French versus English - Volume 28

Billionaire labels separatists 'fascists'

"One of the world's richest financial advisers has bowed out of the Action democratique du Quebec's annual convention after describing the sovereignty movement as 'fascist.'

Stephen Jarislowsky says he doesn't want to involve the party in a debate it hasn't sought or disrupt the conference to be held this weekend in Trois-Rivieres.

Jarislowsky withdrew after he was quoted in a Montreal newspaper as saying that the separatist movement is perhaps not like Nazism, but it is 'fascist.'" Read the rest of the story

French public school dumps English lessons-Too hard for students.
 A French primary school in  Laval, Le Sentier, has dropped it's English program claiming that it's too hard on students.
"Based on our analysis results, several students were in a situation of failure or in the process of failing. To devote more hours to learn English, we must cut time devoted to the other subjects, thus requiring more student effort. A pupil in trouble at the primary school level will also be a student in trouble at the secondary level and may jeopardize his graduation." "explained a spokesman for the Commission scolaire de Laval. 
Most parents are not amused and are considering action, including a petition to have the program returned to class. Said one mother, "By abolishing a program in place for 25 years, we lose our edge, it ceases to be a model school," LINK{FR}

In an unrelated but equally interesting education story, Lucien Francoeur, a veteran educator had some choice words to describe the modern Quebecois students;
"Students who come from elsewhere have mastered three languages​​: their mother tongue, they all learn English and also the French that they have learned with traditional methods. Le Québécois "ethnics" use  one English word in  four (fun, top, chill), but cannot not have a conversation in English and write their mother tongue phonetically. When I form a study group it is often the ethnic student that supports the quality of French because they speak it better than native Québécois." OUCH!  LINK

Anglo News Editor draws ire over Duceppe/Osama article
The editor of a small English local newspaper got into trouble after writing about his joy over the defeat of the Bloc Quebecois.

 "Seeing the Bloc Québécois virtually wiped off the political map was almost as much fun as listening to President Barrack Obama describe Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of the US Navy Seals."

 The small article in a newspaper of minuscule readership made a big splash in the French press which collectively decided that the editor, David Goldberg had drawn an unfair comparison between Mr. Duceppe and the head of the terrorist network.
Gilles Rhéaume, the noted separatist militant and head honcho of an organization he himself created to combat alleged Quebec bashing  (Ligue Québécoise contre la francophobie canadienne) has made a complaint to the Quebec Press Council on the basis that Mr. Goldberg's remarks were mean. The article has been pulled from the newspapers' website and the editor wrote an apology (sort of) the following week.
Read the story about Mr. Rhéaume HERE{FR}
Read the original article HERE

New SSJB branch created to fight English cottagers

SSJB spokesman Roger Kemp- English cottagers a menace!

The Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste proudly announced the opening of a regional branch in the Mauricie District district of Quebec, an area that remains one of Quebec's most unilingually French regions in the province.

According to Roger Kemp, president and spokesman for the regional branch of the Movement, Trois-Rivières and the Mauricie are not immune to the consequences of the invasion of English.

"More and more voices being raised that as the situation of French in Montreal deteriorates, it is becoming more difficult to respond to clients in some local shops in the metropolis. This situation is spreading and we are feeling the effects in the Mauricie," he says. He mentioned as an example the fact that an employee of a local company from the region, may be obliged to speak English when dealing with a small unilingual anglophone businss from Montreal. Even worse, a municipal employee in the region may be obliged   to speak in English to a new owner of a cottage who does not speak French.
Really? .......Oh, the inhumanity!!!!
 Mr. Kemp added an ominous warning that if the trend continues Trois-Rivières and all of Québec are in danger of becoming English! LINK{FR}

Outgoing Habs GM unloads on language.

Pierre Bovin the outgoing general manager of the Montreal Canadiens unburdened himself in a frank and revealing interview with Montreal Gazette writer Dave Stubbs,

"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. read the rest of the Montreal Gazette article

And for a weekend laugh........

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