Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Sometimes it Isn't About Language

Years ago, a supervisor, working under my jurisdiction was hauled before an Ontario Labour Relations Board in relation to an alleged unjustified termination of an employee. The person in question had complained that she had been fired because she was Black.
Now the incident took place in Eastern Ontario, but the supervisor was based in western Quebec and she was a bit uneasy testifying in English, although she was quite bilingual. I told her not to worry and just tell the truth.
During the proceedings, my supervisor testified that it was she herself who hired the employee, so she was hardly prejudiced. She went on to describe a litany of problems with the employee, including missed shifts, tardiness, laziness and rudeness to clients as the reason for the firing. In her words, "she was the shittiest hire I ever made."

The judge looked up, perhaps unaccustomed to such language, but took it in good stride.
"Let me make a note of that " he said. "S-H-I-T-T-Y  E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-E" he repeated, as he wrote on a pad before him officiously, in mock seriousness. I could only imagine the scene!"

The complaint was eventually dismissed and when I got the news, I asked the supervisor into my office to congratulate her on the victory.  I asked her if she learned anything from the affair.

 "Yes,  I'm not not going to be hiring any more Black people!"

YIKES!!!!!!

Sometimes, it isn't about language, nor about race, colour or creed. Sometimes you get fired because you're just a shitty employee.

Last week I read an article by sportswriter Serge Touchette who complained that Francophones don't get enough chances as coaches or assistant coaches in the NHL.
"It would be too easy to blame the NHL of racism against French coaches, but it's reasonable to ask serious questions." LINK
Argghh.......

The writer complained that jobs were scarce for Francophone coaches and perhaps if Mario Tremblay, who recently departed as assistant coach on the New Jersey Devils was English, there'd be a pile of offers waiting for him.
It's always easy to blame language and it happens all to often in Quebec, especially with francophone sports writers, who see a grand NHL conspiracy to keep Francophones out of the league. It is a ludicrous scenario, but one that rears it's ugly head much too often.

In the French media. 'Crying wolf' in relation to language, is not uncommon.
(By the way, I offer links to explain some of the idiomatic expressions that I include. For native English speakers they are 'easy as pie' to understand but may be unfamiliar to the many francophone readers who populate this blog)

That being said, Francophones are not the only ones guilty of falsely complaining of discrimination, we Anglos are guilty as well.

Every now and then we hear complaints that Anglos are under-represented in the Quebec civil service with just 2% of the jobs as opposed to the 8½% of the general population.
Is this because of discrimination?

It's an easy argument to make, but one that is false. Most Anglos prefer to work in an environment where they can use their English. It isn't more complicated than that and it isn't about racism or discrimination.

Last week Concordia University in Montreal asked the downtown borough council if they could close down a street to hold a concert to celebrate Frosh week. The council refused, in spite of the fact that the student council agreed to  hold the concert earlier and move it to a more commercial street block, one where most of the business' are related to the school.
The council didn't budge, notwithstanding that streets are closed all the time for the Grand Prix, the Just for Laughs Festival, parades, etc.etc.
Some grumbled that the school was refused the permit because they were English.

I can tell you from personal experience that living around the downtown school is a nightmare and it actually caused me to move away. Unlike McGill (which is also a downtown university) which has a large quad, Concordia has no campus, it is a complex of tall buildings, smack dab in the middle of downtown Montreal. Students, to put it bluntly, are a pain in the ass to the locals.
Its likely that the borough objected to another drunken party in the streets and it happened to have nothing to do with language.

Finally, I came across this piece in a blog over at Coolopolis, where someone wondered if the requirement to post the name of the pharmacist on the front door of the pharmacy was somehow a plot  by the governing body to highlight those pharmacies which were Jewish or Anglo owned so 'good francophones' could avoid them.

Hmmm.....I don't think so.

97 comments:

  1. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montreal+newspaper+defends+Jewish+cartoon/3378619/story.html

    Speaking of racist French Quebecois....

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  2. Mississauga Guy here.

    Holy moly! Is Bob Sirois back in town? I never thought much of Mario Tremblay as a player (he was a bloody goon), a coach (for how he humiliated Patrick Roy off the team, but they were both a couple of hotheads) and as a human being (for once not standing for the national anthem--and the Habs' big brass gave him s--t for that, and rightfully so).

    Add to that dynamic duo Claude Brochu for running the Expos into the ground, and playing the Canadian National Anthem one hour before gametime on la fête separatiste so as not to offend the one or two separatists who went to baseball games mostly to gorge on chiens chaud and guzzle beer. The only people within earshot of the anthem at that hour are the groundskeepers and minions of concessionnaires. The U.S. anthem was played, as usual, immediately before first pitch.

    Sirois, Brochu and Tremblay are Les Trois Larbins or The Three Stooges--Québécois style!

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  3. There's a reason why Anglos are underrepresented in the public service.

    1. They can't write French very well.
    2. There aren't that many in Quebec City, or outside of Montreal, where many of the jobs are.
    3. Working for a separatist government (when it's in power) just isn't that appealing.

    Sometimes Anglos suck precisely because they don't have the language background to do the job. Perhaps it's time Quebec considered making French first language education obligatory for all Anglo schools. Everyone learns the same curriculum. If you fail that course, repeat it until you get it right.

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  4. Again petits Québécois...Uff...What a boring, useless way of living! The only verb they can use is "to complain", which seems to be the most popular among them. Just, jettison them and let's go on living peacefully the only life we have!
    Anyway, petits Québécois, especially the unilingual ones, do not deserve any better than being poor, miserable and downtrodden...

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  5. ''It's an easy argument to make, but one that is false. Most Anglos prefer to work in an environment where they can use their English. It isn't more complicated than that and it isn't about racism or discrimination.''
    Merci Monsieur l'Éditeur, vous avez résumé en quelques lignes ce pourquoi la majorité québécoise se bat depuis des siècles... Remplacez les mots ''Anglos'' and ''English'' et vous pouvez ravalez vos insultes gratuites et autres comment dites-vous ''bigotry'' envers les francophones ! Québec français !

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  6. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Anti+Semitic+racist+graffiti+found/3134423/story.html What ! In Dollard des Ormeaux ! West Island ! It must be guys from East Montréal ! I'm kidding ! Maybe we can do good propaganda with that ! On va vous servir la même médecine que vous servez aux francophones depuis 1995 ! Je préfère ne pas habiter un West Island anti-sémite ! Devrais-je déménager dans la merveilleuse ville de Mississauga: Where you the shopping centre is the main attraction.

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  7. "There's a reason why Anglos are underrepresented in the public service."

    Parfaitement daccord avec vous Suzanne.Que dire de plus.J'apprécie la concision de votre style et la justesse de vos propos.

    Merci!

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  8. @ Suzanne:

    "There's a reason why Anglos are underrepresented in the public service.
    1. They can't write French very well."

    Many Francophones can't write French very well themselves. The Quebecois have the highest illiteracy rate in Canada.

    "Perhaps it's time Quebec considered making French first language education obligatory for all Anglo schools."

    Perhaps the provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba (and others) should do the same thing with their French schools and make education in the English language obligatory.

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  9. ''It's an easy argument to make, but one that is false. Most Anglos prefer to work in an environment where they can use their English"

    J'espère que vous comprenez qu le Québec n'est pas l'endroit idéal pour vous.Sinon vous n'êtes pas très très rapide.

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  10. "Again petits Québécois...Uff...What a boring, useless..."

    Je suppose que vous faites parti de ces anglos incapables d'écrire une ligne de texte en Français.Je me trompe?

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  11. "Many Francophones can't write French very well themselves"

    Je crois que la présence anglophone y est pour quelques chose.

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  12. To anonymous petit Québécis AUGUST 10, 2010 10:49 AM --> Vous vous trompez, parce que je suis capable d'écrire en italien, en allemand, en anglais et en français... Désolé de vous décevoir, mais votre bile a été déchargée inutilement ! Et désolé aussi de voir que vous faites partie de ce 99% des petits Québécois croyant être les seuls capables d'écrire en français !

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  13. Mississauga Guy here.

    I lucked out in Summer 1980 and worked for Revenu Québec. I was attending Concordia U and got the job through the Quebec Government's Student Placement Service. The job was interesting at first, but the best part was I was immersed in French. I was outside my comfort zone, but I figured if anything it will boost my French, and it was a worthwhile challenge.

    I think the most fascinating part came early because two weeks after I started, the first Referendum took place. Government workers are not supposed to wear anything with respect to an election or referendum, but I sure remember the "OUI" lapel pins worn by some officials, one on both lapels!

    Nevertheless, the next day, zero was said about the results and it was just another work day. I would have liked to assume a career with the Quebec Civil Service, and while that job helped my French, I applied a few times and no luck. Finally, I concluded Anglophones were persona non grata. Four weeks vacation for the first 17 years of employment, top-notch medical benefits and a generous, comfortable retirement plan were very enticing, but unattainable.

    [Former MNA] Reed Scowen's book "Time to Say Goodbye" punctuated what I thought to be true. Scowen approached Louis Bernard about two months after the PQ first got elected to determine what his role would be in government. At that time, Scowen was an unelected senior bureaucrat. Bernard, at that time the Chef du conseil, i.e., the highest ranking unelected civil servant in the Quebec government suggested Scowen simply resign as there would be no senior roles for Anglophones in the civil service.

    Scowen considered this to be one bookend of time between that meeting, and 20 years later when he wrote the book. In that time, Bernard's advice proved to be correct, much to Scowen's chagrin. Nevertheless, Scowen ran for office in the NDG constituency and represented that riding for nine years, from 1978-1987. He was subsequently a Bourassa appointee at Quebec House (a trade commission) for several years after that in New York and London.

    I'm sure he's been living quite well on his pension plans as a senior bureaucrat in the federal and Quebec governments + the nine years or so he was an MNA.

    Getting into middle or senior management in the Quebec Civil Service is winning the lottery!

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  14. To anonymous August 10, 2010 10:19 AM:'' Many Francophones can't write French very well themselves. The Quebecois have the highest illiteracy rate in Canada.'' Vous ne faites que colporter des idées fausses et des préjugés justifiant votre manque de volonté quant à votre intégration à la majorité francophone. Il a été prouvé qu'au contraire les gens s'expriment mieux qu'auparavant et que le niveau de scolarité augmente également !

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  15. Mississauga: where your wallet is big like your head.

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  16. "Vous vous trompez, parce que je suis capable d'écrire en italien, en allemand, en anglais et en français... Désolé de vous décevoir, mais votre bile a été déchargée inutilement ! Et désolé aussi de voir que vous faites partie de ce 99% des petits Québécois croyant être les seuls capables d'écrire en français !"

    Alors,qu'attendez-vous signore!

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  17. Mississauga: Center of the universe?Or bedroom of Toronto?

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  18. To anonymous August 10, 2010 1:00 PM: Petit machin chose, vous me prêtez des intentions que je n'ai pas. J'ai seulement dit qu'il était fréquent d'entendre que les Québécois ne savent ni parler ni écrire le français. Ceci étant, on colporte ces idées afin de justifier une mauvaise foi latente. I can write english and spanish too, if I can learn others language, no problema ! Je ne méprise pas les gens comme vous le faites ! En incorporant le 99 % et en mettant l'adjectif ''petit'', vous ne maîtrisez ni les statistiques ni le vocabulaire nécessaire à un reflet réel de la situation. Désolé pour l'objectivité, on repassera... peut-être par Mississauga (farce)...

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  19. To Anonymous at 12:55 PM:

    "Il a été prouvé qu'au contraire les gens s'expriment mieux qu'auparavant et que le niveau de scolarité augmente également!"

    Now don't get all flustered.
    Statistics show that the Quebecois have the highest illiteracy rate in Canada. They also have the highest high school drop-out rate. These are simple facts.

    "...votre manque de volonté quant à votre intégration à la majorité francophone."

    The Quebecois should be integrated into the much larger English speaking majority of Canada and North America. The French language is already on the way out. The language of international communication and commerce is English.

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  20. @ Anonymous at 1:13 PM:

    "Mississauga: Center of the universe?Or bedroom of Toronto?"

    It is unfortunate that you cannot come up with any valid arguments...so you post these ridiculously stupid statements.

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  21. "The Quebecois should be integrated into the much larger English speaking majority of Canada and North America. The French language is already on the way out. The language of international communication and commerce is English"

    Alors,aucune raison de vous plaindre,vous êtes les maîtres de la planète...sauf du Québec.

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  22. Signore, je m'en balance de votre révision arrogante démontrant encore une fois que les Québécois manquent de savoir faire et savoir vivre et qu'il faut qu'ils commencent à maîtriser moins de condescendance et plus de humilité.

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  23. Stop with the anglo appeasement, trying to label what goes on in Quebec as popular myths or exaggerations. This whole province is nothing more than one giant criminal infraction, against basic human rights. Quebec is an unfair and untrustworthy place run by racist and xenophobic rednecks. Nothing is functional here, it's a mess, it is pure HELL.

    I've long ago given up hope on this hell hole (I can't even call it a province anymore--a "province" follows Canadian laws, beliefs and freedoms). Nothing makes me more sick than anyone, to any degree, trying to downplay or lighten the injustices here in some sad pathetic attempt to get the Quebecois to play nice and like you, maybe spare you their hate. Well guess what, no amount of appeasement will do anything. They will always hate you and be a bunch of grade A assholes.

    Quebec is total and utter failure. The best one can do is escape it by LEAVING.

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  24. Nous trouvons votre compatriote "Mississauga Guy"
    vraiment drôle.Vous croyez réellement que ses longues anecdotes insipides apportent quelques choses au débat?

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  25. "...Québécois manquent de savoir faire et savoir vivre et qu'il faut qu'ils commencent à maîtriser moins de condescendance et plus de humilité."

    Nous sommes supérieurs,pas de fausse modestie...ça ne prend pas!L'humilité?...Connais pas.Basta amigo!

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  26. "Quebec is total and utter failure. The best one can do is escape it by LEAVING."

    N'ayez craintes,nous travaillons sur le dossier.J'espère qu'au prochain référendum,vous laisserez vos pancartes dans la garage.

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  27. Too bad the Mississauge Guy doesn't have your address. He could mail you a Massassauga rattlesnake. That would perk you up quickly.

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  28. "Nous sommes supérieurs,pas de fausse modestie...ça ne prend pas!"

    This sounds oddly familiar. Something similar was said in Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. Oh yeah...they called themselves the master race.
    Quebec's language laws would have made the Nazi leadership smile.
    Quebec even has its own version of the Hitler Youth; they're called the Jeunes Patriotes du Quebec.

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  29. Massassauga rattlesnake? hahahahaha!I like that!
    Vous êtes sympathique.

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  30. "...amount of appeasement will do anything. They will always hate you and be a bunch of grade A assholes."

    Votre petite amie vous a abandonné?Ha oui? Elle est Québécoise?Ok...Je comprend.Poor little boy!

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  31. "Votre petite amie vous a abandonné?Ha oui? Elle est Québécoise?Ok...Je comprend.Poor little boy!"

    If you have a "petite amie Quebecoise," she probably works at a strip club. After all, Montreal is renowned throughout North America for its many strip clubs. I suppose the poor girls can't make money anywhere else...

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  32. N'ayez craintes,nous travaillons sur le dossier.J'espère qu'au prochain référendum,vous laisserez vos pancartes dans la garage.

    Ya, next time it will be different. Thanks to the internet, Canadians are slowly learning who the Quebecois really are and what they are doing. There will be no love lost. Canada has given enough; Quebec has taken enough. Ciao baby!

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  33. To anonymous August 10, 2010 1:56 PM: ''à maîtriser moins de condescendance'' Premièrement, la condescendance ne se maîtrise pas, on en manifeste comme vous le faite probablement. Laissez donc les Québécois en paix, ils ne vous demandent rien.

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  34. To anonymous August 10, 2010 2:08 PM '' Arrogance? Don't you know that the French are called "the arrogant race." And you are a prime example...'' C'est un blogue s'amusant à faire du Québec bashing, pas du France bashing ! Désolé Monsieur, les Québécois parlent français mais ne sont pas des Français ! Vous êtes égarés !

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  35. Mississauga: Where time is like our parking lot, there's place for fill it.

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  36. Mississauga: The verruca of TO.

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  37. "C'est un blogue s'amusant à faire du Québec bashing, pas du France bashing ! Désolé Monsieur, les Québécois parlent français mais ne sont pas des Français !"

    The Quebecois are just as arrogant as the French in France - perhaps more so. And you don't speak French...you speak vulgar and slang joual!

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  38. "Laissez donc les Québécois en paix, ils ne vous demandent rien."

    The Quebecois are always making demands on Anglophones in Quebec and Canadians in the rest of the country. They have been doing so for decades!
    When you get rid of your fascist language laws and leave the English in Quebec alone, then we will leave you alone.

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  39. "Canadians are slowly learning who the..."

    Slowly,vous dites?Et comment!

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  40. "les Québécois parlent français mais ne sont pas des Français ! Vous êtes égarés ! "

    Bien sur pas, vous parlez le joual, pas le francais comme vous dit.

    Chus Quebecois m'va parle le joual . Ahhh Ouais.

    Even the real French find their distance cousins distasteful and without class.

    The Quebecois are disliked for the most part wherever they go (Cuba, France, Florida, Dominican, Mexico etc etc etc etc). Loud, ignorant, arrogant and extremely cheap when it comes to tipping service staff.

    I am glad they call themselves Quebecois and wear the blue flags as it distinguishes them from the rest of Canada.

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  41. If you want to coach in the NHL, learn how to speak English idiots. Think about it for a minute. You are a coach, your job is to motivate, to communicate, to inspire…etc. If you don’t have the language skills to communicate your message properly, you lose players and eventually the entire team… Its called common sense you metis/french clowns. If you don’t like it, stay and coach in the province of kebec. If you want to coach in the NHL, ESL clowns, ESL.

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  42. Les derniers anglophones que j'ai apperçu au Québec devaient être des touristes...forts sympas dailleurs.Ils avaient même l'air heureux de s'adresser a nous en Français.Ma conjointe et moi nous sommes regardés abasourdis et avons repris notre chemin en silence encore sous le choc.

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  43. "I suppose the poor girls can't make money anywhere else... "

    Je suis certain qu'elle est plus riche que vous.
    Quand on a de gros seins,pourquoi pas les rentabiliser.Par contre quand on est un gros teton,c'est une autre histoire...
    Et svp la prochaine fois que vous viendrez visité
    ce genre d'endroit a l'insu de votre femme,ayez donc l'obligeance de retirer vos chaussettes brunes de vos sandales,comme ça vous aurez l'air moins anglo.

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  44. "...you speak vulgar and slang joual!"
    Maybe but....We've got the power!

    Et le joual ce n'est rien d'autre que le Français souillé par l'anglais.

    We've got the power!

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  45. "I am glad they call themselves Quebecois and wear the blue flags as it distinguishes them from the rest of Canada."

    And what about jelly belly canadians with a red flag?Whith a brown sox in theirs sandals.God shave the queen!

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  46. 3:03PM: That's not entirely true. Many of the Montreal strippers come to the Toronto suburbs and other areas to work. Many, many years ago I used to go to the Million Dollar Club now and then in Brampton, and most of the young ladies working there were from Montreal (and you knew because they spoke French to each other). Chez Parée also opened a club in Brampton a long time ago. Now that I'm passed that period of my life, I don't know if either club is still there.

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  47. To anonymous August 10, 2010 3:44 PM :''Bien sur pas, vous parlez le joual, pas le francais comme vous dit.

    Chus Quebecois m'va parle le joual . Ahhh Ouais.'' Really ? You don't speak british english and I understand you ? What's your point ? There's a popular language called joual that in fact is not very popular but folk. Québécois don't learn joual like usual way of talk or write. It's about the same for SLANG english ! Cet argument est vieux comme le Canada ! Et je vous informe tout de suite que malgré tout ce que vous pouvez penser: Oui le Québec a une langue officielle: le français et les Québécois parlent bien le français. Si vous n'êtes pas convaincu, je vous suggère le Petit Robert des noms propres (French dictionnary of proper names)à la lettre ''Q'', si la lettre ne vous dit rien, regardez d'où sortent vos paroles, cela vous guidera... By the way maybe you feeling airhead (slang meaning) now ! If you don't know about slang, look this link: http://www.world-english.org/slang_world.htm

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  48. Mississauga: Where fun is a quest for life.

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  49. "And what about jelly belly canadians with a red flag?Whith a brown sox in theirs sandals.God shave the queen!"

    Their bellies aren't as big as the May-West, sugar pie and poutine eating, pepsi-swilling Quebecois...they have so much hair on their feet...you can't even see their sandals!

    Canadians (minus Quebecois) are admired (along with their red flag) around the world. We have the most desirable passport on the planet. Most people elsewhere don't know what the Quebec flag is...toilet paper perhaps?

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  50. C'est quoi ces analyses sociologiques à deux balles ? Le Canada anglais profond, vous connaissez ? Chapeau de cowboy, root beer et hamburgers ? Des gens mal élevés, il y en a partout et dans toutes les cultures. Sortez de Mississauga un peu !

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  51. ''Dis-moi qui tu fréquentes, je te dirai qui tu es''

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  52. Mississauga: Where chicks is only in supermarket.

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  53. @ 4:57 PM
    "That's not entirely true. Many of the Montreal strippers come to the Toronto suburbs and other areas to work."

    I meant the poor girls couldn't make money outside of the sex trade.

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  54. Avec vos généralisations racistes, vous incarnez ce que vous dénoncez ! Pauvres vous ! C'est pas sérieux...

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  55. Québec français ! Montréal français ! Ottawa bilingue !

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  56. Missisauga:Where architects don't burn out

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  57. "There's a popular language called joual that in fact is not very popular but folk. Québécois don't learn joual like usual way of talk or write"

    Is that why they subtitle Quebecois movies for viewers in France. So the real french people can understand the imitation french spoken in Quebec. Tu as raison, le joual est une officiale langue du Canada, je suis d'accorde.

    "There's a popular language called joual that in fact is not very popular but folk "

    Read what you just wrote. Must be popular in Quebec as this is the lingua franco of the Quebecois. ;) In other words Quebecois french is slang (joual).

    "And what about jelly belly canadians"

    Already discussed in another thread...reserved for the Quebecois at Old Orchard beach in Maine wearing knock off speedos with stuffed socks ..who attend with their 180 lb femmes wearing skimpy bikinis with the appearance of newly opened bags of pink insulation.

    "Et le joual ce n'est rien d'autre que le Français souillé par l'anglais."

    Maybe you should go all the way and just speak english rather than bastardized french.

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  58. I live in Ottawa and I can tell you that, outside of city hall, it will never be bilingual. The English have begun to fight back. We even have a strong candidate for mayor in the upcoming election who has talked about making city hall English-only again. If Gatineau, which is also part of the National Capital Region, is unilingual French, then Ottawa should be unilingual English.

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  59. "Québec français ! Montréal français ! Ottawa bilingue ! "

    I doubt it very much. Canada is "not" a bilingual country. French in Quebec and a bit in New Brunswick and everything else is english.

    The assimilation is well underway. Montreal is well on its way to more english speakers. Hell, when you order some food in downtown Montreal they look at you like a lizard if you order in french as they expect anglais. ..so goes Montreal...so goes Quebec. Just a matter of time.

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  60. "Their bellies aren't as big as the May-West, sugar pie and poutine eating, pepsi-swilling Quebecois..."

    McDonald,Burger king,Harvey's,Wendy's, Denny's,A&W,KFC,Taco bell,Dairy queen,Pizza hut,Domino's pizza,etc.

    Avez-vous remarquez que les noms Francophones sont plutôt absents.Les rois de la friture,du gras,du sucre et du sel,c'est pas nous!

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  61. ''Canadians (minus Quebecois) are admired (along with their red flag) around the world. We have the most desirable passport on the planet. Most people elsewhere don't know what the Quebec flag is...toilet paper perhaps? '' If I follow your logic, you admit that Québec is not Canada and in this case you give your voice to the independence ! Thanks ! Admired: not for the treatment of the minorities (included natives, and francophones outside Québec), not for the behavior of the canadians soldiers, etc...

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  62. "Les rois de la friture,du gras,du sucre et du sel,c'est pas nous!"

    Been to la belle province, Chicken St. Hubert or a sugar shack lately. Of course its you..go have another bowl of poutine and jug of pepsi you hypocrite.

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  63. "The assimilation is well underway. Montreal is well on its way to more english speakers. Hell, when you order some food in downtown Montreal they look at you like a lizard if you order in french as they expect anglais. ..so goes Montreal...so goes Quebec. Just a matter of time."

    Merci de contribuer a l'indépendance du Québec.Vous le faite mieux que moi qui est le souverainiste le plus convaincu qui soit.Votre texte nous sera fort utile surtout lorsqu'il sera question de renforcer nos lois.Si on vous regarde comme un lézard,c'est probablement parceque vous avez l'apparence d'un lézard.En tout cas vous avez la langue fourchue d'un reptile bien rampant comme on les aimes.

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  64. "...you speak vulgar and slang joual!"
    Maybe but....We've got the power!

    For now you have the power of threats and extortion, but I doubt you will have that advantage forever. Cocky and snotty people usually get a smack down at some point. I can see through your transparent tactics; that is to be so aggressive, ill-mannered and repulsive that Canadians cry out in frustration, ‘Leave, please just go away’. You may one day achieve your dream, because you are prepared to live a life of hate, fear and loathing, and to compromise your integrity, humanity, and decency to get there. I beleive you would rub yourself in feces and ride the bus in Westmount, if you thought it would piss off the Anglos. Your desperate and deceitful maneuvers are common knowledge now. If it were up to me, I would cut your allowance and ground you for good like the juvenile delinquent you are. No money OR freedom for you. You aren’t going anywhere sucker! How do you like me now?

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  65. "McDonald,Burger king,Harvey's,Wendy's, Denny's,A&W,KFC,Taco bell,Dairy queen,Pizza hut,Domino's pizza,etc. Avez-vous remarquez que les noms Francophones sont plutôt absents."

    Most of these franchises are American in origin, which explains the English names. And Francophones love going to these restaurants in Quebec too.

    The Quebecois may not be the kings of frying fat and salt, but they are definitely the kings of sugar: they love their May-Wests, Jos-Louis cakes, sugar pie, maple syrup, pepsi and other sweet soft drinks. This is the cause of the rotten teeth or complete lack of teeth of many Francophones.

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  66. "How do you like me now?"

    Are you married?

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  67. "lack of teeth of many Francophones."

    Je connais une fille (anglo) qui n'a plus de dents et dans certaines circonstances je vous confirme que c'est vraiment une qualité...vous voulez son mail.

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  68. Anonymous said...

    Are you married?

    Désolé, je ne suis pas intéressé. Je ne fais pas de reproduction entre les espèces.

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  69. Mississauga Guy! Where are you?I want a story before going to bed.C'mon Missi i know you're reading me...

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  70. "Merci de contribuer a l'indépendance du Québec"

    Pas de problem, you will never leave as you and your like are just gutless people who are afraid to leave as in 1980 and 1995, You really are a joke....Now, I would like Quebec to leave as I feel Canada would be a much greater nation without the constant bickering of the sniveling and whining Quebecois separatists. If your cause had any merit you would already be gone...not the case...pour quoi. I guess you love the money from the ROC too much or as I said are gutless people with no real conviction. The assimilation continues...I really don't know why you utilize your joual on an anglo blog...Very ridiculous just as your convulated thinking and commnets. Why doh't you post in english so would understand all your caustic comments. I think it is pretty obvious that most on this blog can read joual so I don't know what you trying to accomplish other than to illustrate your childish mentality..Of course you likely one of the JP an are about 15 years old from you logic. I am sure you have many brown shirts in you closet. Pathic little soul you appear to be. Go order some St. Hubert for you and your girlfriend and dream of making another citizen for the fatherland. Quebec is a joke and an embarrasment to Canada.

    When can we expect you to be leaving, any time soon?

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  71. To anonymouy August 10, 2010 5:48 PM :''je suis d'accorde.'' Avant de parler de la qualité de la langue des autres, je ferais de sérieux efforts au niveau de l'écrit. Dans votre cas, ''je vous l'accorde'', il y a une lacune By the way if joual is an official language like you say, SLANG is the other official language of Canada !

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  72. Mississauga: Where we think our grass is greener than the other places.

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  73. To ICU August 10, 2010 7:04 PM '' I beleive you would rub yourself in feces and ride the bus in Westmount, if you thought it would piss off the Anglos.'' Prenez une double dose de valium avec un bon scotch, ça va vous relaxer ! Par ailleurs, en parlant de haine, vous en démontré énormément, problèmes sexuels ? Westmount, on attend pas, on achète à l'Ouest et on reprend possession de la Ville de Montréal !

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  74. To Anonymous said... August 10, 2010 5:55 PM

    '' I live in Ottawa and I can tell you that, outside of city hall, it will never be bilingual. The English have begun to fight back. We even have a strong candidate for mayor in the upcoming election who has talked about making city hall English-only again. If Gatineau, which is also part of the National Capital Region, is unilingual French, then Ottawa should be unilingual English.'' Why it will never be bilingual in Ottawa, the capital of the most open country, where difference is a virtue and where we giving lesson to others ? En passant, la géographie n'est pas votre force, Ottawa (ville) est la capitale du pays (bilingue officiellement, unilingue officieusement) et il existe une région qui s'appelle la Région de la Capitale Nationale. Cette dernière n'a aucune fonction politique. À ce compte, Québec est bien notre Capitale Nationale ! Nous sommes déjà indépendants ?

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  75. Just continue to speak your SLANG english and just give us a break with the joual. Quoique vous pensez, le français est la langue écrite et parlée au Québec. Les français mettent des sous-titres dû aux expressions et à l'accent. Pour avoir rencontré bien des français, il n'y a aucun problème de communication. Why British put subtitles when there's movie shoot in Texas, Scotland (they speak english too) or Australia ? You know nothing about french, just take a book and read, it will give you more than talking like a ''boozehound'' (slang).

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  76. "When can we expect you to be leaving, any time soon?"

    Pouvez-vous écrire en Espagnole si vous êtes
    incapable en Français car j'ai vraiment beaucoup de difficultés a décoder le "slang"? De plus vos propos semblent plutôt incohérents,chaotiques et impreignés de colère.Calmez-vous mon garçon.

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  77. "Désolé, je ne suis pas intéressé. Je ne fais pas de reproduction entre les espèces."

    Qui a parlé de reproduction?

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  78. Mississauga:where BBQ is fine cuisine.

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  79. "Canada would be a much greater nation..."

    Impossible!Vous avez déja atteint la perfection.
    Surtout avec l'histoire d'Omar Khadr qui fait le tour du monde présentement...nous sommes très fières d'être encore au sein du Canada...Ho my god!

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  80. Granted all regions of the world have different accents for the same language. I'll give you that. However the SOUND of Quebecois Joual is, to put it lightly, UNLIKE ANYTHING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

    Well there is one comparison: The stereotypical Hillbilly accent (only more bouncy and harsher on the ears). I'm not trying to be facetious, I'm serious. It sounds so lowbrow, lacking in grace and unintelligible. Go watch an episode of The Flintstones dubbed in Quebec, listen to the voice of Fred for a perfect example of Joual. :)

    And you know, I think French is a *beautiful* sounding language, whether spoken or through song. But remember, Quebecois Joual to French, is hillbilly to British English.

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  81. Very funny concerning about the spoken English language. Sometimes it is not about language.

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  82. Mississauga: Where sandwich is fine cuisine and where Budweiser is high class.

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  83. Suzanne said... August 10, 2010 8:59 AM

    "There's a reason why Anglos are underrepresented in the public service.

    1. They can't write French very well.
    2. There aren't that many in Quebec City, or outside of Montreal, where many of the jobs are.
    3. Working for a separatist government (when it's in power) just isn't that appealing.

    Sometimes Anglos suck precisely because they don't have the language background to do the job."

    Nice try, but wrong. Stats for English
    speakers in the Quebec civil service:

    509 in 2002-2003 (0.7%) to 519 in 2006-2007
    (0.8%), a net gain of 10 positions or 0.1% in
    five years. 5.3% of the Quebec civil service is
    made up of people other than French Canadian,
    while ethnic minorities, English Canadians and
    Aboriginal peoples make up more than 20% of the
    Quebec population.

    Rationalize that! Why should anyone care how
    separtist/racist the civil service is? Because
    THEY run Quebec. Works that way in a British
    parlimentary (in Quebecs case pseudo)democracy.

    For a humorous explanation of the system:

    http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/3502063/9727741

    The shows called yes minister

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  84. "UNLIKE ANYTHING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD."

    Etes-vous vraiment un spécialiste de la phonétique?Avez-vous vraiment fait le tour du monde pour comparer les milliers de variantes phonétiques et linguistiques?anthropologue?Linguiste?Ou êtes vous simplement un raciste qui porte des jugements sur autrui en fonction de caractéristiques physiques ou phonétiques?

    Puisque vous semblez apprécier les dessins animés,voici une petite anecdote: Matt Groening, concepteur et réalisateur des simpsons,
    considère et de loin que la meilleure traduction de sa célèbre télé-série ainsi que "le film" a été réalisée...au Québec en Québécois.Ouch!

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  85. Suzanne: "Perhaps it's time Quebec considered making French first language education obligatory for all Anglo schools"

    If French is made "first language" in English schools, they would no longer be English schools, would they?

    It's funny how you're leaning towards taking away one of a few rights the English community still has in the province AND (on top of it) you're selling it as something good ("that way they'll be able to get government jobs"). It's an old separatist trick, and cynical too. Nobody will fall for it, you know.

    Suzanne: “They can't write French very well.”

    Some of them can and it still doesn’t help them. As Reed Scowen’s case demonstrates, the problem is not always with how well the Anglos can write French, it’s rather that they are Anglos. Simple as that. So it may not always be discrimination, but sometimes it can well be. And when it comes to language and Quebec, discrimination can never be ruled out.

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  86. "...UNLIKE ANYTHING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.""

    Effectivement,On a le contrôle sur vous!Désolé.

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  87. "Désolé, je ne suis pas intéressé."

    Oups!C'est moi qui suis désolé...J'étais certain que vous étiez une femme.

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  88. " Why doh't you post in english so would understand all your caustic comments."

    Ha! Les avantages du bilinguisme,faut apprendre le Français dude...on est en 2010!

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  89. "Ha! Les avantages du bilinguisme,faut apprendre le Français dude...on est en 2010!"

    You stupid f'king frog. I would estimate that 95% of people here already can understand your joual writing. So, the point is, why write in french. It is, after all, basically an anglo blog. Vous ne parlez pas français, vous parlez joual, un faiblesse de tout des Quebecois.

    Si vous voulez parler correctement, consultez un anglo qui a appris la bonne version de la langue francaise. You know, one of those anglo schools who have low drop out rates and teach the young both languages.

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  90. On ne parle pas ici,on écrit.Pourquoi être aussi agressif et désagréable?Vous n'appréciez pas la qualité de mon Français ou vous n'aimez simplement pas les Québécois?Faut vous adaptez amigo,ce sont et seront les nouvelles règles,Vous jouez avec nous ou vous partez.

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  91. "You know, one of those anglo schools who have low drop out rates and teach the young both languages."

    Pouvez-vous nous donner les noms et les adresses de ces établissements.Question d'aller vérifier par nous même si l'enseignement y est adéquat.Laissez les spécialistes faire leur travail.

    Merci pour votre collaboration.

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  92. Mississauga:Where rattlessnakes eat frogs

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  93. "Faut vous adaptez amigo,ce sont et seront les nouvelles règles,Vous jouez avec nous ou vous partez. "

    No, we aren't going anywhere its the Quebecois who will be leaving by their own wishes. Unfortunately, they cannot seem to find a ticket out of Canada. Perhaps they can't afford to buy one?

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  94. "Perhaps they can't afford to buy one?"

    Nous allons piger dans notre tirelire canadienne...vous avez un problème avec ça?

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  95. Oh my god ! It's not only the corner of the streets that are square !

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  96. "Nous allons piger dans notre tirelire canadienne...vous avez un problème avec ça?"

    Would that be a surprize!

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  97. How do you get four Quebecois to sit on a chair?

    ...Turn it upside down.

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