of the sudden reality of “THAT MOMENT” FOR YOU) you may be forced to think back about these things you said and how “CHEAP” it was to spew such things.
Maybe you will then truly understand — in THE MOST significantly in-depth kind of way — how alone and desperate one must feel at that time in ones life.
This applies to ALL of those of your ilk who have this “French at all costs” chip on their shoulder also.
I want to THANK YOU Stella as you have given me (and likely others) EVEN MORE will (as Furtz is so fond of saying) to “fight on” and see to it that French is minimized in this country and forced into a small pocket called Quebec where it can live or die on it’s own strengths or weaknesses without my tax dollars and without the help of the MAJORITY Anglophone tax payers.
You Stella epitomize EVERYTHING i despise about “a large portion of — THAT group — of so called “Canadians.” And also why i REFUSE to even speak French now to ANYONE.
Oh and on that note, i would like to wish you a “keep up the good work. You’re doing wonders to help in the — recruitment of those who wish to rid this country of official bilingualism” type of day eh 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQayTw7FF3o&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX-h4s6dOoM&hd=1
ON October 23, 2013 at 9:32 am
Furtz wrote, “One can always find and post examples of rude, insensitive and stupid Francophones.”
Yup, you’re right Furtzie. “rude and insensitive comments” from “stupid Francophones” (your words) sure are “not hard to find.”
Look, there’s one right there in the October 23, 2013 at 8:31 am comment above this one by stellabystarlight.
Stells wrote, “Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the hospital worker, knowing both official languages of this country, was more comfortable speaking French. When dealing with the family of a sick person is it not wise that both parties are on the same page and understand each other.”
It appears (as usual) she is misinformed and also VERY insensitive PLUS likely only heard and read the parts that “fit” or “suited” her mentality.
She seems to have left out this part where the orderly “yelled at the family” of this dying vet in French, saying, “I’m Quebecois. We speak French here!” telling Gervais that she wasn’t in a hotel.”
Which btw, was witnessed by MANY others and confirmed as FACT.
Oh and PS, Yes, i admit, there are idiots on both sides and ON VERY RARE OCCASIONS this does happen the other way round BUT, the other side of this CAN TRULY be labeled what you folks like to ERRONEOUSLY label your side.
“A VERY ISOLATED INCIDENT.”
PLUS, you have to remember one side, (the English) have been faced with this French arrogance over such a long period of time now that they are lashing out.
———–
So when the French are doing it, it is based on arrogance and a sense of entitlement and on THOSE RARE occasions when the English are doing it, it is in the form of pent up retaliation.
Hummm, me thinks there is A HUGE — “IMPORTANT” distinction — there.
———–
Also, these “other side” incidents are such isolated incidents that I challenge you to “find” and “post” more than three such examples on the other side as you claim “ONE can always find.”
I sense either silence or a — snarky, devoid of facts “fight on” — type of response coming.
But, on that note i wish you a “happy hunting for what you say, — one can always find — ” type of day eh Furtzie 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQayTw7FF3o&hd=1
Thanks for the good wishes, Kilroy. I just don’t have the time or inclination to look for stupid people behaving badly on youtube. Got a huge pile of logs in the yard to cut, split and stack.
Search on!
admin written:
Even if the staffer wasn’t “bilingual” they should at least try and not make a hospital stay a political exercise. Shame on you for that one.
She has {MODERATED}
“The nationalist not only does not disprove of atrocities committed by his/HER own side ,but has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them” George Orwell
Stella’s response to the video of the dying patients family member’s language frustration is :
@yorlik….you really know how to tug at a person’s heart strings……I can’t stop crying, I am on my third box of tissues since yesterday. Those you tube videos are heart wrenching. The French are bad and heartless people, we must get rid of them all.
******Now folks can you sense the compassion ,the empathy?,Then goes on to condescending and ridicule the situation ,truly disgusting behavior no different then that orderly .******
@ Admin:
{MODERATED} Dude you don’t get it. Every time you send me a post and I have to delete it, it’s now an extra two days of banishment. You have been repeatedly warned to stop making personal attacks at our posters and wasting moderation time.
You seem to have no self control?
We are not a babysitting service for angry people with what seems to be anger issue.
ON October 23, 2013 at 12:09 pm Furtz wrote,
“Thanks for the good wishes, Kilroy. I just don’t have the time or inclination to look for stupid people behaving badly on youtube. Got a huge pile of logs in the yard to cut, split and stack.
Search on!”
That’s OK Furtzie,
I just got the impression by your words…
“Furtz on October 23, 2013 at 9:32 am wrote,
“One can always find and post examples of rude, insensitive and stupid Francophones. The same can be said for Anglophones.”
that it was quite easy and wouldn’t take much searching and effort to do… Now, finding A-H ole insensitive and stupid Francophones wouldn’t be too difficult to find as i have dozens of examples but, as for the Anglophones. I chose to ask for three examples because i have only ever seen two myself and i have them both here.
So, in other words, your claim IS COMPLETELY BS but that’s not important is it Furtz. Yup, carry on.
This one is especially for you Furtz since you get on Cory for how you say his complaint about the person in the post office was petty..
This was reported…
http://youtu.be/ek92Q1N2HUY?t=10m25s
OMG………take a breath guys before you take a stroke.
First let me say this: Is making a you tube video of a dying man and his family showing compassion and empathy? Is taking the case of a dying man and family to push your agenda not disgusting? PLEASE!!!!! Give us a break.
Of course highlander in his usual twist and turn and attack mode once again turned the entire post around to try and make the other look bad. He does this with everyone who does not agree with him.
For the past three years yorlik has been posting you tube videos from anti French sites and for the last three years I have been crying……..it just didn’t start yesterday (for the record)
Now getting back to the orderly or whoever it was, what is wrong with asking another person if they can speak or understand the language one is most comfortable with? It is just a question and doesn’t mean a thing to most except the freedom fighters who are making a big deal with anything they can get their hands on to push their agenda. For God sake, I have done it. Was the person upset…………ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! It is called a comfort level and applies both ways.
Cultured people, those who do not have an agenda and those who do not hate the French would not have a problem if someone asked if they spoke French. Why do you?
Stella in 2003 I had surgery at the Royal Vic in Montreal. It was on a Friday and the women working the food trolley that Saturday nearly killed me because she couldn’t speak a word of English and I was fuzzy from having come out of intensive care. My French isn’t the best, but through a haze of drugs it doesn’t get any better. I was trying to understand her, but she was talking quickly with a heavy Quebecois accent.
I was only to be allowed liquids at that point. She tried to give me a regular meal and couldn’t resolve the communication.
Was it the end of the world? Her inability to speak to me in my condition complicated whatever screw up there was with the food service. She was not being political or nasty; she simply could not or would not even try to speak to a patient in English in the Royal Vic.
Did I make a fuss or complain? Nope. Maybe I should have? What I can tell you is that when you’re in a hospital bed you expect nothing but support and care, period. Accommodations are exclusively for the patient as long as they are being reasonable.
There is ZERO room for politics in patient care.
Stella you really need to educate yourself before you make comments. I’m surprised you look at the videos (you keep saying you never do) but search the Ottawa Citizen for the story. Then come back with your take on it.
ON October 23, 2013 at 2:07 pm stellabystarlight wrote,
“First let me say this: Is making a you tube video of a dying man and his family showing compassion and empathy? Is taking the case of a dying man and family to push your agenda not disgusting? PLEASE!!!!! Give us a break.”
I totally agree with you Stella. You should call the news agencies and tell them to stop doing this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obcLVp3NT3Q&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
And while you’re at it, tell them to stop putting all this French people committing ANTI English stuff front and center so that everyone will know how hateful and unfair those French powers that be people are. It’s getting out of hand. It seems like every time some French person spits on an English person lately it gets published by someone. It’s just out of hand.
And in closing all i can say is, you have obviously learned from the best. ONLY a true mean spirited French person like you, with ZERO compassion, could possibly turn the idea of anyone highlighting the meanness of this story by trying to bring it to the world in whatever ways possible can find a way to turn it around and blame the person trying to highlight it. Bravo Stella. You are indeed one sorry piece of work. You’re parents must be VERY proud.
Jamie, I am happy that there was no serious complications because of a language issue, I mean that. Even happier that you are around and started CFN **smile**
Now back to your post. What happened to you was 10 years ago. Things have changed since then.
I agree there is ZERO room for politics in patient care, however, let’s be fair here.
Like I said that was 10 years ago, things have changed. I could bet you my life’s savings the orderly could understand both official languages but perhaps not speak both fluently. In that case there is nothing wrong in asking the family if they spoke French.
In your case neither one understood the other, which could be very frustrating at the best of times. Your health was at risk which is not acceptable at any time, The bottom line remains that both parties need to have a comfort level whereas they can communicate properly. The orderly was doing just that, asking if they could speak French. Nothing wrong with that.
When travelling to other countries there is always a way to be understood or to understand what is the big problem here in Canada? We all know the answer to that one. The freedom fighters want to rule and do away with French and that my friend is it in a nutshell.
@Rosie……..trust me on this one. I never ever looked at any videos that were posted by the freedom fighters……….EVER. Like I said so many times before, anyone can make a you tube video to push their radical agenda. I am not interested in reading or seeing any videos that come from anti French sites.
Have I made myself clear?
The problem for me Stella is that in the Royal Victoria Hospital, where I was born btw, an English Hospital now bilingual, there could not be a unilingual anglophone trolley person who really isn’t supposed to have direct patient communication, but it was for some reason ok to have a unilingual francophone.
Could you imagine if the reverse happened at a French Hospital in Montreal?
We need to take the hypocrisy out of language politics in this country. I agree that both English and French people should be treated fairly from coast to coast. I think the big issue is what different ideas of “fair” means….
stellabystarlight said:
“First let me say this: Is making a you tube video of a dying man and his family showing compassion and empathy? Is taking the case of a dying man and family to push your agenda not disgusting? PLEASE!!!!! Give us a break”
Stella this has nothing to do with you so called agenda we are to supposed to have its about a dying patient treated badly …you really have no empathy do you !
Stella said:
“.Now getting back to the orderly or whoever it was, what is wrong with asking another person if they can speak or understand the language one is most comfortable with?”For God sake, I have done it. Was the person upset…………ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! It is called a comfort level and applies both ways.
If you state this then why have bilingual mandatory in Ontario hospitals in the first place if the caretaker is more comfortable in English !Is not the reason for Official bilingualism about providing the service in the language of choice of the client ?
You really are a piece of work there Stella ,and YOU claim we have an agenda..this clearly points out that you do have an agenda .
“Cultured people, those who do not have an agenda and those who do not hate the French would not have a problem if someone asked if they spoke French. Why do you?”
Now with this statement you are defending this orderly that clearly treated this dying patient and his family in a discriminated manner who by your your comment hate french people when simply was asking for the OTHER OFFICIAL LANGUAGE …THE FAMILY DID NOT HAVE AN AGENDA but clearly you do !
Stella ,obviously in your case one cannot teach empathy and compassion with others ,and to think you are a government worker ….clearly you do not work in an area that requires any of those properties.
admin,
Your 754 pm posting was right on the money:
” We need to take the hypocrisy out of language politics in this country. I agree that both English and French people should be treated fairly from coast to coast. I think the big issue is what different ideas of “fair” means…”.
Really what is fair ,we have no intention of eliminating french as Stella has propagandized about ..over and over and over again oh probably at least a 1000 times during the past three years ,we want fairness in this approach of which she clearly does not agree with .
Representation by population with regards to language services remains the fairest approach ,clearly folks is there anything biased in that ?
Stella I asked you to read the article and then come back with a comment.
You obviously are not referring to the news article when you comment as follows: “.Now getting back to the orderly or whoever it was, what is wrong with asking another person if they can speak or understand the language one is most comfortable with?”For God sake, I have done it. Was the person upset…………ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! It is called a comfort level and applies both ways.”
This is not what happened Stella. Family were very upset…if they were not upset, this would not be a news story…”Have I made myself clear?”
stellabystarlight October 23, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Jamie, I am happy that there was no serious complications because of a language issue, I mean that. Even happier that you are around and started CFN **smile**
Jeez Jamie wasn’t that quite the endorsement ***smile***
This article (in the blue section) SAY’S IT ALL FOLKS.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RKPgZbDYGRM/Umi6ER8bICI/AAAAAAAAA3I/dGI6JAOc9wI/w1042-h758-no/Scan_Pic0017.jpg
The hospital employee may well be an ass but according to the FRENCH “pure laine” style LAWS they have enacted in that “province” which blatantly go against the English language, he is perfectly within his rights to refuse to speak ANY OTHER LANGUAGE OTHER THAN FRENCH in that freakin province which is INSIDE MY COUNTRY. I simply cannot believe this is happening. “May you live in interesting times” seems to fit quite nicely here.
And on that note, I believe it’s time we wake up and accept REALITY in this country.
Any group of people (peuple) that have these types of laws cannot be deemed to honestly be interested in living “as one” and “in peace and harmony” with others.
The “reality is” THEY ARE FOCUSED ON being DOMINANT. That is not a hidden agenda. They tell us straight to our faces all the time.
These are the sections from bill 101…
And, as is typical with anything to do with the “French issue” you will notice that this law is filled with ambiguous language which leaves it completely open to interpretation depending on how “they” decide to spin things.
—————–
45. An employer is prohibited from dismissing, laying off, demoting or transferring a member of his staff for the sole reason that he is exclusively French-speaking or that he has insufficient knowledge of a particular language other than French, or because he has demanded that a right arising from the provisions of this chapter be respected.
46. An employer is prohibited from making the obtaining of an employment or office dependent upon the knowledge or a specific level of knowledge of a language other than the official language, unless the nature of the duties requires such knowledge.
——————–
NONE IS SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO SIMPLY REFUSE TO SEE.
I can’t believe the Anglo MAJORITY in this country. I simply CANNOT believe the sense of apathy and complacency that I am reading and seeing.
This IS just COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS.
We are being stabbed in the back and all we keep doing is asking for a band aid.
This situation in this country right now is almost as a sick and twisted as one of those “battered wife syndrome” relationship situations. You know the ones where one partner beats the other, yet the one being beaten simply adores the aggressor and treats him like gold even to the extent of using her own “stashed away” life savings which was originally intended as money to enable her to run from him in order to bail him out of jail where he sits as a result of having beaten her to a pulp — YET AGAIN — for the fifth time that month.
SICKS SICK SICK…
SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.
Am i missing something?
Sometimes i feel like i am in a time warp or some third rate freakin B movie.
I mean seriously.
Let’s try thinking on a higher level here.
Here we have a situation where THE ENGLISH MAJORITY is bending over backwards to do everything possible to accommodate the French MINORITY throughout — all of Canada —
So far, so good, right?
OK so, — IF — (THIS IS A HUGE — IF– ) IF the French minority were reciprocating this accommodating behavior by being kind, and nice, and friendly and just as accommodating in return to the English majority then — all the efforts and good will of the English majority would make sense, right? So good so far… Following along? Alright, good.
Now, this is where things get messed up…
This is where we realize that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT. SOMETHING IS definitely askew here.
The WAY THINGS ACTUALLY REALLY ARE
IS THIS…
The WHOLE TIME that the English majority are bending over backwards while trying to accommodate the French minority the English majority are faced with unrelenting absolute negative actions by the French minority.
Yes, the whole time the English are bending over backwards the French are treating the English with disdain and ZERO respect.
So, in the face of this inequitable situation,
DO the English majority look at this discrepancy and make adjustments to their behavior? You know, like NORMAL people would do?
NOPE… just like in the unhealthy battered wife syndrome relationship, the English simply smile and keep right on being nice and friendly while steaming full ahead towards the next episode where they are beaten to a pulp yet again.
Not to mention… This whole time they are ALSO allowing their brethren in the “French controlled” province of Quebec to be treated in terribly disrespectful ways that are documented on practically a daily basis.
As a matter of fact, the French powers that be have even passed several laws that fall in line with this concept which literally make it — “LEGAL” — and thus “OK” in the eyes of the French population (according to the actual laws) to treat the English language and by extension the English people with a high degree of disdain and disrespect.
And folks ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING IN CANADA. The very country that these people live in … They are Canadian citizens in THEIR OWN COUNTRY…
In the face of this kind of double standard situation, it simply DOES NOT MAKE SENSE for the English to be going around saying things like, “both English and French people should be treated fairly from coast to coast.”
At least not until there is some kind of understanding that this cannot be happening in such a one sided way.
Now, I’ll say it again… If both sides were reciprocating and playing fair, then yes. I can understand saying things like this and moving towards wanting both languages to be treated fairly (within context) while moving towards things like, “representation by population with regards to language services” and other things like this for sure… BUT
THIS IS NOT THE CASE.
THIS IS NOT what is taking place in this country right now.
THE FRENCH ARE NOT reciprocating AT ALL.
They are acting in a COMPLETELY selfish, UNFAIR, UNJUST — and most importantly – they are acting in a DISRESPECTFUL of the “conceptual idea of trying to attain fairness and equality” kind of way.
The English cannot be accused of hating the French just because they decide to stand up for themselves and their English rights and values within the realm of fairness.
If you went to a poker game and one of the players was cheating, it wouldn’t matter if the player were white, black English or French… standing up to the THAT PLAYER and — calling him out — on just the simple fact that he is cheating should simply be the accepted concept.
Let’s face FACTS…
We know there is a absolute systemic discrimination against the English in the PS in the province of Quebec. They have told us so. And we just KNOW it goes beyond the PS as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQHpEAmtbB0&hd=1
We know they are cheating the system in order to get the lions share of the transfer payments.
That has been documented as well.
http://youtu.be/MhPcV0gtFR0?t=1m36s
We know the French powers that be want nothing to do with the English language or the English people in the province of Quebec and in general.
This is exemplified on a practically a daily basis also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hKXw24la-8&hd=1
We know this whole thing is NOT REALLY ABOUT bilingualism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVaN0-vfGKU&hd=1
because if it were then the French would be learning English in the province of Quebec as well but, that’s NOT THE CASE… The In fact, the exact opposite is true… THEY DON’T WANT THEIR CHIKLDREN TO KNOW ENGLISH AT ALL. They want a pure laine society and they are not “pretending” to want anything BUT…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iGZE6zxoKQ&hd=1
There are more people in the province of Quebec today that CANNOT speak English AT ALL than ever.
Why are we fooling ourselves into trying to believe that this is about harmony and getting along and being together?
It is SIMPLY — AND VERY painfully obvious – that THIS IS a one sided dream and NOT TRUE AT ALL.
WE MUST accept that the French truly want nothing to do with the English language and thus, it’s time to respond accordingly and based in REALITY not some pipe dream that only one side is chasing.