Friday, July 1, 2011

French versus English - Volume 30

French militant group campaigns for Anglos to be good citizens
A militant French language group is extending its hand in 'friendship' to we Anglophones, if only we agree to speak French in public.
In a magnanimous compromise, the lobby group concedes anglos the right to speak English at home, as long as we speak French when we interact in public...hmmm.
It's not clear whether two anglophones in public should communicate with each other in French...
The lobby group is running a French commercial to that effect on English television. You can screen the ads here:  Link
The leader of Impératif français, Jean-Paul Perreault told reporters that; 
"We deplore the arrogance of Anglo-Quebecers who impose English everywhere. We are reaching out to them to help us protect the identity of Quebec. We believe it is important to speak French in public when we choose to live in a place where the national language is French. We invite anglophones, francophones and allophones to speak French in public." 
Now that's what I call friendship!

The name of this nifty campaign?
"Be an Anglophone, but live in French"
Incidentally, the campaign is being financed by the government of Quebec.
Thanks to TROY, TODD and other readers for the heads-up.  LINK

Committee for the Defence of the Revolution French language
It seems that every region of Quebec is getting its very own volunteer organization of militants dedicated to defending the French language or rather, keeping English in its place. Regions that boast less than 2% anglophones are nonetheless preparing to defend their turf lest the infectious wave of English spreads from the already fatally afflicted Montreal.

The newest addition is the Le Mouvement Québec français (MQF) de la Capitale-Nationale, operating in the Quebec City area, dedicated to the ideal that the pervasive Anglo influence should never be allowed to wash over the region and wreak linguistic genocide on the pure.

The latest justification for mounting these defence committees comes from blowhard Mario Beaulieu who told members that;
"Anglicization threatens the right to work in French as employees from other regions are forced to speak English when dealing with Montreal companies"

Bit of a stretch, I'd say....

As these committees proliferate, I'm reminded of the revolutionary zeal that swept the island of Cuba after the Communism revolution in 1959.
"The Committees for the Defence of the Revolution or CDR, is a network of neighbourhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution", exist to promote social welfare and report on "counter-revolutionary"...
....Its defenders note that CDR have other important responsibilities beyond their function to monitor the individual's political and moral background; these include arranging festivals, administrating many voluntary community projects, and organizing mass rallies."..Wikipedia
 Sound familiar?

Immigrants fail to succeed? Blame the English!
The hysterical anglo-bashing coming out of the above-mentioned French language defence committees is now bordering on the pathetic. 
Readers might remember last week's  story in the French versus English post, in which I recounted that the Quebec government will scale back immigration from French-speaking countries in North Africa, collectively known as the 'Maghreb' because of the community's horrendous unemployment record and failure to assimilate.
The immigrants were selected because they speak French, but are otherwise sadly unprepared for life in a western society. It seems that most use their French language skills exclusively at the welfare and unemployment office.
According to Maria Mourani, Bloc MP for Ahuntsic and a founding member of the Le Mouvement Montréal français, it's the fault of the Anglos;
"When recruited, the immigrants are told," Come to Quebec, it's French." We're encouraging a francophone immigration, such as the North African community, which is highly educated. They arrive in Quebec, then they find themselves unable to work because they are asked to speak English."
...as they say  down at the unemployment office;  C'est de la bullshit!

Damn those English Magazines!
More complaints about English, this time over a magazine store  having the audacity to pin up English magazines in its window, thus disturbing the linguistic peace of the Plateau Mont-Royal district of Montreal
The veteran complainer, Yves Chartrand makes a not-so-subtle call to violence by advising militants that they should;
 "Get a gang together and meet in front of the window"
("On devrait aller faire un tour en gang devant la vitrine.")

The writer goes on to complain that horror of horrors, the Montreal Transit System is accepting ads that are bilingual, a practice that should be rejected, even if it means giving up the advertising revenue. LINK{FR}

Hijab-clad  teen can't referee soccer match
"A Quebec teen who has been told she can no longer referee soccer while wearing her hijab says she's going to fight the red card.
Sarah Benkirane has been barred from refereeing while wearing her hijab.Sarah Benkirane, 15, said her Montreal-area soccer association informed her she could no longer referee games wearing her traditional Muslim head scarf after someone filed a complaint with the league.
Benkirane, in her second season as a ref for the Lac-St-Louis Regional Soccer Association, was told religious symbols like hijabs may not be worn on the pitch."  Read the story


La Petit Larousse adds French words.
Just like the Oxford English dictionary which does it for the English language,  Le Petit Larousse illustré recognizes and entrenches new words annually to its French dictionary, words that have become part of common lexicon. This year the dictionary made a big jump, adding over 3,000 words.

My favourite new entry is 'smoke-meat' and so we no longer have to officially use the mostly-ignored 'viande fume" which no francophone actually uses in real life.
On the other hand some words have been retired. It is no longer kosher to use the word  'drink' in French, a return to the more traditional 'prendre un verre' is now the rule.

I was thinking about all this (I don't have much to think about, apparently) as I passed a French  billboard (aren't they all) on the south end of the Champlain bridge featuring a lithe and sultry model touting her "Skinny Jeans"
"Skinny Jeans!" my word. Is that actually French?
Apparently so, its use is quite pervasive as I have come to appreciate. Perhaps Larousse next year?

NOW PETE'S SIGN IS AT LEAST  HALF LEGAL!
Islamophobia rocks Rimouski
During a lunch time conversation with a francophone colleague of mine I was a bit surprised to learn in passing conversation, that Muslims were invading the small town of Rimouski.
.......Whaaat?
The city of 45,000  is the regional center of the lower Gaspe peninsula about 300 kilometres from Quebec City and is about as pure-laine as can be. I know the city well and remember eating in a Chinese restaurant that had no Chinese employees. It was a bit weird being served by a francophone wearing a Chinese smock!
And so you can imagine my skepticism at being told that the Muslim population has exploded from four families to four hundred in just one year. I gave it no further thought until I came upon an article in the Journal de Montreal saying that a email entitled "Invasion de Muslims à Rimouski" has been making the rounds of Facebook accounts and apparently has reached Montreal. Here's a translation;
INVASION OF MUSLIMS IN RIMOUSKI
In 2004, four Muslim families came to Rimouski to settle ...
In the  of Spring 2005, 14 other Muslim families joined them ...
In the Summer and Fall of 2005, another 26 families arrived ...

In 2006, Rimouski received 55 Islamic families, some of whom are very affluent and who applied to the City of Rimouski to have at least one street named after one of their high priests ...

In 2007, 65 new
Islamic families arrive in Rimouski and  in the Fall of 2007, they received the OK to name a street in their honour ...
In Spring 2008, a new street appeared, near the Wal-Mart, the first street south of Boul. Arthur-Buies, which is now called: "Rue Mohamed Alei SAB" ....

In 2008, 
90 Islamic families arrived in Rimouski  ...
In 2009,
140 more families of the same type arrived in Rimouski ...
In 2010, 25
Islamic families PER MONTH arrived in Rimouski  ...

Yes yes, you read correctly, 300 Islamic families in 2010 alone ...
In 2011, 400 such families are expected ...

To make matters worse, according to the same source, 400,000 new
Islamic families are to arrive here in Canada by 2015, according to Immigration Canada.

Expect to see Rimouski grow in the coming years with a lot of  development between 2nd Street and Southern Blvd. to Arthur-Buies East, where they own 95% of the property ...

I almost died when I heard about that on  RDI.ca  / Radio-Canada
All this in just seven 7  YEARS ...
Watch-out for the next 20 years ...
The mayor of the city is furious over the propagation of what he termed an urban legend. He told reporters that there are actually only forty Muslim families in the whole city.
"Not only is the information false, but it contributes to religious intolerance, which goes against the principles adopted by elected officials.
He has called in the police to investigate.... Good luck with that! Link{fr}

Dot Quebec (.quebec) to become a realty next year.
Next year the Internet will welcome a flurry of new internet address domain designations, one of which will be .quebec 
A Quebec lobby group Pointe Quebec has worked for over four years to get the unique extension.

The cost;
Over $200,000 to get the  project going, but most Quebeckers believe that it's worth it.
Next year expect the new appellation to appear and rest assured that the government of Quebec will be switching over.
Another Quebec 'country' fantasy..... sigh

Lousie Beaudoin Defends English French Immersion School
"When you think of politicians who might come to the defence of an English school, Louise Beaudoin probably isn't on your list.
After all, the former Parti Québécois cabinet minister is a staunch defender of the French language.
But after meeting with a group of parents from Nesbitt School and visiting the facility, Beaudoin threw her support behind the elementary school." LINK   Cached Version Gazette article***read note

NOTE TO READERS:. The Montreal Gazette has moved to a pay model which requires readers to pay for access. However limited free access remains available. I will endeavour to link to the Gazette only when the story is exclusive. I have however found cached versions of the story and will link to those. Could somebody email me to tell me if this 'cached' link works for you.
Thanks for your help.

Finally;


OMG- We're famous!

Further Reading: French versus English Volume 29

73 comments:

  1. First!

    Avant tout, bonne fête du Canada tout le monde!

    Hi Editor, I think I need to call you out. After your eloquent piece regarding what to do (or not) on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, what are you doing / going to do on Canada Day?

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  2. Video isnt working for me.

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  3. I have my best people working on the video (me).....

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  4. > It seems that every region of Quebec is getting its very own volunteer organization of militants […] Regions that boast less than 2% anglophones are nonetheless preparing to defend their turf lest the infectious wave of English spreads from the already fatally afflicted Montreal. The newest addition is the Le Mouvement Québec français (MQF) […]

    Alas, Editor, things aren’t always as they seem.

    I did a quick check on Quebec’s business registry [www.registreentreprises.gouv.qc.ca/] and was a bit surprised to learn that, contrary to the popular narrative about a “wave of English *spreading*” from Montreal, the “brother Mouvements” are manned by many of the same people.

    It turns out that Mouvement Montérégie Français and Mouvement Lanaudière Français, aren’t even offshoots of Mouvement Montréal Français—they’re all literally the very same legal entity—just doing business under two other aliases. Unsurprisingly, Mario Beaulieu gets top billing on the board of directors, along with many usual suspects we’ve seen writing for Vigile and prominently featured in other required separatist circles. Although technically a separate legal entity (different Quebec business ID number), Mouvement Québec Français is (perhaps unsurprisingly) legally headquartered at the same location — the head offices of the Société Saint Jean Baptiste de Montréal.

    Impératif Français is for its part a (significantly older) different legal entity based in Gatineau. Mouvement Estrien pour le français has been alive since 1989.

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  5. > […] According to Maria Mourani, Bloc MP for Ahuntsic and a founding member of the Le Mouvement Montréal français, it's the fault of the Anglos […]

    AHAHAHA… This woman is one of 4 Bloc roaches who narrowly survived the May 2 “orange crush” wave. Almost 70% of her riding voted against her [http://enr.elections.ca/ElectoralDistricts_e.aspx?ed=1462], and it was only the narrowly split vote between her 2 other challengers (NDP, Liberal) that allowed her to save face.

    Truth be told, I wouldn’t put much stock in her (non-)rationalization. Arabs, like many other “immigrants”, have shown a remarkable ability to adapt to Montreal’s linguistic duality. And while there may be a weak correlation between French-speaking Arab immigrants to Quebec and their propensity to support the separatist ideal, it would be foolish (and wrong) to state that correlation implies causation. Indeed, Mourani, like the roughly two dozen or so “poster children” often paraded by the separatist movement for their purposes, was recruited precisely because of her staunch dogmatic and partisan loyalty to the cause. A former probation officer for Corrections Canada, she parlayed her experience working with tough inner-city kids and sociology Master’s thesis into two books on street gangs with publisher Quebecor.

    Just as immigrants can proactively take language classes in French, they can (if her argument is true) also take classes to learn/improve their English.

    What Mourani is too weak tackle is the real source of the problem—exclusion by way of administrative requirements. Many professional organizations which regulate the practice of many professions refuse to recognize the credentials that many immigrants obtained in their native countries once they arrive in Quebec. Engineering and pharmaceutical companies, law firms, and even medical clinics don’t even need to “hide behind” any veil whatsoever in their rejection of many “foreign” candidates who apply to their companies with no Quebec/Canadian/North American schooling and/or experience—this “credentials discrimination” is administratively enshrined in the legally regulated practice of many professions. In the best of cases, a long and financially burdensome process to establish or obtain “equivalency” must be undertaken by the immigrant. Student loans, bursaries, and other forms of government assistance might certainly help in what is tantamount to a partial (and often full) re-schooling exercise tacitly sanctioned by the government, but the underlying problem—promising opportunities to prospective French-speaking immigrants—isn’t being denounced because it is politically sensitive.

    Perhaps Mourani might have had my (ever-so-slight) respect had she attacked the problem at the source.

    But the discrimination doesn’t end there. While it’s possible to overcome the academic administrative hurdle (or even not have to have faced it in the first place), a more genteel discrimination faced by many otherwise (locally schooled and) qualified individuals is not out of the question. Birds of a feather flock together… and sometimes too much so. Perhaps ironically, fellow separatist poster boy, militant loudmouth, and defeated PQ candidate Kamal El-Batal showed just that when he sent out a resumé a few years back to an agricultural cooperative under two different names—one his own real name, the other not so much. Despite changing only the name, he was told that his true identity didn’t have what it took, while his alter ego’s was praised for matching the requirements so closely. After assembling proof and bringing his case before the Quebec Human Rights commission, Batal was awarded $15,000 for discrimination [http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2007/02/23/001-El-Batal-Coop-15000.shtml?ref=rss].

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  6. > The writer goes on to complain that horror of horrors, the Montreal Transit System is accepting ads that are bilingual, a practice that should be rejected, even if it means giving up the advertising revenue.

    I guess it’s unsurprising that that writer, Yves Chartrand, is listed on the board of directors of MMF. A Plateau-based activist, he’s claiming the STM is going against its own rules by accepting bilingual Canada Post ads. I have been unable to find these rules, and can personally attest to having seen (although quite rarely) ads in (or partially in) English. His buddies at Vigile whined back in 2009 [http://www.vigile.net/Une-publicite-en-anglais-choque] over a similar incident with a worldwide English-language H&M ad. I guess some people never find peace.

    > The mayor of the city is furious over the propagation of what he termed an urban legend. He told reporters that there are actually only forty Muslim families in the whole city. […] the information […] contributes to religious intolerance, which goes against the principles adopted by elected officials.
    He has called in the police to investigate.

    Time for a shoe-on-the-other-foot scenario. Even if it were true, should Muslims not be allowed to move to Rimouski in droves? And if they’re “affluent” (and could thus presumably afford the properties and taxes), isn’t that even better? Would such big alarmist deal be made if francophone families from Quebec settled in Flin Flon, Manitoba?

    > A Quebec lobby group Pointe Quebec has worked for over four years to get the unique extension.

    Daniel Turp, one of the main people spearheading the idea, must be orgasmic. Editor, how about better profiling the incestuous cottage industry between separatist politicians, publishing groups, academia, and lobby organizations?

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  7. I am Quebecer first, a French Canadian second... I really have...well,no sense at all of being a Canadian ! Sur ce, bonne fête du Canada et vive le Québec libre !

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  8. HAPPY CANADA DAY!
    Sorry, this does NOT include separatists, unilingual francophones and anti-everything crackpots

    WESTALLOPHONE++

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  9. @Anonymous, 9:11 AM

    I like your Lévesque quote, but it's time is quickly passing given the changing and ever-inclusive meanings of "Quebecer" and "Canadian". Lise Payette and other career separatists have an interest to continue echoing and propagating that notion, but how true is it in the context of an ever-changing nation of immigrants?

    Count yourself out if you must, but don't do that and then ponder why you feel excluded.

    Je me demande si René Lévesque se reconnaitrait dans le mouvement souverainiste tel qu'il est devenu. Idéaliste sempiternel, rappelons-nous que ce quasi-dieu avait lui-même été descendu de son Olympe car insuffisamment vicieux (lire: dogmatique).

    Une très bonne et heureuse fête du Canada. Vive le Québec libre de schismes ethnonationalistes.

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  10. "...this does NOT include separatists, unilingual francophones and anti-everything..."

    Merci maewestphallofun++!

    C'est votre pays,pas le nôtre.Vous aurez du beau temps alors profitez-en pour vous aérer les neuronnes a l'extérieur.Allez donc vous promener dans les rues de Mtl avec votre drapeau canayen sur les épaules...Ha oui,n'oubliez pas votre casque protecteur!:D

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  11. Happy Happy Happy Canada Day from a allophone Montrealer.

    First off, where is the general media in this country, and why are they not exposing the Quebec government helping finance the imperatif-francais groups ads. Canadian tax money being used to finance such groups activities. Not okay. Also, how come nobody exposes the BQ members comments about immigrants.

    As for the Gazette putting a limit on the number of articles you can read online because they have gone to a pay system. Wouldn't you simply just need to clear your browsers settings (cache, cookies, history) work as a work around to access the material? Just asking.

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  12. "Happy Happy Happy Canada Day from a allophone Montrealer."

    Le problème est que souhaits auraient plus de portée en ontario.Vous devez vous sentir bien isolé a titre de canadien a Montréal.

    En passant,vos pratiques de contournements des règles et des lois sont malhonnêtes et illégales.Si vous êtes en mesure de contourner les règles d'un journal,quelle sera la prochaine étape (si ce n'est déja fait)?Obtenir tous nos services sociaux pour vous et votre famille du bangladesh de façon illégale?

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  13. @ Anonymous aka Press 9:

    "Allez donc vous promener dans les rues de Mtl avec votre drapeau canayen sur les épaules...Ha oui,n'oubliez pas votre casque protecteur!"

    Another thinly veiled threat from our resident separatist troll. In reality he is just hiding behind his computer screen and keyboard.

    There will be many Canadian flags flying throughout Montreal on Canada Day and the wimpy, cowardly seppies like Press 9 will do absolutely nothing.

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  14. > Le problème est que souhaits auraient plus de portée en ontario.Vous devez vous sentir bien isolé a titre de canadien a Montréal.

    Est-ce pour ça que si un référendum avait lieu demain, les « canadiens » récolteraient 55% (ou encore plus) des appuis alors que seppies n’en auraient que 45% (ou encore moins)? Et que c’est bien dans le grand Montréal qu’on retrouve la plus forte concentration (et de surcroit le plus grand nombre) de fédéralistes?

    C’est plutôt vous qui devez vous sentir bien isolé à titre de rabat-joie en ce premier juillet. Sortez donc de votre apparte, allez voir du monde (pas obligé que ce soit des michants fédéraleux). Vous constaterez que ça va vous changer les idées en plus de vous déniaiser un peu.


    > En passant,vos pratiques de contournements des règles et des lois sont malhonnêtes et illégales […]

    Malhonnêtes, peut-être. Illégales? Faudrait d’abord voir si c’est effectivement une solution de contournement, ensuite le prouver, ensuite monter un dossier. Mais avant ça, il faudrait passer par un aveu public que devrait faire obligatoirement The Gazette (et/ou Postmedia News) à l’effet que son nouveau système payant a mal été mis sur pied. Si la pratique reprochée est bien le fait de pouvoir accéder gratuitement à des articles payants, me semble que dépenser une heure pour qu’un seul développeur procède au dépistage du code web et règle le bogue reviendrait beaucoup moins cher pour la Gazette que de payer des semaines sinon des mois d’honoraires à plusieurs avocats pour poursuivre une dizaine de lecteurs mesquins...

    > Si vous êtes en mesure de contourner les règles d'un journal,quelle sera la prochaine étape (si ce n'est déja fait)?Obtenir tous nos services sociaux pour vous et votre famille du bangladesh de façon illégale?

    Un soupçon de perspective, s’il vous plaît. Celui qui réussit à déjouer une page web mal conçue vous le mettez sur le même pied d’égalité que Mom Boucher? Ou d’un fraudeur genre Vincent Lacroix?

    Ou est-ce bien votre fibre nationaliste qui fait que vous devenez fou de jalousie en voyant des fédéralistes contourner un système qui ne fait pas leur affaire? Quand c’est des péquistes qui le font, vous appelez ça de l’affirmation nationale et de la défense et promotion des intérêts; quand d’autres le font, c’est malhonnête et illégal.

    Deux poids, deux mesures.

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  15. "Hijab-clad teen can't referee soccer match"
    "Islamophobia rocks Rimouski"

    Those stories have nothing to do with anglophones. Why are they included in an article called French versus English? The hijab-clad teen is the daughter of a Moroccan (not exactly anglicized people) and a French-Canadian mother. How is this whole thing against the English again?

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  16. "Vous constaterez que ça va vous changer les idées en plus de vous déniaiser un peu."

    Franchement Appart-a-chicks...Un peu de sérieux.

    Les téléchargements de photographies,d'oeuvres musicales ou cinématographiques sans acquitter les droits (d'auteur) reliés a la propriété intellectuelle,sont-ils illégaux?Ou simplement la fautes des ingénieurs informatiques.

    De plus,The gazette est le seul journal représentant votre communauté a Montréal.Vous devriez peut-être les encourager plutôt que de les voler.Non?

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  17. "Sorry, this does NOT include separatists, unilingual francophones and anti-everything crackpots"

    Bilingual francophones are still francophones and every time you say hateful things, such as when you said we were an accident of history the other day, they are targeted too and wouldn't like it. Some bilingual people are separatists, some unilinguals are federalists, by the way.

    They are NOT on your side. They are francophones, not anglophones or allophones (and many allophones are not on your side either). We are one people, sadly divided when it comes to politics but still one people.

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  18. > Les téléchargements de photographies,d'oeuvres musicales ou cinématographiques sans acquitter les droits (d'auteur) reliés a la propriété intellectuelle,sont-ils illégaux?Ou simplement la fautes des ingénieurs informatiques.

    J’admire vos efforts philosophiques, mais l’ordre de grandeur que vous semblez accorder à une toute petite vulnérabilité qui, même si elle existe, me semble tout à fait déplacée compte tenu du contexte. Vous comparez mille pommes gratuites avec mille pommes tout près d’un buffet et très mal surveillées.

    D’abord l’ancien modèle d’affaires de la Gazette permettait un accès illimité à tout le contenu de leur site. Leur nouveau modèle d’affaires permettrait désormais à un non-abonné le droit de télécharger gratuitement jusqu’à 20 articles en ligne par mois. Malheureusement, il semble que le problème serait au niveau des modalités de ce qui constitue « propriété intellectuelle » « payante » versus « gratuite ». Or, ce qui est payant pour les uns risque fort probablement être gratuit pour les autres, et vice versa. Et comme on dit, le diable est dans les détails.

    Si leur modèle de vérification est si peu sophistiqué qu’il ne tient pas compte de cas d’usage réels tels la possibilité de plusieurs fureteurs sur un même ordinateur, de plusieurs sessions/d’utilisateurs par ordinateur, d’une même adresse IP, ou bien qu’il s’écroule devant une « astuce » aussi simple que le fait de vider la cache de son fureteur, il me semble tout à fait raisonnable de conclure qu’ils ont du travail à faire.

    Si ça vous empêche de dormir, je vous laisse cogiter sur ce qui suit. En vertu de la Loi sur la protection du consommateur du Québec, un contrat doit être interprété en faveur du consommateur en cas de doute ou d’ambigüité. En même temps, on peut argüer qu’un contrat de consommation n’existe pas pour ceux qui doivent se contenter des 20 articles, auquel cas, je vous renverrais aux dispositions du Code Civil portant sur les relations extracontractuelles et la bonne foi. Allez-y, si le cœur vous en dit.

    Si ça ne vous tente pas, je me contenterai de vous dire que tout comme une loi dont l’objectif poursuivi et/ou la mise en application serait malsain-e-s, je responsabiliserais d’abord les stratèges de marketing qui élaborent et des ingénieurs informatiques qui exécutent (mal?) leur travail, et non pas le grand public qui y est soumise.

    Comme on dit en latin, « you snooze, you lose ».

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  19. > De plus,The gazette est le seul journal représentant votre communauté a Montréal.Vous devriez peut-être les encourager plutôt que de les voler.Non?

    Vous vous adressez vraiment à la mauvaise personne; je ne lis qu’occasionnellement Gazette et je trouve que nos philosophies sur la propriété intellectuelles sont vraiment à revoir.

    Et à ce que je sache, il n’y a aucun journal (ni à Montréal, ni ailleurs) qui représente à lui seul la communauté toujours grandissante à laquelle j’appartiens. Nous sommes pour la plupart non seulement héritiers, mais conscients de notre appartenance à au moins trois grandes cultures (franco-anglo-allo). Malgré nous, on parvient à ressentir à la fois un profond attachement chaleureux et affectif presqu’inconscient de notre capacité d’adaptation si rapidement à trois groupes pourtant si différents. En même temps on vit un détachement froid, soudain, quasiment clinique, vis-à-vis certaines manifestations tribales excessives de nos compatriotes-souche.

    Et Dieu sait qu’on ne voudrait jamais avoir ça autrement.

    (Tiens, c’est peut-être pour ça que j’abhorre les nationalismes conservateurs et trop protectionnistes peu importe l’endroit… je trouve hypocrite, infantilisant et déplacé le fait d’exiger des gens une loyauté intellectuelle et même culturelle tout en leur chantant les louanges de la pensée libre.)

    Je dois me contenter d’un régime fait sur mesure qui inclut, sur une base tournante, tous les grands quotidiens/journaux locaux et nationaux, saupoudrés de nouvelles internationales. Pas surprenant donc que ces lectures se font le plus souvent (toujours gratuitement!) sur internet.

    Et vous, Press 9, vous dépaysez-vous souvent dans votre propre chez-soi pour le simple plaisir de?

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  20. "J’admire vos efforts philosophiques..."

    Merci mais mon intervention n'a aucune prétention philosophique,c'est plutôt l'aspect pécuniaire relié au phénomène de téléchargements abusifs et systématiques chez certains qui m'intéresse.Il est question ici de commerce en ligne.Votre façon de relativiser et de banaliser le vol me rappelle celle d'un mauvais avocat essayant de défendre l'indéfendable.

    Patinez et zigzaguez tant que vous voulez mais si vos revenus dépendaient totalement ou partiellement de ce type de commerce,je crois que la question économique prendrait le pas sur vos considérations philosophiques.

    "...pour le simple plaisir de?"

    Sémantique anglo saxonne dont je ne saisis pas le sens.Désolé.

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  21. Hi Editor,

    Now that Canada Day has come and gone, I need to ask you what you did on that good day. The reason I ask you this is because you opened the door on St. John the Baptist's day.

    If what you did was one of the following:

    1. Backyard BBQ with friends and family
    2. Golf, baseball or tennis or cycling.
    3. Road trip to Ontario or New York State.
    4. Parc Safari for the kids or grand kids.
    5. Picnic in a West Island park.
    6. Clean the garage
    7. Indian casino
    8. Go to a movie
    9. Getting blitzed at an Irish pub
    10. Read a good book

    then we the reader have the right to ask what the point was of your post on the early morning of 24 June.

    If what you did was something toward the celebration of the anniversary of the Confederation, then we can have more confidence in your opinion and your writing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. "Bilingual francophones are still francophones and every time you say hateful things, such as when you said we were an accident of history the other day, they are targeted too and wouldn't like it. Some bilingual people are separatists, some unilinguals are federalists, by the way.

    They are NOT on your side. They are francophones, not anglophones or allophones (and many allophones are not on your side either). We are one people, sadly divided when it comes to politics but still one people.
    JULY 1, 2011 4:55 PM"

    Ok, let's try to answer this lunacy.
    1. If you are bilingual, you cannot be a separatist, because you speak both languages and embrace both cultures in the same way.
    2. If you are unilingual, you are not only lazy and complacent (and, to a certain extent, socially disadvantaged), but you refuse opening up to something else other than your small world.
    3. A bilingual separatist is like a skinhead involved in humanitarian help: a non-sense.
    4. It has nothing to do with politics: many kébékuo' chose to stay unilingual, want to stay unilingual, are happy about that and see nothing wrong in not being able to speak anything else other then their dialect. Unfortunately, many kébékuo' have been brought up with the idea that "you are special, rare; you do not need to make any effort, on the contrary the others must make efforts, but not you; if you learn another language, you will lose your identity and dignity; the world is here only for you, so belongs only to you; you are entitled to complain without making any effort, as we are victims of the system, so the only way to stay alive is to constantly moan and bitch".
    5. I have nothing against anybody. I just cannot stand this constant entitlement, this constant "nous contre le monde".

    WESTALLOPHONE++

    ReplyDelete
  23. ...to Troy: You're becoming as big an annoyance as Press 9. What difference does it make what anybody does? The point Editor was making, at least as I see it, is that minorities are not altruistically welcome to the separatist celebrations. I simply refer to June 24th as the Separatist Holiday.

    Yes, all are invited as long as they speak French, to themselves and others; yes, musicians who sing other than in French are only invited if they sing in French. At my work here in Mississauga, colleagues speak to each other in French, Arabic, Farsi, various Chinese dialects, the language Filipinos speak and others. I jokingly asked a couple of ladies speaking their foreign tongue to each other if they could at least provide subtitles, and amusingly responded "sorry, no".

    The Real Canada is a mosaic, but unfortunately, Quebec, in its distinctness, chooses to be a melting pot. That's a commonality with the Americans, so maybe Quebec should become part of the United States...and wait until you see how accommodating they'll be towards the French language...in America, they speak American!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. > Votre façon de relativiser et de banaliser le vol me rappelle celle d'un mauvais avocat essayant de défendre l'indéfendable.

    Plutôt que de chialer à leurs actionnaires qu’ils vivent un « génocide économique » ils sauront, tôt ou tard, que l’implémentation de leur système est à retravailler et ils le retravailleront. Ils identifieront leurs vrais problèmes et proposeront de vraies solutions. Point à la ligne.

    Un peu gênant lorsqu’on considère la façon dont certains « souverainistes » appuient et justifient la doctrine politique voulant que le Québec extorque (« rapatrie ») le plus gros montant d’argent et le plus grand nombre de pouvoirs possible du fédéral en attendant le « grand soir ». De mauvais philosophes, de mauvais avocats, et de mauvais politiciens, et manifestement de mauvaise foi, nos chers wunderkind du PQ et leurs auxiliaires des mouvements de pression/lobbys (pas tellement) divers étayent l’aspect « étapiste » de leur grand projet en grande partie sur quoi? Sur des questions d’orgueil et sur une peur d’assimilation (au Québec) qu’ils amplifient et exagèrent, tout en banalisant les liens sociaux, politiques et économiques et même culturels qui nous lient en tant que québécois francophones, anglophones, et allophones au Canada.

    Pendant des décennies, on essaie de nous faire embarquer sur un projet qui nous ressemble de moins en moins. Les grands promoteurs de la « souveraineté » nous montrent une image de ce qu’ils perçoivent être le Québec. Ce faisant, ils nous donnent un avant-goût de ce à quoi ressemblerait un Québec indépendant—un pays qui rejette et ignore sa minorité anglophone (et ses contributions positives), et qui n’accepte que certaines minorités ethniques à condition qu’elles « font plaisir à maman » non seulement en apprenant le français, mais en démontrant une fermeture complète voire une hostilité envers la langue de la majorité de nos voisins.

    > Patinez et zigzaguez tant que vous voulez mais si vos revenus dépendaient totalement ou partiellement de ce type de commerce,je crois que la question économique prendrait le pas sur vos considérations philosophiques.

    C’est vrai, et au-delà de l’exercice philosophique, je crois qu’il y aurait du vrai travail à faire sur le site de The Gazette.

    C’est pour ça que j’espère que les québécois ne se feront plus duper par ces vendeurs d’huile de serpent à la Laurin/Baudoin/Duceppe/Lapointe/Parizeau/Curzi/Bourgeois/Beaulieu renfermés d’esprit. Il est grand temps de se débarrasser de cette organisation de dinosaures dont ces derniers font partie et de reconnaitre enfin au Québec la pleine valeur du legs culturel de CHAQUE chapitre de notre histoire. Il faut commencer à vivre aujourd’hui et demain, et arrêter de faire tourner uniquement les trames sonores de 1759 et 1837.

    > Sémantique anglo saxonne dont je ne saisis pas le sens.Désolé.

    Sors de ta zone de confort. Dépayse-toi sans penser jalousement à la grosseur des caractères ou aux querelles interminables qui ne t’amèneront nulle part.

    ReplyDelete
  25. @WESTALLOPHONE++

    I wish I could agree with you but I just can’t.

    > If you are bilingual, you cannot be a separatist, because you speak both languages and embrace both cultures in the same way.

    Again, correlation doesn’t imply causation. Being fluently bilingual might up your chances of being willing to let both cultures coexist in your mind and on the ground, but consider the following:

    > A bilingual separatist is like a skinhead involved in humanitarian help: a non-sense.

    Jean-François Lisée, Josée Legault, Pierre-Marc Johnson, Jean Doré, and even Jacques Parizeau are all excellent counterexamples.

    > If you are unilingual, you are not only lazy and complacent (and, to a certain extent, socially disadvantaged), but you refuse opening up to something else other than your small world.

    Perhaps partially true, but something about being in a minority situation and being able to take normal stock of the circumstances around you gives you the impetus to be flexible.

    > It has nothing to do with politics: many kébékuo' chose to stay unilingual, want to stay unilingual, are happy about that and see nothing wrong in not being able to speak anything else other then their dialect.

    Just like unilingual anglos, I think many unilingual francos just don’t think about what they’re losing out on in terms of opportunity. Either that or they suppress it because it’s an inconvenient, embarrassing, or discomforting thought.

    > Unfortunately, many kébékuo' have been brought up with the idea that […] if you learn another language, you will lose your identity and dignity;

    Not exclusively; the SSJB and their virulent PQ acolytes have propagated the notion that Quebec needs a French-only face and that encouraging personal and institutional bilingualism means caving to the oppressor rather than a tangible move toward two-way harmony that everyone knows we’ll need to move forward.

    Also, we’re taught to feel “safe” and “insulated” from the big bad world here in our French-first, French-only socialist paradise. It’s a job-security measure that’s paid hefty dividends for separatist career politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  26. > I have nothing against anybody. I just cannot stand this constant entitlement, this constant "nous contre le monde".

    The separatists have stayed alive this long because they’ve managed to frame this as a Quebec-only existential struggle, rather than a Canada-wide issue that needs to be thoroughly and justly resolved. Leaving other francophone Canadians out in the rain, the seppies have managed to turn reality on its head and turn a mechanical system of federal/provincial jurisdictions into an existential political fight to “repatriate” all currently Federal powers to national assembly control. To this end, they’ve managed to convince many Quebecers that our provincial legislature is the only parliament that is “ours”, and that the federal parliament is a “foreign” entity that belligerently asserts its abusive dominance over us.

    Do something about it. Confront the lies and half-truths head-on. Challenge yourself. Challenge others.

    Blog if you must. But more importantly, directly engage your francophone acquaintances on the matter. Have them challenge their existing notions of what it means to “protect” the French language. Let them know how the current situation bothers you so much, and why. Be precise, but never obscene—they’ve got plenty of dirt on you too. If you’re not doing anything to dispel the myth of the closed-minded anglo/immigrant/anti-french boor, they’ll never see you as anything different, and nothing will ever change. If you haven’t already, learn French—decent French. Impress upon your francophone acquaintances that you believe in a bilingual Quebec that celebrates its true nature and that they should too. Have them take action. Have francophone parents militate for respectable English-language education for their children. Encourage Anglophone parents to enroll their children in advanced French-language programs.

    ReplyDelete
  27. @Mr.Sugar

    "...That's a commonality with the Americans, so maybe Quebec should become part of the United States..."

    Vous avez tout a fait raison sur ce point.Nous avons remarqué ce phénomène depuis plusieurs années.Le Québec semble avoir beaucoup plus de points en commun avec la Californie qu'avec calgary,par exemple.Vous devriez jeter un coup d'oeil sur le documentaire de Jacques Godbout: "Comme en Californie" produit par l'ONF au début des années 80.

    http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/fra/collection/film/?id=2127

    Si vous ne saisissez pas parfaitement le propos de cet excellent documentaire,je vous conseille amicalement de consacrer un peu plus de temps a l'apprentissage du français plutôt qu'au mandarin.

    Nous demeurons tout de même un des deux peuples fondateurs de ce pays.Non?

    ReplyDelete
  28. @ Press 9:

    > so maybe Quebec should become part of the United States...***and wait until you see how accommodating they'll be towards the French language...in America, they speak American!!!***

    Essayez donc de vous comporter en enfants gâtés en faisant partie des USA sous guise de protéger notre culture.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Mr. Sauga wrote:

    "The Real Canada is a mosaic, but unfortunately, Quebec, in its distinctness, chooses to be a melting pot. That's a commonality with the Americans, so maybe Quebec should become part of the United States...and wait until you see how accommodating they'll be towards the French language...in America, they speak American!!!"

    America is also a mosaic. Could you cite any example where any U.S. federal or state government has reprimanded immigrants for speaking their native language amongst themselves in public?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Mississauga,

    The point that I am trying to make is one needs to live what one preaches. So one makes it a point that the Feast of St. John the Baptist is a worthless holiday by making a list of things to do to avoid the celebration. But then, if the exact things are done on Canada Day, does it not mean that Canada Day is as worthless as 24 June?

    So what is the point of avoiding 24 June if any other holidays are treated just as same?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Westallophone,

    I am in a believe (perhaps naively) that Canada is supposedly a bilingual country. Therefore, English and French have the same weight - supposedly - everywhere on the land. Some fractions in the country, most notably in Quebec, perverts that idea by claiming that their language is better than the other.

    Threfore, I believe that a unilingual francophone has every right to be Canadian, to be proud to be one and to celebrate Canada in his official language. By saying that unilingual francophones do not have the right to celebrate Canada Day, for me it has the same weight as saying that unilingual anglophones do not have such right too.

    As well, your comment:

    "If you are unilingual, you are not only lazy and complacent (and, to a certain extent, socially disadvantaged), but you refuse opening up to something else other than your small world."

    Will you say this too to the tens of millions of unilingual anglophones in BC, AB, SK, PE, NS, NL?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Mr. Cunningham,

    While the United States (for me America is a continent, not a country) indeed do not have such silly law as Bill 101, on a grass root level in many places there are people who behave like those separatists.

    There are documented incidents in the United States where U.S. born citizens are denied services for speaking non-English (read: Spanish) among themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  33. ...to Press 9: Sugar and doughnuts again? You've milked that crack for all its worth. Anyway, there was a very recent article about California dividing in two.

    http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/government/riverside-county-supervisor-proposes-splitting-california-into-2-states-487239.html

    Y'know, Press 9? You might have something. I visited California in 1979 and I thought all those years ago they were nut bars. 32 years later, they proved it!

    Then again, I did invite parts of Quebec to split if Quebec goes for separation. I'd be OK with letting Montreal west of St-Denis Street partitioning. As a gift, to ease potential geographical complications, I'd even invite the Veaudreuil-Soulange Peninsula bordered by the Ottawa snd St. Lawrence Rivers to the Ontario border to stay within Canada. Similarly, Laval, west of Boul. Curé Labelle could join the fray.

    Aw, shucks, I'd have to include Greenfield Park and St-Lam, and maybe English speakers in St-Hugh into the mix as well.

    Then again, maybe Montreal should become a city-state as once proposed. Only Highways 20 and 40 should become partitioned property remaining federal. Then again.....

    ...to Troy: What makes the June 24 seppie holiday so useless is it's very exclusive, left in the hands of xenophobic small minds to organize the thing. I celebrated Canada Day in Ontario by attending a ribfest, a barely known fun activity in Quebec, except Fort Coulonge, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. The one in Ottawa has passed you by. The Rotary Club is its biggest sponsor. Here is the website:

    http://oshawalaser.com/Blog/2011/05/25/2011-ribfest-schedule-for-ontario-canada/

    Live bands, flea markets, all kinds of food, especially ribs, ribs and more ribs! A carnival with rides for kids.

    ReplyDelete
  34. "I celebrated Canada Day in Ontario by attending a ribfest"... "especially ribs, ribs and more ribs!"

    Très multiculturel effectivement.

    "Live bands, flea markets...A carnival with rides for kids."

    les ontariens sont originaux et créatifs,je suis sur le cul.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi Troy,

    Well, yes, I would say the same for "the tens of millions of unilingual anglophones in BC, AB, SK, PE, NS, NL". Lazy and complacent. They should speak French too.

    Unilingual francophones have as many rights as unilingual anglophones. The only problem is that in Quebec we are not equals at all. Francophones CAN be unilingual while anglophones and allophones MUST be bilingual.

    What I deplore is the general attitude here in Quebec: "les autres" MUST speak French and English, "nous" are allowed to speak French only because this is OUR country, not YOURS. So, in OUR country you must speak OUR language.
    That's the source of every anti-Quebec feeling and as I said before, francophones are brought up with this idea and taught in schools that it's OUR nation, not YOURS, so we don't have to diminish ourselves speaking another language, especially English, the language of the oppressors and a language "dont nous n'avons pas besoin ici chez NOUS".

    WESTALLOPHONE++

    ReplyDelete
  36. "CAN be unilingual while anglophones and allophones MUST be bilingual."

    Le Québec est la province la plus bilingue.Vous ne voyagez pas beaucoup dans votre pays,n'est-ce pas?

    ReplyDelete
  37. > Le Québec est la province la plus bilingue.

    Alors pourquoi ne pas refaire la loi 101 afin de reconnaître fièrement la situation linguistique qui nous caractérise—plutôt que de la réprimer?

    Si on reconnait que les québécois forment une nation, il me semble tout à fait justifiable d'exiger que le Québec reconnaisse l'égalité des deux peuples qui ont le plus façonné son histoire.

    Donner un visage unilingue à un endroit qui ne l'est foncièrement pas me semble fondamentalement plus injuste que d'imposer un bilinguisme (aussi limité et institutionnel soit-il, par endroits) à l'échelle d'un pays entier.

    Quelle somptueuse ironie... un Québec post-péquiste qui pourra donner des leçons au reste du Canada sur comment vivre cet idéal...

    ReplyDelete
  38. ...to Press 9, who I think put himself on a sugar rush eating too many of those Mississauga doughnuts...or had a simple brain fart:

    Am I reading this right? «Le Québec est la province»...Yup, I copied and pasted, and YOU wrote "province"! Not «nation», not «payee»...ohhhh, you little cheat...YOU'VE been eating doughnuts. I was in Montreal last week and forgot to buy Dunkin's. Can't find a Dunkin' Donut in Ontario anymore. The last one was near the Toronto Airport, and it was replaced with a Coffee Time franchise almost a decade ago »waaaaaaahhhhh.....«

    Come to think of it, I never bought any doughnuts while in Quebec (I mostly saw Dunkin' on the South Shore). That's how much I've cut back on doughnuts, so you've done your good deed by reminding me how bad doughnuts really are.

    Actually, it's New Brunswick that is the most bilingual--OFFICIALLY & CONSTITUTIONALLY bilingual! Aside from Montreal and a radius of 30 miles or so outside of Montreal, how much bilingualism is there? Rawdon? Lac Brome/Knowlton? Even St-Agathe-des-Monts doesn't have the Jewish community in the summer it once had.

    Ohhhh...I almost forgot Val David where Jewish people's summer cottages were burnt down and vandalized, yet locals stated blatantly on TV that arsen and vandalism are legitimate because the dwellers weren't very sociable.

    ReplyDelete
  39. I spent the evening of Canada Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The place was absolutely packed with people of all colors, speaking many different languages. The show was completely bilingual. Canada Day is a holiday that is welcoming of everyone in the country, unlike the exclusionary Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec.

    I took the bus from my suburban home in Ottawa downtown for the festivities. There was a Francophone couple sitting behind me. They were an ugly pair. He was unshaven, dressed like a bum, with cheap tattoes on his arms. She was very fat, wearing a baseball cap backwards, and she spoke some of the loudest and crudest Joual I have ever heard. They asked another passenger for directions in French, and when he started speaking English, the Francophone woman yelled "parle francais!" at him. They were also making various anti-English comments, so I got really pissed off and told them that "this is Ottawa, it's an English city, speak English!" and they shut right up. They were a classic pair of Quebecois welfare cases - rude and obnoxious.

    ReplyDelete
  40. "The place was absolutely packed with people of all colors, speaking many different languages. The show was completely bilingual."

    et...

    "this is Ottawa, it's an English city, speak English!"

    ...!?

    ReplyDelete
  41. @Ottawannabe

    "They were an ugly pair. He was unshaven, dressed like a bum, with cheap tattoes on his arms. She was very fat"

    Assez courant comme look lorsque je voyage au canada et aux É.U. et ils parlent...Slang ou globish.

    ReplyDelete
  42. @ Press 9

    One of the acts on Parliament Hill sang in an Inuit language, and someone else sang in Spanish, so the Canada Day show was actually multilingual.

    I didn't have a problem with the couple speaking French until they demanded that someone, who after all, they were asking for assistance, speak French. Their anti-English comments didn't help either. And yes, Ottawa is primarily an English speaking city. I can just imagine the reaction if an Anglophone couple behaved the same way in Gatineau.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Combien de fois croyez-vous que les Québécois se sont fait dire "speak white" dans leur propre province,officiellement francophone?Il fût une époque (pas si lointaine) ou il était même interdit au sein plusieurs entreprises de parler notre propre langue.Frustrant n'est-ce pas?

    Si nous laissons Montréal s'angliciser a nouveau,il y a de fortes chances pour que ce triste passé nous rattrappe a nouveau.

    ReplyDelete
  44. "Speak white", tout comme "ici, c'est en français et seulement en français que ça se passe" ne sont que deux côtés de cette même médaille d'intolérance et de superbe qui a rendu nécessaire la révolution tranquille ainsi que le refoulement des excès de celle-ci que l'on vit déjà depuis quelques années.

    > Si nous laissons Montréal s'angliciser a nouveau,il y a de fortes chances pour que ce triste passé nous rattrappe a nouveau.

    ... ou peut-être aurions-nous (bon nombre de Montréalais et Québécois) bientôt fini par apprendre une leçon fort importante et longue de cinq décennies sur ce que veulent dire tolérance et promotion linguistique — bidirectionnelle — au point où nous pourrions enfin prêcher par l'exemple et montrer la voie aux autres Québécois, puis au pays entier?

    Serions-nous peut-être sur le point de comprendre jusqu'où l'isolement recroquevillé mène au détriment de toutes les tranches d'une société? (que l'on soit majoritaire ou minoritaire)

    Jamais Montréal n'a eu un taux de bilinguisme aussi élevé—même pas dans l'ère du 'speak white' où la langue française aurait été réellement menacée. Ne serait-il pas enfin temps de lever le voile qui sépare les deux principales communautés linguistiques et afficher fièrement et ouvertement le fruit de nos efforts collectifs?

    Dans une génération ou deux, la créature montréalaise multilingue sera la règle et non l'exception. Notre droit saura-t-il évoluer avec nos nouvelles attitudes.... et nos nouveaux besoins?

    ReplyDelete
  45. "la créature montréalaise multilingue sera la règle"

    Ce pays n'est même pas en mesure d'atteindre le stade du bilinguisme après 400 années,alors qui sera multilingue?Avez vous un exemple de ville américaine ou même canadienne multilingue?Une projection idéale ou utopique?Dans ce cas-ci, "créature" est la bonne expression.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Westallophone, there are bilingual separatists, and unilingual francophone federalists. This thing is not so clear cut.

    But you're right about entitlement. Many Quebecois think they're a godsend (blame the 1960's which primed many - and not only Quebeckers - into thinking they own the world), and that affects their behavior, both day to day, as well as collectively and politically. While many separatist movements in the world are borne out of oppression, this one is borne out of delusions of self-importance.

    ReplyDelete
  47. "Combien de fois croyez-vous que les Québécois se sont fait dire "speak white" dans leur propre province,officiellement francophone? "

    Errr...maybe the pressure to speak "white" came from the fact that the side that speaks "white" won the war?

    But today, that's no longer the case. You have the right to live in French despite having lost the war. Enjoy this fact, and stop being anti-social.

    And since you lost the war, you do not get to have everything your way. It's not the 1500's anymore. Today, you have to learn to compromise.

    ReplyDelete
  48. "...maybe the pressure to speak "white" came from the fact that the side that speaks "white" won the war?"

    Je ne crois pas non et j'ai plutôt l'impression qu'il s'agissait de racisme(toujours présent).Vous savez les anglouilles sont des experts réputés en la matière,ici comme ailleurs.Adski,votre problème est que vous croyez que le temps efface tout....Errr...Si il y a compromis a faire,je crois bien que c'est a votre tour.

    "You have the right to live in French despite having lost the war."

    Honnêtement,j'hésite entre vous dire merci ou de vous envoyez chier.

    ReplyDelete
  49. A few thoughts on the Quebecois visitor to Ottawa on Canada Day...

    I wonder if she would have been treated better if she had tried to explain in halting English that she was from Quebec and didn't speak English very well? Even if nobody on the bus was able to speak French, the other passengers would have been more sympathetic and with a little muddling she might have gotten the directions she needed. I also wonder how many of my fellow countrymen (I'm talking about Americans, not Anglo-Canadians) would act exactly as she did in Quebec or in France? When I visited Montréal, I took care to use a little bit of French first because the last thing I wanted was to be dragged into these language debates while I was on vacation. Most people I met could speak English, but I was able to get by even with the few that didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  50. @ E.J. Cunningham,

    The Quebecois woman did receive directions from an Anglo bus rider despite her rude and aggressive behavior. If I had heard her asking for directions politely in English OR French, I would have helped her myself (in English or French).

    ReplyDelete
  51. "The Quebecois woman did receive directions from an Anglo bus rider despite her rude and aggressive behavior"

    Qu'est-ce qui vous agresse le plus?Le fait Qu'elle était Québécoise ou qu'elle était impolie.Si cette femme avait été anglophone,serions-nous en train de parler de cette anecdote aujourd'hui?


    "The Quebecois woman did receive directions from an Anglo bus rider despite her rude and aggressive behavior."

    Cela fait partie de son travail,surtout en milieu touristique.

    Je ne crois pas que l'impolitesse,la vulgarité et l'agressivité soit une invention Québécoise.
    Si vous croyez que c'est le cas,je vous conseille de sortir de votre banlieue d'Ottawa et de voyager un peu plus.

    ReplyDelete
  52. @ Anon. at 8:54 AM,

    "Si cette femme avait été anglophone,serions-nous en train de parler de cette anecdote aujourd'hui?"

    I have never encountered an Anglophone woman who was as loud, obnoxious, vulgar and rude as the Quebecoise woman on the bus.

    "Cela fait partie de son travail,surtout en milieu touristique."

    He was just a young guy riding the bus. It was highly unlikely that he worked in the tourism industry because he wasn't bilingual.

    "..je vous conseille de sortir de votre banlieue d'Ottawa et de voyager un peu plus."

    I have travelled extensively - probably much more than you have.

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  53. "I have travelled extensively - probably much more than you have."

    Bon,un autre anglo avec un complexe de supériorité.

    A vous lire ce n'est pas très évident,désolé.
    Probablement des circuits touristiques aseptisé ou vous n'avez aucun contact avec les populations locales.Votre attitude paranoiaque laisse présager que cela vous terrifie.Est-ce que je me trompe?

    "I have never encountered an Anglophone woman who was as loud, obnoxious, vulgar and rude..."

    Vous ne connaissez pas ma belle-mère,petit raciste.

    ReplyDelete
  54. "He was just a young guy riding the bus. It was highly unlikely that he worked in the tourism industry because he wasn't bilingual."

    Vous avez raison,Ottawa n'est pas une ville touristique,Fiooou :(

    ReplyDelete
  55. "Je ne crois pas que l'impolitesse,la vulgarité et l'agressivité soit une invention Québécoise."

    No, the Quebecoise may have not invented rude behaviour but they have certainly mastered it. The are disliked by locals in many areas they frequent. Florida, Dominican Repubblic and other parts of the Caribbean. One on one they seem to be ok but unfortunately, put them in a group and they become instant a-holes. Have seen it many times.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Que voulez-vous,nous sommes des gens festifs et aimons nous retrouver en famille (voir tribal).A l'avenir essayez de choisir des destinations ou il n'y a seulement que des individus de votre race.Bonne chance!

    Aussi,vous semblez maîtriser très bien l'intolérance,le mépris et peut-être même,le racisme.Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  57. "gens festifs et aimons nous retrouver en famille"

    Read A-Holes. Loud and obnoxious as hell. Poor tippers and many times I have heard them talk down to service staff at restaurants and resorts. In fact, a golf caddie once gave me the cold shoulder at first as I told him I was Canadian. After a couple of holes he asked why I didnt speak english with an accent. I then realized he thought I was a Quebecois at first. Once I educated him that I was a Western Canadian he stated "good, now we can have some fun". An honest and true account. The Quebecois are not liked where they travel due to their feelings of entitlement and their false sense of superiority which is due in part to their inner insecurity. Sad that other Canadians are at timew branded as vulgar and obnoxious Quebecois.

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  58. @ Anon. aka Press 9:

    "Que voulez-vous,nous sommes des gens festifs et aimons nous retrouver en famille (voir tribal)."

    It is one thing to be festive; quite another to behave like assholes.

    "Aussi,vous semblez maîtriser très bien l'intolérance,le mépris et peut-être même,le racisme.Bravo!"

    That's an ironic statement coming from you, Press 9. You hate everyone not of your ilk. You are by far the biggest bigot on this blog.

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  59. "Sad that other Canadians..."...Errrrr

    Nous ne sommes pas canayens!

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  60. "You are by far the biggest bigot on this blog."

    Peut-être mais la compétition est féroce.

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  61. "Nous ne sommes pas canayens!"

    Quoi est ecrit sur votre passporte, Canadian ou le Republique du Quebec. :):) Je croire vous etes fous. Bien sur, vous etes un Quebecois, apres tout.

    Now, myself, I really wish you were not Canadian with your vulgar and obnoxious ways. Tarnishes our good reputation in the world. Toute le monde francais en Quebec donne Canada un tres mal nom.

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  62. "Toute le monde francais en Quebec donne Canada un tres mal nom."

    Mais le canada se débrouille très bien sans notre aide.Si vous tenez tant a votre précieuse fausse image,je vous conseille de regarder du coté de l'alberta,par exemple.

    Les images circulant dans tous les médias de ce massacre écologique,est extrèmement négatif aux yeux la communauté internationale.Demandez donc a votre gouvernement Harper de s'aligner avec le reste de la planète au niveau environnementale, au lieu d'aller a contre-courant.

    Mais ou est passé le siège canadien au conseil de sécurité des Nations unies?

    Encore la faute des Québécois...Ben oui!

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  63. "Encore la faute des Québécois...Ben oui!"

    Et le Asbestos produire en Quebec??

    Was not talking about the enviromental issues but rather about the individual or group behavior of the Quebecois Tourists in other parts of the world. They are disliked and not respected by the locals in these regions that I talked about. If the shoe fits, wear it...

    Again, vulgar, loud and obnoxious, juste comme vous, mon pauvre petit homme du Quebec. Juste comme vous, mon pauvre petit homme du Quebec. Parlez la anglais et vous sera libre avec votre petit vie.;) Le francais, elle serez un faiblessement ( et vous vous) dans le monde a temps passe.

    Assez bien dits.

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  64. "Et le Asbestos produire en Quebec??"

    Demandez a votre ami fédéraste John James Charest.

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  65. "Demandez a votre ami fédéraste John James Charest."

    Qui ont electeurs le majoritie gouvernment pour JJC, les peuple Quebecois, n'est pas? Vous doit demandez votre questione a vos gouvernment , Que vous donnez votre voter..

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  66. "Et le Asbestos produire en Quebec??"

    "Demandez a votre ami fédéraste John James Charest."

    So if the Parti Quebecois wins the next provincial election they will shutdown the Quebec asbestos industry? Yeah right!!! I can sell you some cheap land in Florida...er...I mean Abitibi-Temiscamingue!

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  67. Neither English nor French are my, or my parents, first language. My parents don't even speak English, and we all have a job.
    Meanwhile if Quebecois go to another place, they won't speak between each other in other language than french. how we call that? hypocrisy? Quebec should embrace bilingualism, there's nothing wrong about it and it's amazing for brain health. Acting like pro-Fascist twats wont take this place anywhere good

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  68. @b3lur

    "My parents don't even speak English, and we all have a job."

    Wow! (???!!!)

    Et tous les blogues auxquels vous êtes abonnées sont anglos...Quelle coincidence!

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  69. "Et tous les blogues auxquels vous êtes abonnées sont anglos...Quelle coincidence! "

    Un homme avec les bien gouts ;)

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  70. When I first moved here from Ontario I hadn't taken a French course since grade 9. I desparately wanted to learn French in order to get a job (I live in a town that is 99.9% francophone). I appealed to Emploi-Qc, the provincial government, and the Federal government for subsidized programs to learn French, as new immigrants receive. I was told it was not available for me, as my grade 9 French is "sufficient for employment". If I feel the need to improve to get a job, I will have to pay for it. How can I pay for it if my French isn't sufficient enough (as stated by places I applied to) to get a job? I was more than willing to learn French and conduct my day-to-day activities in French, and the government wouldn't even meet me half way.

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  71. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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