Tories cave in on census
My post Wednesday about the census long form may have been somewhat prescient, but unfortunately events have proved my conclusion faulty. LINK.
As you remember, I pointed out that the questions on the 2006 census long form may have been subject to manipulation by an Internet campaign mounted by some francophone groups (outside Quebec) meant to inflate the number of unilingual francophones.
Then I made the completely wrong observation that perhaps the manipulation that I described was perhaps one of the reasons that the Tories got rid of the form.
As events have unfolded, Tony Clement has now given in to mounting pressure from these very same francophone lobby groups and announced that he's adding three of those exact same questions on language, back onto the short census form. LINK
Then I made the completely wrong observation that perhaps the manipulation that I described was perhaps one of the reasons that the Tories got rid of the form.
As events have unfolded, Tony Clement has now given in to mounting pressure from these very same francophone lobby groups and announced that he's adding three of those exact same questions on language, back onto the short census form. LINK
Oh well.....
The questions that Mr. Clement is adding to the mandatory 2011 short-form census are:
- Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation?
- What language does this person speak most often at home?
- Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home?
Mr. Clement caved in on exactly what it is that the francophone groups wanted to preserve on the long form, questions about language that can be manipulated.
And so, these lobby groups have gotten exactly what they wanted, an opportunity to fiddle the books.
I guarantee you that another not-so-underground campaign will be launched to instruct francophones how to answer these questions in a manner that will show that there are more unilingual francophones than in reality.
And so without further ado, here's what the answers will look like, regardless of the truth.
- Can this person speak English or French well enough to conduct a conversation? Answer: FRENCH
- What language does this person speak most often at home? Answer: FRENCH
- Does this person speak any other languages on a regular basis at home? answer: Answer: NO
Anglos take Cabinet hit
But Weil looked particularly ill at ease in public and many francophones openly questioned whether she had the right stuff to fight the Supreme Court decision overturning the legality of Bill 104. Many questioned whether an Anglo should ever be given the sensitive post of Justice Minister. With Tony Tomassi out and Lawrence Bergman in a do nothing job, the two woman have now split James' previous portfolio and have been moved into what would be described as junior ministerial positions in the federal government.
The Journal de Montreal described Weil as the only Anglophone in the Cabinet, erroneously concluding that James is a francophone. Not true....her family is from St.Lucia. Perhaps her wonderful French is deceiving.
At any rate it's not looking so good for we Anglos in cabinet....
Bellemare circling the drain
Marc Bellemare got a rude comeuppance in a Quebec City court where he went to petition the court that the Bastarache Commission (investigating the charges that he made concerning the alleged purchase of judgeships) be struck down. Justice Alicia Soldevila, gave him a stern tongue lashing for embellishing and making false accusations about the law firm that Mr. Bastarache hails from. When Bellemare's lawyer demanded to know how much Bastarache earned at Heenan Blaikie, the judge asked how the question would help her decide on the question at hand. Bellemare's allegations that the law firm receives a lot of un-tendered work from the Charest government were also shot down. The judge reserved judgment until next week, but it's likely that Bellemare is going to get his wrists slapped. His strategy of tainting the commission as biased, before it has even commenced hearings, raises the spectre that Bellemare is preparing the public for his inevitable humiliation. Mr. Bellemare is looking more and more like another whistle-blower, Myriam Bedard, who turned out to be a fruit cake. LINK
Another Oka Shakedown
In a rare twist of events, it's a Quebec developer rather than the natives, who seems to be in the process of shaking down the town of Oka in relation to a parcel of land that he obtained adjacent to the OKA reserve( and which is valued at $100,000.)Normand Ducharme's announcement, made with great fanfare that he'd be building three luxury homes on the parcel of land, got the required reaction from natives and the spectre of another Oka Crisis was raised.
But let me ask you this-
What idiot would build on land that is subject to a land dispute and which could engender a violent reaction from natives?
What bank would lend money to develop such a project and what financial institution would provide mortgage money for any house built on the disputed land?
Finally what moron would buy such a house? Would you?
Perhaps it was all an elaborate ruse to get the city to buy his land at an inflated price, say $400,000.
And presto! It seems that a confidential deal has been reached with the city to avert a potential 'disaster,' including just such a payment! LINK
Well done, Mr. Ducharme!
To the the natives and to the city of Oka. Congratulations, you've been played!
Friday Funnies
For all those who accused me of resorting to McCarthyism in my piece on Amir Khadir, I kindly offer this light-hearted commentary.
HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!!!
BONNE FIN DE SEMAINE À TOUS!!!
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Family+splits+over+language/3392792/story.html
ReplyDeleteUnrelated, but definitely something you need to write an article on concern language laws breaking up families (erase this comment, but keep the URL). Thanks.
It has been proven that the metis/French have been lying to government for decades if not longer in regards to anything to do with language. That being said it disgusts me that they hold so much power in Ottawa while completely ignoring the rights of English speakers in Kebec. How bad is it? They threaten to sue and government backs down immediately. Well they are still following through on the lawsuit, follow what’s coming down the road. Its all about money, jobs, grants, special funding for all things” French” outside and inside Kebec. Phony French/bilingual jobs outside Kebec and as the English language in Kebec, well screw you, you’re on your own as usual. The stench of hypocrisy, slime, sleaze, corruption, spin, propaganda and lies coming from Ottawa daily is just sickening. Liberal, Tory same old story. Both a disgrace to our proud and real BNA and UEL history both a disgrace to our once healthy economies. We need new leaders and a new party NOW or things will only get worse.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Weil and James both contradict Charest at one point or another? Regardless, it must have been humiiating to have had their respective portfolios reduced in such a manner. Props to Weil for taking the oath in both languages. I think that was the classy thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled when Bellemare indicated that he scored a minor victory by obtaining a guarantee that the commission would be public -- as if there was any doubt that it wouldn't be. I still can't figure out if he has an ace up his sleeve or whether he's just mildly insane.
Oh, and your article on Khadir was excellent. I may be wrong, but I don't think any of the media (TV) outlets picked up on the story.
Anti-English langauge racism, bigotry alive and well in Kebec.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.canada.com/Quebec+forced+learn+English/3394258/story.html
Quebec boy forced to go to U.S. to learn English
Mom bringing son to Delaware after province refuses her request
Interesting story about the family being split up over language. One would think that with the specialists report on the child's dyslexia that the Quebec department of education would make an exception. I guess there is no flexibility when it comes to language. Hard to believe that she is going to Delaware to live separately from the rest of the family. I would think this is likely going to be more expensive than a private english school in Quebec. Maybe they don't have one closeby.
ReplyDeleteAlso, good to see the quality of posts has gone up by 100% since the blog author put the warnings up.
RE Anonymous link
ReplyDelete"QC boy forced to go to U.S. to learn English"
Our family may suffer the same fate, splitting the family and living long distance due to the tyranny in Quebec. The families that include both Francophone and Anglophones as a family unit want their children to be bilingual. For these children it is their reality. They should have a choice. The family is the basic unit of society that should be held together for the well being of our society. As a parent, I am incensed that the Quebec government is interfering in our life and dictating the direction of our child’s education, when the primary responsibility for the child remains with the parents, thereby negating the rights of the child, the rights of the parents, the right to equal opportunity, the right to non-governmental interference in our lives. Quebec deliberately systematically discriminates on the basis of the child’s parental origins denying choice of education, when parental choice is safeguarded by the Canadian Charter of rights in the Rest of Canada. It is discriminatory for Canadian English parents to have choice, while Francophone & immigrants Quebecers have no rights in choice of education. Bill 101, Bill 104 and Bill 103 are an injustice that is intolerable in a democratic Canada in an era of global communications. The children are our future and the Government of Quebec should not dictate, dominate and control the most important aspect in the lives of our children, their education, their future, their life.
MtlQCAngloFranco
RE: Annoymous
ReplyDeleteAugust 13, 2010 3:52 PM
“I would think this is likely going to be more expensive than a private english school in Quebec.”
The cost of Quebec private schools is very expensive between $6,000.00 to $17,000.00 depending on the school. To spend this kind of money for a child to learn their ABC’s is an outrage. Public primary education and parental choice of education is a basic human right, except in Quebec. There are also many Montreal private schools that we have not been able to enroll our children because the government subsidizes these private schools and they must comply with Bill 101, that required English eligibility certificate for entry. Francophone & Immigrants have been enrolling their children in unsubsidized private schools to get around the Bill 101, but Bill 104 shut that down in 2002 and we are still waiting for justice. Our children will graduate primary school, while being denied the opportunity to go to English school. The children that are struggling just have to suffer. The Quebec bureaucracy mentality is too bad so sad…deal with it, no matter the detriment of the children’s lives and future opportunities. Quebec’s outrageous high school dropout rate is 40%. How on earth do you allow 40% of children to drop out and expect to have a prosperous Quebec? Sometimes it is more than the cost that the parents take into consideration, when making the choice to send their child to English school, if we have a child who is already struggling, we need to take measures to help them succeed. To take a struggling child and put them in a French education system that is already failing 40% of their students, what chance would our children have to succeed? How much is a child’s future worth? How much can we sue Quebec for the violation of our basic human rights and our Canadian Charter Rights? How long would be a statute of limitation for parents to be able to sue the Quebec Government for the violation of our rights?
MtlQCAngloFranco
"Bill 104 shut that down in 2002 "
ReplyDeleteWasn't bill 104 sent back by the supreme court. As I understand they are preparinig bill 103 as a rebutttal. I am beginning to understand what some are indicating that Quebec is attempting to wipe out anglos or any other language than French.
Mississauga Guy said...
ReplyDeleteThis thing of a family being broken up violates the Quebec government's own Bill 101. Section 81 reads:
"81. Children having serious learning disabilities may, at the request of one of their parents, receive instruction in English if required to facilitate the learning process. The brothers and sisters of children thus exempted from the application of the first paragraph of section 72 may also be exempted."
Then there is the following: "85.1. Where warranted by a serious family or humanitarian situation, the Minister of Education may, upon a reasoned request and on the recommendation of the examining committee, declare eligible for instruction in English a child who has been declared non-eligible by a person designated by the Minister."
I simply cut and pasted the above two sections directly from the Quebec Government's website on Bill 101. I didn't change a single word.
Considering this is supposed to be a "federalist" government currently in Quebec, I don't see one iota of difference between the two different governments. As far as I'm concerned, they're ALL separatists. The way I see it now, both the PLQ and PQ are doing everything within their power to rid themselves of the Anglophone fact, and those who choose to remain are to suffer the consequences.
I was born and raised in Quebec through earning my baccalaureate, but I refuse to be buried in Quebec soil when my time comes. My parents and my aunt who passed last month are buried there, and my bro who still resides in Montreal may be, but I will remain true to Ontario, for sadly it has to suffice as my place of refuge, and my son was born in the land of the trillium, too. I believe my moving here decades ago emancipated him from a life that would have been much more difficult in Quebec.
The woman planing to send their son to Delaware to attend English school probably have relatives for the child to stay with. That would cut down on the costs.
ReplyDeleteThe better solution would have been if the child could stay with somebody in Ontario to attend a English school. That would have tied up the Quebec governments hands upon the childs return to Quebec. They would have had to let him go to English school in Quebec.
Either way, I'm glad the family went public. The Quebec government needs to be humiliated in the public forum.
Also, just as a side note, are we to take this as an example of how the government plans to handle requests to English schools under Bill 103.
Very discouraging.
Also, why are we always referring to laws as Bills, while the french refer to it as Law. As I understand it, a Bill needs to be adapted into Law or refused. Until then, it just a Bill and not a Law. Why do we refer to things in such a way. Is there something in our Parliementary system that allows this?
"Also, why are we always referring to laws as Bills..."
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my CEGEP profs had an answer for this. His theory was that the English media referred to the legislation as a Bill in an attempt to deny the importance, authority or validity of same.
Premièrement, je crois qu'il serait temps d'éliminer les écoles privées subventionnées. Un système comme au Québec n'existe pas ailleurs, les écoles privées relativement peu chères quant à leur coût réel en vient à placer en compétition le réseau public avec le réseau privé. En faisant cela, c'est évidemment moins de ressources financières pour le réseau public qui a l'OBLIGATION d'accepter tout le monde. Pour le réseau public anglophone, il existe uniquement pour les anglophones (soit moins de 10%) du Québec. Pour les autres, pas le choix, l'école française ! Et pourquoi pas jusqu'au CEGEP tant qu'à y être ? Finis de payer pour les ambitions personnelles de tous !
ReplyDeleteExcusez-moi, en lisant les commentaires, certains ayant trait aux écoles. Les gens et moi-même devrions lire l'éditorial au lieu de répondre aux commentaires qui des fois n'ont aucun rapport avec le sujet développé. Désolé !
ReplyDeleteRE: August 14, 2010 5:50 PM
ReplyDeletePour les autres, pas le choix, l'école française ! Et pourquoi pas jusqu'au CEGEP tant qu'à y être ?
Quebec subsidizes the private schools to make sure they comply with Bill 101, to make sure those who choose an education in the private system are not able to do so, without the certificate of English eligibility. A system like Quebec does not exist elsewhere because there is no other school system on the North American continent that denies a child’s entry to school based on their heritage or parents education within Canada. This concept is discriminatory and is inconceivable to most sane individuals. The public system is paid by our taxes, by all taxpaying Quebecers. We pay for a public education that we are not entitled to use. We pay for a private education, at an enormous cost, when our basic human right for a free public education at the primary education level is denied. To extend Bill 101 to force the CEGEP (College) students to go to French school will be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. The youth will fight this injustice. The Francophone youth know that these laws hurt nobody more than themselves, when it comes time to get a job anywhere outside of Quebec. Even within Quebec, there is a need to know English to communicate with the outside world. Just try getting a job in Montreal without some basic knowledge of English. I know you have your French laws saying French only, but even in Quebec, businesses need employees, who are versatile, flexible, open minded and able to compete globally. You’re advocating more barriers on Quebec Francophone & Allophone youths future to remain in involuntary servitude chained to an insolvent province for the duration of their lives. Quebec needs to come up with other ways to preserve French other than coercion.
MtlQCAngloFranco
Chere MtlQCAngloFranco,
ReplyDeleteLorsque vous dites que se sont les jeunes francophones qui sont pénalisés, je ne le crois pas. Premièrement, le but premier d'un État est de survivre en tant qu'entité collective. De ce fait, il est logique de souhaiter que les jeunes québécois décident en majorité de rester sur le territoire du Québec. Je ne dit pas qu'une connaissance de l'anglais n'est pas nécessaire mais je dis quelle n'a pas à être subventionnée par l'État qui francophone. Est-ce que les autres provinces payent des écoles en espagnol (langue autrement plus parlée en Amérique du Nord, Amérique centrale et Amérique du Sud) au élèves qui veulent apprendre cette langue afin de mener une carrière trans-amérique ? Une langue s'apprend lorsqu'elle est utile.
"Je ne dit pas qu'une connaissance de l'anglais n'est pas nécessaire mais je dis quelle n'a pas à être subventionnée par l'État qui francophone."
ReplyDeleteYou keep forgetting that Anglophones pay significant taxes in Quebec and that English is one of the official languages of Canada. Federal laws trump those of the provinces.
"Est-ce que les autres provinces payent des écoles en espagnol au élèves qui veulent apprendre cette langue afin de mener une carrière trans-amérique? Une langue s'apprend lorsqu'elle est utile."
Other provinces pay for French schooling. Most English speaking students are taught some French, and there are French immersion programs in English schools. There are also many French schools in other provinces.
The other Canadian provinces would be better off if they were teaching Spanish instead of French to English speaking students...this is the policy in most of the United States.
French is spoken by less than 10 million people in the Americas. Spanish is spoken by hundreds of millions. Spanish is a much more useful language than French.
RE: August 15, 2010 9:56 AM
ReplyDelete“Lorsque vous dites que se sont les jeunes francophones qui sont pénalisés, je ne le crois pas. Premièrement, le but premier d'un État est de survivre en tant qu'entité collective. De ce fait, il est logique de souhaiter que les jeunes québécois décident en majorité de rester sur le territoire du Québec.”
The key element in your argument is to have the majority of youth DECIDE to stay in Quebec. By clipping their wings linguistically and only giving them the opportunity to learn only one language, you are taking away their choice in the matter or ability to decide for themselves their future, whether or not they want to stay in Quebec. You are creating linguistic handicaps in young Francophones, who will soon be on the job market and unable to get a good paying job due to lack of communication skills, which are precious in any industry.
RE: “Je ne dit pas qu'une connaissance de l'anglais n'est pas nécessaire mais je dis quelle n'a pas à être subventionnée par l'État qui francophone.”
We are not asking for the province of Quebec to subsidize the English education. We want a choice to be able to learn English, if we want to. Quebec is subsidizing the private schools, to enforce Bill 101 to keep out the English students.
RE: “Est-ce que les autres provinces payent des écoles en espagnol (langue autrement plus parlée en Amérique du Nord, Amérique centrale et Amérique du Sud) au élèves qui veulent apprendre cette langue afin de mener une carrière trans-amérique ? Une langue s'apprend lorsqu'elle est utile.”
I cannot speak for other provinces. I don’t know what their language policies are. However, I know there is a trend in most educational institutions to encourage their youth to learn another language, no matter what language it may be. Having a second language gives you an edge on those, who only speak one language. Employers want resilient, resourceful, enthusiastic employees with a vision for the future of prosperity, with an inspiration to be one of the pioneers on the global network. The youth of today will need to be able to convince their future employers that they are on the cutting edge of technology and have the language skills with the ability to communicate with other individuals & languages to enhance their business on the global market. Quebec has an advantage of having access to different languages, where in the ROC or the U.S., it is primarily English. It is very difficult to learn another language without being immersed in it. Quebec with its diverse population, French, English, multilingual allophones could use its linguistic edge in a positive manner instead of destructive manner. It is a choice and Quebec is choosing a negative route to force people to do what it wants without their consent. This is wrong. The “collective” is made up of individuals: individuals, who are uniquely human in their desire for life, their goals, ambitions and direction in life. Quebec should not be taking away this choice for these young individuals: Anglophone, francophone, allophone. For each individual has basic human rights that should not be infringed upon, to create barriers to their peak potential or their life’s desires. We are not born to serve the state. We are born free to live as we choose.
Realistically you are right learning Spanish would be more useful in the rest of the U.S. The issue is the preservation of French. How could you preserve French without forcing people to speak it & learn it without their consent? It should be a choice to learn French, Spanish, German or Mandarin according to our personal preferences and life ambition. If we don’t speak a second language, that should be O.K., as well. In a democracy, we should be free to have choice. When choice is taken away, it is no longer a democracy.
MtlQCAngloFranco
"we should be free to have choice. When choice is taken away, it is no longer a democracy."
ReplyDeleteDaccord avec vous.Vous pouvez apprendre la langue que vous voulez mais a condition que ce ne soit pas a l'État Québécois de payer pour votre culture personnelle.
"Vous pouvez apprendre la langue que vous voulez mais a condition que ce ne soit pas a l'État Québécois de payer pour votre culture personnelle."
ReplyDeleteI'll repeat a previous response:
You keep forgetting that Anglophones pay significant taxes in Quebec and that English is one of the official languages of Canada. Federal laws trump those of the provinces.
By the way, the Quebecois state is being subsidized by money coming from English speaking provinces.
"...the Quebecois state is being subsidized by money coming from English speaking provinces..."
ReplyDeleteVous avez raison,personne de nos jours veut entendre la vérité.Nous évoluons dans un monde injuste et cruel.