President Obama should speak French
A letter writer in the Quebec City newspaper, Le Soleil complains that President Obama didn't speak any French in his visit to Ottawa. What's amazing is not the idiot letter itself, but the fact that a newspaper would publish such drivel. Article
The Insidious March of English
In another letter, a reader from Baie Comeau complains that English names are taking over French business'. He complains about a hotel called 'LE MUST" and another called 'TIMES'. He implore the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste to take action. Article
Bloc Comes out Against Volunteerism
The Bloc Quebecois has a such pathological hatred of the name Trudeau that it actually found grounds to oppose Justin Trudeau's proposal that the federal government offer financial support and create programs encouraging young people to get involved in their communities by way of volunteer work. Bloc youth critic Nicolas Dufour postulated that the program could become “federalist propaganda.” Article
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It's easy to play the tolerant ones when your language is dominating the world scene.
ReplyDeleteI read those opinions in the newspapers, and frankly, did not find them harsh in any way. Some francophones are simply worrying about the survival of their culture. Granted, they're probably not addressing the right problems (who care how a business is named? Why the president of an anglophone country should be speaking french?). And granted, one wonders why newspapers give any space to such menial comments.
As for the Bloc, you can criticize them for opposing a proposal helping young people, but if this proposal encroaches on the province's jurisdictions, it is fair game to criticize it for that.
Why did Francophone Quebec support Trudeau so fervently?
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