Friday, May 20, 2011

French versus English - Volume 27


Canadian Sale on 'Patriotes' holiday irks Separatists
Years ago the PQ government changed the Fête de Dollard, (which had been changed from Victoria Day) to the Journée nationale des patriotes, ostensibly to commemorate the so-called 'Patriots' of the
Lower Canada Rebellion in 1837.
The holiday which coincides with Victoria Day in the rest of Canada fast became Quebec's unofficial separatist holiday.
Imagine the rage in the sovereignist camp when an American chain store, operating in Canada, adopted the U.S tradition of naming a sale after the holiday and used a big red Maple Leaf to announce the  "Fête des patriotes Sale" 
Of course Mario Beaulieu, the head of the militant Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, hit the roof and waded in with his usual indignation; 

"Already, the name of the company, 'The Children's Place, 'shows that there is no great respect for Quebec and its common language."  
After a couple of calls to the New Jersey Head-office, the signs were removed. LINK{FR}

Phony Poll by SSJB
Speaking of the Devil, Mr. Beaulieu, was in fine form again, manipulating  the truth to inflate his sovereignist agenda. A while back, in an opinion poll, just 38% of Quebeckers agreed that Bill 101 language restrictions should be applied to cegep (college). Link
Mr. Beaulieu took great offense claiming that the question was rigged and in response ran his own poll with a rigged question of his own;
"Unlimited access to colleges for English allophones, immigrants and francophones threatens the future of French in Quebec. Should the admission criteria of Bill 101 for English schools  also apply to CEGEP " Link
When you put it like that, I'd imagine everyone would answer positively, but no, just 57% agreed with the loaded question.
By the way, there's a name for the practice of  asking dishonest polling questions that are meant to influence public opinion, rather than to sample it. It's called Push-polling

Radio Stations
Claiming that there is plenty of good French music to go around, the Mouvement Montréal français held a small rally with a few dozen people to protest certain practices of Montreal radio stations. The group was complaining about the fact that the stations were violating the spirit of the law that mandates a minimum level of French music to be played on air. Apparently the stations don't agree that French music is as commercial as English music and is using a bunch of tactics to skirt the law. The stations have been playing the less popular French music in non-peak hours and also have been playing long mashups combining many English songs strung together and counting them as one. Very ingenious! LINK

Anglo appointed to the OQLF
It's hard to understand why Premier Charest appointed an anglophone to the Board of Directors of l'Office québécois de la langue française, the agency that enforces Bill 101.
Perhaps stranger, is why Gordon Bernstein would want the job.
That's it. Nothing more to say on the subject except that, here's what the separatists think of the appointment.  LINK

Lady Gaga
Lotto Quebec is chastised for spending $300,000 to license the 'Poker Face' song from Lady Gaga for promotional purposes, instead of spending the money on a Quebec Quebecois francophone artist.  LINK
  
English performers forced to sing in French
"When the news release came out announcing the lineup for the official Fête Nationale concert next month in Montreal, it appeared there had been a momentous breakthrough.
There on the program, alongside such francophone stars as Robert Charlebois and Éric Lapointe, were brother and sister Rufus and Martha Wainwright, two Quebec stars who have built international careers singing in English.
Had the concert organizers finally relaxed their no-English rule, which made a mockery of their expressed desire to include all Quebecers in the celebrations? Well, no, they hadn't.
The Wainwrights had been informed they could join in the June 24 party as long as they chose songs in French. "This is the Nation Québécoise; you sing in French," the concert's emcee, sovereignist TV host Guy A. Lepage, told The Gazette. "If you take the job, you accept the rules, and on the 24th, it's singing in French."
Mario Beaulieu, president of both the Société Saint Jean Baptiste and head of the committee organizing the outdoor concert, said the Wainwrights were happy to comply with the requirement that they sing in French.
"Considering that French is the common language, the national language of Quebec, the concert is in French," he said in an interview. "We invite Quebecers of all backgrounds, all languages, to come and sing in French." Read the rest of the NATIONAL POST story
Bilingual Supremos Bill to Die in the Senate
Last year, the Conservative minority government couldn't stop an NDP motion from passing in Parliament, one that would make it a requirement for Supreme Court judges to be bilingual. The three opposition parties all supported Bill C-232 and it was sent upstairs to the Senate for ratification where the Conservative members have kept the Bill from being debated for almost eight months.
Now that the Conservatives have an outright majority in the Senate, MP Yvon Godin from New Brunswick, the Ndp godfather of the bill, fears it's curtains for the Bill C-232.
"In a partisan manner, the Senate has decided to support the Prime Minister in a minority government and I think it's dangerous for democracy in our country." The NDP is campaigning for the abolition of the Senate, considering that it is not the role of the unelected Senate to cancel laws passed by elected MPs."
Perhaps Mr. Godin should take heed of Pierre Boivin, who admitted after he left as General Manger of the Canadiens, that bilingualism hurts quality.
"Pierre Boivin, the outgoing president of the Montreal Canadiens, has some advice for the federal New Democratic Party.
He didn't put it that way. But the NDP, which proposes to require that all judges of the Supreme Court of Canada be bilingual, should take note of something Boivin said in his interview with Dave Stubbs of The Gazette, published on Wednesday.
While English is the working language in the front offices and dressing rooms of the National Hockey League, the general manager and the coach of the Canadiens must be able to explain themselves to the team's fans in French as well.
This bilingualism requirement means the Canadiens "are severely competitively disadvantaged," Boivin said.
Another NHL team needing a new general manager can choose from "a pool of 90, (even if) not all are good or are available. We have a pool of three, four, five maybe? Sometimes none? It's the same thing with coaches."
In effect, this makes bilingualism not only a requirement for the job of general manager or coach of the Canadiens, but the most important one."  Read more in the Montreal Gazette
New sovereignist group off to inauspicious start
"Sovereigntist groups in Quebec have banded together to form a coalition that will permanently campaign for the province's independence.Close to 20 groups have united under the title "Cap sur l'independance," or "Heading for Independence," in order to help advance the cause of separatism." Link
The only problem is that at it the news conference announcing its founding, only 20 or so people showed up as well as only six reporters.
Hmmm..... not much of a start.

Further Reading:

17 comments:

  1. Why the whole stinking lot from the SSJB and these other fascist organizations aren't just locked up for treason is beyond me. Forced to SING in French?

    Next there will be laws against breathing in languages other than French on the Separatist Holiday!

    As for the OQLF, I guess they needed to label somebody à la Howard Galganov. I'm sure most of the fascist literature will be referring to Gordon Bernstein as the «anglo juif». Why Mr. Bernstein would want to be a part of that fascist festering sewer of an organization is beyond me. If he assumed the role of detractor, that's great, but I'm sure he'll be another of John James "Goldilocks" Charest's toadies and Quislings, like Kathleen Weil, Yolande James, Geoffrey Kelley and the rest of them.

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  2. I had a bit of laugh when I realized that the radio stations that the MMF had the demonstration against were French stations. I was afraid that they were demonstrating The Q or Virgin for lack of French. So it is the French radio stations that do not support their wish to francisize the population. How ironic!

    I like seeing the French-language zealots trying to prevent anglophone culture's influence to the community while the population is just enjoying it since that is the way the wind blows in the world. In a way, just like our Editor is trying to ignore the fact that soccer is the most popular game in the world and slowly makes headway in North America, Canada, Quebec and Montreal.

    On another issue, watching CTV news last night, it is rather sad the the launch for Cap sur l'independence was attended by about 20 people. Just two short rows of seats in front of the podium. And they said they wanted to have a gala during the weekend? Who will come? When will those idiots realize that Quebec independence is a bankrupt ideology?

    And then the spokesperson, Catherine Dorion, had the audacity to include anglophone community in her plan. After all they do to eliminate every trace of English from Quebec they want anglophones and allophone-English to join them? Hey, whatever she smoked or drank the night before, I want some! The she continued saying that anglophones had the most protected rights among world's minority. Very well. That explains why English store signs are not allowed in Montreal while store signs in 100% Chinese characters are allowed in Vancouver. English Quebecer community survives in spite of the majority ruling, not because of it.

    On a lighter note, surely Catherine Dorion is much easier on the eyes than Mario Beaulieu or Pauline Marois.

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  3. Yep, she is not a bad looking Quebecoise. Wish she would not pop her P's so much as it is annoying to listen too...or at least buy a pop filter for the microphone.

    Interesting, the logo they present showing Quebec presented as a world nation. No doubt the borders would be significantly smaller than as depicted, I would think.

    No issues anyways, a mere 20 people showing up and the BQ reduced to nothing in the last election.

    Je croire, eIl est trop tard pour des souverientistes au Quebec. Le reve est tres mort.

    Anyways, everyone have a happy Victoria day...oh darn, I forgot..bon "fete de dollard" pour tous les Frenchies aux Quebec.

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  4. I can't really give an example for other North American pro sports, but I think it's safe to say that the English (I'm talking about the people in England---not the language) love soccer more than Canadians love hockey or Americans love football. If the English national soccer team were to hire a top manager from another country and wasn't fluent in the English language, they would be allowed to do so. I'm sure that there would be protests that an Englishman could do just as good a job, but I don't think there are rules that the soccer manager must be fluent in English.

    Was Scotty Bowman fluent in French, or did he leave the team before this requirement was put in place?

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  5. @ Troy. Why laugh at the young Dorion making efforts to reach out to the anglophone minority in Quebec?

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  6. Edward,

    Let us take football (the sport done by having the foot manipulating the ball) as example. I have Guus Hiddink's name in mind. While he likely speaks Spanish, I am not sure that Hiddink speaks Korean, Russian or Turkish. That is also the case for the coaches of Arabic-speaking countries. Coaches like Carlos Alberto Parreira or Dick Advocaat, I doubt they speak Arabic.

    In the Canadiens case, the language zealots are even worse than that. Jacques Martin is chastised a number of times for being an Ontarian. Thus, a coach not only must be francophone, he is better be pure laine Quebecer as well.

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  7. @ NDG's pride

    Because separatists have traditionally been hostile to the aspirations of the anglophone minority. That they apparently suddenly care about us is such a farce!

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  8. SSJB: “"Already, the name of the company, 'The Children's Place, 'shows that there is no great respect for Quebec and its common language."

    How do these wankers define “respect”? It seems that the minute you throw in a single English (or non-French) word here and there, they take it as a sign of disrespect.

    -------

    Editor: “By the way, there's a name for the practice of asking dishonest polling questions that are meant to influence public opinion, rather than to sample it.”

    Excellent take on public opinion polls by Christopher Hitchens, back when his brain was still functioning:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_ppflElbMI&feature=player_embedded#at=12

    --------

    Editor: “Apparently the stations don't agree that French music is as commercial as English music and is using a bunch of tactics to skirt the law.”

    American pop music (and culture) may be cheesy and pretentious, but dealing with it by resorting to restrictions is a bad approach to a bad phenomenon, and two wrongs rarely make a right. If the majority of people are vain enough to like Lady Gaga and other crap like that, then that’s what the commercial radio is going to play. People that aggregate around SSJB should start promoting the home grown artists by buying their CDs, not by bullying others to tune in. That’s what generally do. When I want to find out something interesting (and true) about the world, I don’t go the establishment channels (CBC, Radio Canada, CTV, Global), or the establishment press (The Gazette, La Presse, Le Devoir, National Post, Globe and Mail) and demand that they print objective truth (they won’t). I just go to the library, a bookstore, or online.

    The excellent book “Jihad vs McWorld” deals with the phenomenon of the spread of the American kitsch, and how it leads to the rise of nationalist movements that try to curb the trend. The author correctly points out that both of these forces – the American-inspired globalization and the nationalisms that it produces - are equally repugnant. Amen to that.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad_vs._McWorld

    -----

    SSJB: “"Considering that French is the common language, the national language of Quebec, the concert is in French, we invite Quebecers of all backgrounds, all languages, to come and sing in French."”

    Ha ha. The wankers are so generous. They’ll accept you with open arms, as long as you do what they say. But thank you very much. I won’t speak a language just to stroke the egos of insecure power-hungry wankers like M.Beaulieu. I’ll only speak it if and when I WANT to speak it. Sorry, wankers.

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  9. Godin: “"In a partisan manner, the Senate has decided to support the Prime Minister in a minority government and I think it's dangerous for democracy in our country." The NDP is campaigning for the abolition of the Senate, considering that it is not the role of the unelected Senate to cancel laws passed by elected MPs."

    Godin seems to equate the status quo (or the “consensus”, if you will) with “democracy”. But anyone who has the slightest interest in the matter will figure out, sooner or later, that the Canadian consensus is a rotten product of Canadian realpolitik – in which the Canadian elite (that has always lived in a perpetual fear of being consumed by the much more powerful American elite in an event of a break up of Canada) has been taken hostage by the elite of one province (that has always lived in a perpetual fear of being consumed by the majoritarian English-speaking elite). Godin might like the current “consensus” because as a Francophone member of the Canadian establishment he’s been milking it to the fullest, but he seems to be oblivious to the fact that many people in this country are demoralized by it and insulted by it, starting with the God’s gift to humanity that’s supposed to unite us all (but only serves the interests of the establishment that, like every other establishment, is interested in maintaining the status quo). The gift being the OLA - a ruling from the omniscient federal clique that (of course) knows best what’s good for you, and to which hardly anyone in the RoC conformed (thankfully). And I put that one down to civil disobedience.

    Troy: “And then the spokesperson, Catherine Dorion, had the audacity to include anglophone community in her plan.”

    It takes a great deal of audacity to do this, as a matter of fact. In general, these wankers take us for idiots. By bringing examples of the MUHC, McGill, Concordia, The Gazette, etc…they peddle the lie of the anglophone community being the “best treated minority in the world”, while omitting the inconvenient truth that this community thrives DESPITE the efforts of many in this province to do away with it, and NOT with any of their support or blessing.

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  10. @ Troy

    "In the Canadiens case, the language zealots are even worse than that. Jacques Martin is chastised a number of times for being an Ontarian. Thus, a coach not only must be francophone, he is better be pure laine Quebecer as well."

    What's funny is that because of his last name, I assumed Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau must have come from Quebec. Although his family may have come from la belle province, Boudreau himself is a native of Toronto, according to Legends of Hockey.

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  11. Editor wrote:

    "The excellent book “Jihad vs McWorld” deals with the phenomenon of the spread of the American kitsch, and how it leads to the rise of nationalist movements that try to curb the trend. The author correctly points out that both of these forces – the American-inspired globalization and the nationalisms that it produces - are equally repugnant. Amen to that."

    To a certain extent, you can see this sort of backlash in America itself. After all, is there any logical reason why the U.S. is the only country that refuses to adopt the metric system?

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  12. Smells to me like nationalism is a luxury the world can no longer afford...

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  13. NDG's pride,

    Please tell me that you are being facetious.

    adski,

    Amen, brother. Them separatists really like to talk from both sides of their mouths, ain't them? In cases like this, or when Duceppe visited the U.K., they say that with the abundance of anglophone institutions in Quebec the anglophone community is protected and treated best among minorities in the world. One the other hand, they keep on insisting on the francization of the very same institutions or limit the accessability of those.

    One thing that I think they (or fractions of them) know is that there is no way in heaven or in hell that they can reach their indepence dream without considerable support from the anglo- and allophones communities. And that makes the independence is a virtual impossibility. As they say, one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. After systematically oppressing 'les autres', they now want to have the support. Cherche l'erreur!

    Bonne fête de la Reine, tout le monde!

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  14. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/arts/medias/201105/18/01-4400501-radio-ladisq-denonce-les-montages-anglos.php

    It's interesting how most of those (artists, musicians, tv personalities, actors, politicians, teachers, etc...) who claim to act in the name of "protecting" of the French language and culture on behalf of the COLLECTIVE are so obviously acting in their SELF-interest.

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  15. Gardez votre reine si vous le voulez mais elle n'est pas la souveraine des francophones ! Vive les Patriotes !

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  16. Then I guess you never travel aboard since the Canadian passport is clearly issued in the name of the Queen. I also guess that you do not have any CAD 20 in your wallet and you never deal with any Canadian coin.

    Also, which francophone you are talking about? What about Pierre Duchesne? He is francophone and his job is explicitly to represent the Queen in the province of Quebec.

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  17. "...and his job is explicitly to represent the Queen in the province of Quebec."

    On appelle ça un trou du cul,Troy.

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