Friday, November 18, 2011

French versus English Volume 39

Three siblings ousted from English School.    
"When he went home after the first day of school in August, Grade 11 student Emiliano Morales-Espinosa learned he'd have to leave Royal West Academy.

After doing all his schooling in English in Quebec - including four years at Royal West - Emiliano was no longer allowed to attend English school. The verdict from the Quebec government has meant leaving his friends at Royal West and enrolling in a French school, where he didn't know a soul, for his last year of high school."
Read the rest of the story Alternate Link
This is what happens when bureaucrats make rules and regulations in a vacuum......

'Civil Servant?' 'Public servant?' or just plain 'consultant?'    

"Top staffer resigns in protest as storm grows over unilingual auditor general" 
"Veteran civil servant quits over AG pick" LINK to CBC

Michel Dorais-Not a civil Servant
Is it media spin or just getting the facts wrong?
These headlines in the National Post and the CBC are typical of the dozens of stories in newspapers across the country, that by accident or design gave the impression that Michel Dorais was at the time of his resignation, an active and experienced employee of the government. IT ISN'T TRUE!

Mr. Dorais is no more a staffer at the Auditor General's office than I am.
Imagine you own a company and hire a lawyer to fight a zoning problem or an accountant to do your taxes.
Are these professionals 'staffers' or your  'employees'?

The story about his principled resignation over the appointment of a unilingual Auditor General was used to underline the indignation over the recent Conservative party pattern of hiring on the basis of merit, not bilingualism.
But the impression left by the media  that Mr. Dorais was a high-ranking  permanent employee of the Auditor-General's department just isn't true.

This from Mr. Dorais' own company website;
"Michel Dorais retired from the Public Service in April 2007 after 31 years in both federal and provincial governments. He has recently founded the Groupe Listal and provides services related to governance and management of public institutions." LINK
Mr. Dorais sits on the internal audit committee which is composed of three employees of the Auditor General's Office and two "outside" members, Peter Boomgaardt and until his resignation, Michel Dorais.
Both of these men are not employees of the the Auditor General's Office.

Quebec's war on Christians
"Quebec's continued determination to stamp out religion, as if it were some pestiferous bug in need of squashing, is as mystifying as it is alarming and paranoid.
In the latest episode, the Montreal borough of Lachine has fined Paula Celani $144 because she and her 80-member Catholic lay group, a registered charity, prayed and held mass in a city-owned hall they rented.
It's good to know that Celani plans to fight the constitutionality of the ticket in court. It's about time someone challenged this insidious mania over secularism that has led to the ludicrous scenario of a private party being fined for worshipping in a hall they paid to rent.
The Parti Quebecois wants a ban on civil servants wearing what they term "ostentatious" religious symbols, which includes necklaces with crosses or yarmulkas, something many Jewish men wear...." Read the rest of the story
Question to readers.... If the group involved was Muslim or Jewish, would the borough have issued a ticket?

OQLF investigates English at Caisse de Depot
"It is the ultimate symbol of Quebec pride — of francophones exerting influence within their own economy.

So there was some surprise at news Tuesday that two senior managers at Quebec's Caisse de depot et placement can't speak French.

Montreal La Presse newspaper reported that meetings are frequently held in English at the giant pension-fund manager, because two senior execs can't speak the language of Moliere....."
Read the rest of the story

Separatist mayor removes Canadian flag
Mayor Claude Boucher
"In a province where the fleur-de-lis flies proudly, there is one small town in Quebec's eastern townships where some residents are rallying around a flag of a different colour – the red Maple Leaf.
The battle over the Canadian flag actually began two years ago when former Parti Quebecois MNA Claude Boucher was elected mayor of Saint-Denis-de-Brompton. The mayor quickly removed the Canadian flag from outside the town hall and from inside the council chamber...." Read the rest of the story

Negative Fallout over OQLF sign campaign    
On Wednesday I wrote about the Office québécois de la langue française's campaign to force companies to adopt descriptors to 'explain' their English trademarks.
As you can imagine most of the comments by readers were decidedly negative.  See the post

But a lot of negative reactions came out of the French side of the language equations where many found fault with the initiative for a variety of reasons.
Instead of applauding, Mario Beaulieu of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, complained bitterly that the OQLF was rewarding non-compliance of the law by offering subsidies to small companies to help them get in line with the law. He along with a colleague wrote a letter to the Minister in charge;
"We are writing you to  denounce the creation of an awareness campaign coupled with a new grant program aimed at companies not complying with the Charter of the French language, as the President, Louise Marchand of the Office québécois de la langue française announced in Quebec, in a letter received last Friday.
Is it really the will of your government to provide up to $50,000 to companies in order that they can comply with the Act? This seems unacceptable and odious to say the least. Companies that break the law while showing contempt for our language should have to pay a fine (up to $ 20,000) rather than be  rewarded with a grant of up to $50,000. These businesses should fill the government coffers instead of receiving such generous and abnormal  subsidies.
Le président du Mouvement Québec français, Mario Beaulieu
Le président du Mouvement Montréal français,
Denis Trudel  LINK
While such  reactions from militants is to be expected an opinion piece in LE DEVOIR by  Carole Lavallée made an interesting point.


Madame Lavallée pondered if the whole campaign was really about convincing Francophones that the signage problem is not as big a deal as is made out to be.

Huh?
At first I thought the article was to be another diatribe by another paranoid French-language militant, racked by a persecution complex. 
But wait.....She makes some excellent points.

Here's what she contends;
Why on Earth run the advertising campaign in French only, if it is English stores that are the problem? Surely the bosses in Toronto or New York aren't going to pay attention to a French campaign in Quebec.
Instead of contacting the offending companies at their headquarters, she asks, why is the OQLF undertaking an advertising campaign in French and organizing a tour in the boonies (where English signs don't exist)  to explain the law?
She quotes a passage in one of the advertisements that explains which English phrases are acceptable under the law. 
Why do this, rather then implore companies to use French?

Her conclusion is that the OQLF is really attempting to educate consumers over the rights of businesses to display their brand name in English, so as to reduce the number of complaints.


Hmm..... She's got a few good points. Read the article in French


Readers, in preparing my Wednesday post, I downloaded the rules (Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, RRQ, c C-11, r 9) concerning this issue and in educating myself I was surprised that there is a lot more latitude in the law than I had assumed.

Remember the piece I wrote about complaints at a French hospital over a sign in Spanish. LINK
Turns out the sign is completely legal!
 18.   Public signs and posters concerning health or public safety may be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently.
So technically, are bilingual streets signs that deal with safety legal?
Here are some other interesting regulations;

19.   Public signs and posters of a museum, botanical garden, zoo or cultural or scientific exhibition may, on the premises thereof, be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently.
21.   A public sign or poster bearing directions for the use of a device permanently installed in a public place may be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently. (What does this actually mean????)

23.   Public signs and posters displayed by a natural person for non-professional and non-commercial purposes may be in the language of the person's choice. 

10.   Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications may be in 2 separate versions, one exclusively in French, the other exclusively in another language, provided that the material presentation of the French version is available under no less favourable conditions of accessibility and quality than the version in the other language.


However, the version exclusively in another language may be inserted in a news publication published exclusively in that language; it may also be sent to any natural person having made a written request to receive such documents in that other language.


In addition, catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications intended for persons belonging to the same ethnical group may be written only in the language of such group.
 (Remember the guy who complained about an English SAQ flyer included within an English newspaper.---It's legal!)

Have a good weekend!!!!

Further reading: French versus English Volume 38

62 comments:

  1. Editor,

    I would just like to correct your story on the separatist mayor's removal of the Canadian flag. After a town meeting, he has agreed to put it back
    http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111117/mtl_flag_111117/20111117/?hub=MontrealHome

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also have another question. If the oldest sibling of the Gonzalez family were to have a family and children in Quebec, would his children be able to attend English school since he did most of his education in English in Canada?

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  3. ...to Anon @ 12:21AM: I'm not a lawyer, but "notwithstanding" the law, the racist bureaucrats would probably block all attempts at English school because English schools to them are necessary parasites to accommodate those who had parents whose English elementary schooling for at least six years in Quebec (or elsewhere in Canada) was perfectly legal. The portion in parentheses was due to the lost constitutional challenge the first PQ government in the late 70s took to the Supreme Court.

    Even if this Gonzalez family you speak of did have the perfectly legal right to English schooling, you could be sure they'd have to hire Brent Tyler or someone like him to fight those rabid racist bureaucratic SOBs for all they're worth. You can rest assured that Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest wouldn't THINK of lifting a finger to help.

    Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest showed his resolve, or dire lack thereof, when ONE child in a family of four children could not cope with the French schooling. Those rabid racist language bureaucrats were acting their usual brutal, merciless and ruthless selves by not considering the two sections of the Great Charter of Charters, Quebec's Holy Grail, that (theoretically) make concessions to those with severe learning disabilities (Section 81 of the Great Charter of Charters, Quebec's Holy Grail) and/or on humanitarian grounds (Section 85.1 of the Great Charter of Charters, Quebec's Holy Grail). If Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest can and did look the other way and wash his hands in those circumstances, you can be sure he would be his usual gonadless and spineless self in this situation as well.

    The fact the Gonzalezes would have a legitimate right is beside the point, and the rabid racist bureaucrats wouldn't let legalities get in their way. Premier John James "Goldilocks" Charest wouldn't get his hands dirty over something as trivial as this. Trivial, my ass!

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  4. Les Gonzalez ont l'amérique entière pour vivre en globish,Que font-ils donc au Québec?

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  5. For the same reason I still live here. Other than the occasional racist xenophobe most people who speak English here have no issue with learning Igno-Rench.

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  6. "Other than the occasional racist xenophobe"

    Alors,c'est quoi votre problème?

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  7. "Les Gonzalez ont l'amérique entière pour vivre en globish,Que font-ils donc au Québec?"

    There is an issue here that the family should have known better. But parallel to that is the issue of how insulated, narrow-minded and insensitive the population of Quebec has become.

    There is a difference between children who just arrived, and children who were in English institutions for years and are now being pulled out by force, one of them in his last grade of high school.

    So to come and say "they should have gone somewhere else", or "they should have known the law" in THIS PARTICULAR CASE is contemptible. And what's unfortunate is that the majority of the Quebecois seem to have been brainwashed with the "this is the law and people should know better" idea, that they can't even look at these things on case by case basis. To them, law is the law, and all other aspects like common sense or empathy are to be thrown out the window.

    It's pathetic, really.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sort of related to the mayor removing the Canadian flag:
    "Intimidé pour avoir affiché un drapeau (Canadien)"
    http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/regional/archives/2011/11/20111117-115524.html

    "Les Gonzalez ont l'amérique entière pour vivre en globish,Que font-ils donc au Québec?"

    You have to be extremely small minded to think this way... Are you saying you don't want the province to grow?
    Oh but wait, I already know your answer.. Everyone back to their farms!

    Now are you going to claim you're not racist? I guess you don't mind different people, as long as they're far away?

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  9. Now are you going to claim you're not racist?

    Ma femme est Colombienne.Suis-je assez raciste pour vous?

    ReplyDelete
  10. "Ma femme est Colombienne.Suis-je assez raciste pour vous?"

    Oui.

    But I don't expect you to realize it, after all racism is encouraged by everyone from media figures to politicians in this province.

    Your statement reminds me of Falardeau's shows, where he used to say that he likes people of all races, cultures and languages, as long as they're separatists. It's a nice way to avoid being accused of racism, while still being racist.

    Yes, you are racist. You can deny it all you want, but you're only lying to yourself. It's ok though, you can admit it. Racism is perfectly acceptable in this province.

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  11. "Ma femme est Colombienne.Suis-je assez raciste pour vous?"

    You are a selective racist then.

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  12. La langue anglaise n'est pas une race.

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  13. "Ma femme est Colombienne.Suis-je assez raciste pour vous?"

    "You are a selective racist then."

    He's actually Press 9, although he is no longer identifying himself as such. He has made it abundantly clear in his comments that he is a flaming bigot.

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  14. ''Anonymous said...

    La langue anglaise n'est pas une race.
    November 18, 2011 12:07 PM ''

    Criant de vérité.....mais dire ça ici ne t’apportera rien. Car c'est remettre en question des décennies de combat de nos cher ''amis'' angryphones pour enfin faire du Québec une véritable province ''canadian''.

    Il risque de pas aimer et ta phrase va finir sous le tapis.

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  15. "La langue anglaise n'est pas une race."

    Discrimination based on race, gender, religion, language, etc... are all the same.

    Perhaps the correct word isn't "racist", but that doesn't change the fact that you're intolerant towards anyone who's different.

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  16. Perhaps the correct word isn't "racist", but that doesn't change the fact that you're intolerant towards anyone who's...Envahissant.

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  17. "Perhaps the correct word isn't "racist", but that doesn't change the fact that you're intolerant towards anyone who's...Envahissant"

    What a hypocritical statement. Francophones are not the native people of Quebec. They are the descendants of invading colonizers from the Empire of France.

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  18. Anonymous said...

    ''What a hypocritical statement. Francophones are not the native people of Quebec. They are the descendants of invading colonizers from the Empire of France.

    November 18, 2011 2:11 PM ''

    Les Amérindiens ne sont pas plus les ''natives'' de la région non plus, mais le castor et l'orignal oui :P

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

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  20. Les Gonzalez ont l'amérique entière pour vivre en globish,Que font-ils donc au Québec?

    November 18, 2011 9:09 AM

    to this moron who posted this moronic comment above,for the record, Quebec is a BRITISH dominion,it is part of the commonwealth and always will be, GET IT?!?they are entitled to english schooling on this soil whether you like it or not and this is how it should be... BTW, the question you asked should be addressed to you instead of the Gonzalez.

    why do you live in a commonwealth country in the first place???and why don't you just buy yourself a one-way ticket flight to france and stay there???

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  21. "and why don't you just buy yourself a one-way ticket flight to france and stay there???"

    Likely because the real French people in France have no love loss for the Quebecois. Must not be nice to be disliked by your ancestors.

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  22. "Likely because the real French people in France have no love loss for the Quebecois...."

    La moitié de la scène culturelle Française est occupée par des Québécois.Effectivement quel mépris :)

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  23. "Les Amérindiens ne sont pas plus les ''natives'' de la région non plus, mais le castor et l'orignal oui :P"

    Vous oubliez les marmottes XD

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  24. Editor,

    Why did you remove my post? Did you not say that name calling was acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Troy, Troy, Troy!!!

    You know better than that...
    I said name calling was okay when the post has redeeming value, yours was just an attempt to test the limits of vulgarity.
    Not nice.....

    At any rate I hereby announce that any comment, containing the word 'motherf****r' won't be published.

    Troy it's like what they say about obscenity....
    Hard to define, but easily recognizable.

    At any rate, you're to good a poster to stoop that level.
    The truth is that while I don't like to censor, those who include gratuitous insults are largely ignored.
    Those who have ideas to share and explain them effectively (regardless of point of view) are what drives this blog...

    ReplyDelete
  26. "Quebec is a BRITISH dominion"

    Les british,on les a dans l'cul ainsi que que le drapeau canayen dailleurs...GET IT?

    Un gars de St-Denis-De-Brompton.

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  27. "Les Amérindiens ne sont pas plus les ''natives'' de la région non plus, mais le castor et l'orignal oui"

    I would like to see you repeat the statement above in Kanewake or Kanesatake and see how long you remain standing.

    The native people (Amerindians) were living in Quebec for thousands of years before the French invaders arrived.

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  28. Editor,

    Yeah, you read right through me. It was an attempt from me to push the envelope, to see how far I could go. I guess I crossed your line then. However, I need to criticize you.

    There are a lot and a lot of post without redeeming (or even any) value that pass through. Not only that they are worthless, they are also condescending and rude, and definitely not well-thought. On the sites of those "on the other side", such comments are sehr verboten. Prefontaine removes all comments in English while Vigile does not even let those not in line with its appear.

    The second criticism is about your Friday "French vs English". For two weeks now your theme pictures are those represented by Canadian flag against those by Quebec flag. So you are now supporting the notion that Canada equals English and Quebec equals French? Is the main theme of this blog not that there ARE English-speaking in Quebec? As well, there are plenty proud francophones live outside of Quebec who do not want to be caught dead being associated with Quebec.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Dear Tory,
    I read your comment with interest and would like to answer the many issues you bring up..

    But I'm going out for dinner now (we all have personal lives) and will answer you tomorrow morning at the latest, after I've had time to formulate a response.

    Look for my reply farther down the list of comments tomorrow.

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  30. "Les british,on les a dans l'cul ainsi que que le drapeau canayen dailleurs...GET IT?"

    Votre francais est tres mal. On the other hand, Canada is part of the commonwealth and has been that way for a century or two. Quebec is part of Canada and therefore is part of the commonwealth. Essentially a former British colony. You can pretend that Quebec is part of Canada but at the end of the day Quebec is no differnt than any other province. Other than the fact that welfare rates are high and the debt is astronomical compared to other "progressive" provinces.

    In any event, if you went to school in Quebec one would suppose your composition skills would be far better than what is evidenced on this site. Of course, Quebec is substandard in many ways so this comes as no suprise to me. (when one looks at the drop out rate of the French school system in Quebec as compared to the English system)

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  31. Should have been in the last post.

    You can pretend that Quebec is "not" part of Canada... which of course they, are whether the pequistes ou separatistes like it or not.

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  32. "Likely because the real French people in France have no love loss for the Quebecois...."

    La moitié de la scène culturelle Française est occupée par des Québécois.Effectivement quel mépris :)

    to anonymous on November 18, 2011 4:45 PM

    Perhaps some of the artists are the welcomed there, those are exceptions and that's undeniably true

    but average quebecers like you making a living off welfare, as if!!!...you would be put in the same basket as the "Bougnoule" or the"racaille" since you would not fit adequately in social norm in france and for good reasons,besides.

    Quebec is a BRITISH dominion"

    Les british,on les a dans l'cul ainsi que que le drapeau canayen dailleurs...GET IT?

    we will always stick around and be pain in your asses.

    Un gars de St-Denis-De-Brompton(A BACKWATER REDNECK TOWN FILLED WITH INBRED DRUNKS AND DRUGGIES THAT HAVE NO PURPOSE IN LIFE BUT MAKING STUPID COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET AND NOT HAVING ANY REGARD TO OTHER PEOPLE'S POINT OF VIEWS.

    btw, how's the calf going???

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  33. "Les Gonzalez ont l'amérique entière pour vivre en globish,Que font-ils donc au Québec?"

    So I've been thinking about this comment today, even though I already replied earlier.

    At first glance, it sounds like an extremely rude and racist comment. However if I actually try to understand what you meant, I'm sure you were aiming for the idea that people who move to this country/province should adopt our values and our way of life. "When in rome..." right?

    It got me thinking about the Shafia case. (I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about) I'm fairly certain that a majority of Canadians would agree that "honour killings" are completely unacceptable. We expect people who come here to adopt our values when it comes to law, justice and human rights. From that point of view, everyone here should be able to understand where you're coming from. I definitely can.

    So I have to firstly apologize for some of my previous comments.

    That being said, I still don't agree with your comment, and here's why:

    As everyone will point out, both french and english are part of this province and country, and part of their history. Denying either is wrong in my opinion. But beyond that:

    I personally don't think the language you speak has anything to do with your beliefs or your national identity. The two are unrelated to me, even though many people will probably disagree.
    So to me, it's not "vivre en francais/anglais", it's "vivre en Québécois/Canadien". Speak the language you want, but share our basic values.

    Despite letting people chose the language they want, and despite the surrounding english majority, I honestly don't believe that there's any real threat to our "français du Québec". Yes, immigration and globalization give us groups of different languages, and a necessity to use one common language to communicate, but that's true everywhere.
    The current reality is that not being fluent in french in this province puts you at a disadvantage. This isn't going to change anytime soon. If the Gonzales family wanted their children to be disadvantaged (or to move out of the province), isn't that their problem?

    Quebecker of Tree Stump

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  34. "When in rome..." right?"

    Je ne demande pas aux Gonzalez de manger de la poutine ou d'aller à la cabane à sucre.Je leur demande simplement de faire un effort pour communiquer dans la langue officielle de la majorité.

    Est-ce trop demander?

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  35. My comment on Morales family matters below. And why do the comments here refer to them as Gonzalez? Mississauga, you are the one not under 'Anonymous'. Who are the Gonzalezes?

    I personally know somebody from my home country. In fact, he is one of the prominent figure in our community. His story is strikingly similar with Morales family.

    He came to Montreal a number of years ago. He was head hunted by Bombardier and has been working there at their St-Laurent location as a Structure Engineer ever since. When he was recruited he came here under Temporary Work Permit, not Permanent Residence. Because of that, he was allowed to send his two children to public English school.

    Just like Dr. Morales, my friend applied for Permanent Residence after several years. When they received their PR, they were told that their two children were not eligible to study at an English school anymore. Just like the Moraleses, my friend's eldest child was also at the last year of high school. So the family made an appeal to MELS for their case, citing that it would not be beneficial for the development of their child to move to the French system for only a year after studying in English for years.

    The appeal was granted. The eldest child could continue studying in English. Because the eldest was in English system, the younger one was allowed to stay too even though the younger one still had 4 years to go. The eldest one subsequently went to Dawson and McGill. All ended happily ever after.

    The moral of the story is I think MELS is actually quite reasonable if there is good justification. I suspect that the Morales family makes such a big noise after the rejection instead of just quietly appeal and request for a hearing. In the hearing the could have presented their case and produced supporting witnesses. My reading on this case is that they choose the confrontational way from the get-go and therefore I worry about their chance.

    Regarding MELS, I can personally attest that MELS is accommodating, particularly if the case is clear and justified. And that is from my personal experience. Well, at least it was reasonable when I had to deal with them, back in Michelle Courchesne's time.

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  36. "to this moron who posted this moronic comment above,for the record, Quebec is a BRITISH dominion,it is part of the commonwealth and always will be,"





    Actually Canada is not a real british dominion since the westminster act in 1931. So if you want to live in a real BRITISH country, maybe you should take a flight to the UK ?

    And while you're there, you can go cry to your precious royal family about our laws and see how they care.. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  37. Tree Stump,

    "Despite letting people chose the language they want, and despite the surrounding english majority, I honestly don't believe that there's any real threat to our "français du Québec". Yes, immigration and globalization give us groups of different languages, and a necessity to use one common language to communicate, but that's true everywhere.
    The current reality is that not being fluent in french in this province puts you at a disadvantage. This isn't going to change anytime soon. If the Gonzales family wanted their children to be disadvantaged (or to move out of the province), isn't that their problem?"

    Not necessarily true. In my experience, being a unilingual anglophone is surely a disadvantage than a bilingual, but being a unilingual anglophone is not that big of disadvantage than being a unilingual francophone. The reality of Montreal is that if one's employer does business out of Quebec too, one needs to speak English.

    In IT, for example. That domain is almost exclusively anglophone, particularly if one works internally on the back office, never to see clients. Finance sector as well and aerospace too. There are numerous unilingual anglophones at Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney, Bell Textron or Canadian Space Agency.

    So see that from the separatist point of view. The more unilingual English children produced, the more they will thrive at those sectors. The more they are successful in their lives in English, the more they do not care about French. The more anglophones become successful, the more francophones and allophones want to follow their path. The more francophones and allophones pulled to the English side, the more French language, culture and identity is threatened.

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  38. Anonymous at 19:57,

    "Je ne demande pas aux Gonzalez de manger de la poutine ou d'aller à la cabane à sucre.Je leur demande simplement de faire un effort pour communiquer dans la langue officielle de la majorité.

    Est-ce trop demander?"

    Let me ask you this then:

    I ask simply ask you to do the effort to communicate in the official language of the majority of THIS COUNTRY, Canada. After all, you do live in Canada, do you not? And I am sure you know that Quebec is merely a province of Canada.

    Is it too much to ask?

    ReplyDelete
  39. To Troy @ 6:23PM
    I read you comment with interest and can only say that since this is an English blog, generally promoting English rights in Quebec, one would assume that those one the other side of the debate with strong opinions take offence.
    That is why more 'rude' comments seem to flow from the Francophone side. Certainly not all.
    At any rate, I'm generally surprised that very few of these people take issue with my posts and the positions that I take or the stories that I aggregate.
    It seems a bit strange that they mostly unload on other posters and rarely make any interesting counter arguments.
    In fact, most of the criticism and differences of opinion on this blog are the work of Anglos.
    As for the bitching and moaning by the likes of those like Press 9, I find it highly entertaining and don't say that you don't too.

    As for the French versus English logo,I accept your criticism and will make a change next week.

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  40. @anon 10:22

    Imaginary hot latin american chicks or blow up dolls don't count.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Proud Anglos, take notice!!!
    Don't be a loser like a kebecer. Learn a new language.

    This one seems like it's got a bright future ahead:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V-6fye8its

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  42. Proud Anglos, take notice!!!
    Don't be a loser like a kebecer.Take the 401!

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  43. Anglos will not take the 401!!! but stay and fight the fascists/RACISTS/Nationalists/pequists/Cacists/Pequist lite;s Brown shirt wannabe's till our rights are respected...

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  44. "...till our rights are respected..."

    Quels droits?Vous n'avez plus de droits chez nous.Nous sommes en 2011,pas en 1940 XD!

    Grandissez et acceptez d'être des citoyens de 2ème classe.

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  45. Part of Troy's comment (10:26 PM) was sort of prophetic:
    "In IT, for example. That domain is almost exclusively anglophone"
    La Presse sent its hounds to the National Bank and found (oh the inhumaity!) a unilingual anglo heading IT! (cue Loony Tunes "shriek" sound effect)
    http://tinyurl.com/7m3sg2z

    I predict there'll be more frothing at the mouth from the SSJB/MMF/MQF zealots than snow in the coming weeks.

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  46. McCarthyism, Quebec style. Hunt and route out English speaking citizens with good jobs in Quebec. My company announced this month that in 2 years, all operations will be moved out of Montreal to Brampton Ontario. Thank you SSJB.

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  47. "...all operations will be moved out of Montreal to Brampton Ontario. Thank you SSJB."

    Good Riddance!

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  48. ...to Troy: I used the name Gonzalez in error. Someone before me used that name and I followed the leader.

    ...to Editor: I believe it was Troy who mentioned the Maple Leaf represents English Canada (ohhh...how I hate that moniker) and the fleur-de-lys represents French Quebec. I suggest using the St. George's Cross flag for England (not the Union Jack as the Scots, Irish and Welsh are not English) and the Tricolore for French.

    The separatists have been very good at conditioning you and too many others into the Maple Leaf for English, or red symbols for Anglophone and blue for French. Quebec is NOT a country, at least not at this time. Where the Maple Leaf leaves off, you have Lucien Bouchard finishing with the moniker "English Canada". There is NO "English Canada", but there is Canada.

    I did notice you responded on this so I'll leave the remedy in your capable hands. I like my suggestion, but this is YOUR blog.

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  49. ...to the Anon responses yesterday at 8:36 and 8:58AM: To 8:36, I say welcome to Ontario. I only wish you chose Mississauga, but Brampton is part of Peel Region, so thank you for providing needed jobs and your tax dollars. Your language police tax dollars will be much more wisely spent. You'll like the hospitals, too--modern equipment, better service, shorter waits if you need emergency services.

    To 8:58AM: Good riddance? Yo, imbecile, what are you doing this weekend? Drinking a 2-4 of bière Laurentide and a box of May Wests? This entrepreneur is further eroding your already badly eroded tax base, and leaving jobs behind. GOOD RIDDANCE?! Go crawl back in your case of 2-4 and finish the weekend totally pickling yourself. CRÉTIN! ...with a skull full of beer-soaked créton!

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

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  51. "You'll like the hospitals, too--modern equipment, better service, shorter waits if you need emergency services."

    ...And 384 Tim Horton.

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  52. Anonymous at 16:04 yesterday,

    "Proud Anglos, take notice!!!
    Don't be a loser like a kebecer.Take the 401!"

    I have written a rather lengthy response why a number of anglophones / allophones choose to stay in Quebec. Please see that comment for your information. In any case, for me myself, if I do need to leave this province, I am not taking the 401. I would likely fly away to Vancouver or Calgary.

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  53. "La chasse à l'anglouille est ouverte! "

    It won't be a one-way hunt.

    Historical record in French vs. English conflict does not bear out well for the French. So be careful what you wish for.

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  54. Anonymous at 16:14,

    Remember Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson and the Royal Navy beat the allied fleet of Spain and French. While Nelson lost his life, the battle was a decisive victory for the British.

    The result? Nelson's statue stands tall at Old Montreal. It should have been Place Horatio-Nelson than Place Jacques-Cartier, IMHO.

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  55. @ Troy,

    Don't forget the Battle of Waterloo, where Wellington defeated Napoleon.

    There is also the Battle of Agincourt, where the English slaughtered a much larger French army. Several hundred Englishmen died, whereas tens of thousands of Frenchmen were killed. Highly skilled English longbowmen caused most of the casualties on the French side.

    The statue of Lord Nelson was raised in Montreal even before his monument was constructed in London.

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  56. Former Montreal Mayor, Pierre Bourque (a closet Separatist) bemoaned the fact that he had to look at Lord Nelson's statue standing tall in Place Jacques Cartier in front of City Hall every day. He even floated the idea of relocating it to an "Anglo" part of town like CDN or NDG. That "idea" was quickly quashed and buried. This hero of the battle of Trafalgar, handed the French Navy a punishing defeat that they never recovered from.

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  57. Kudos to Troy and Anglobashers for bringing up Nelson`s column in Mtl - one of the oldest monuments to Nelson (1809) and I believe the oldest statue of Nelson in the world. (it's a replica of the weather damaged original) Trafalgar Square's version dates from 1840. DrunkGuy...I missed the wacky Pierre Bourque angle so many thanks for that.

    But I would like to suggest to you that Nelson`s historical significance goes far beyond a simple The English vs The French interpretation. It was that, in part. But Nelson is a thoroughly modern hero because he was a "key man" in the struggle between free and sovereign peoples and the first modern Euopean dictator - Napoleon - a guy who had almost singlehandedly perverted the noble ideals of the French Revolution to his own ends and then set out to conquer Europe. Napoleon was a despicable tyrant. His destruction, by Nelson and others, paved the way to modern France and Europe. It seems very righteous to me that he is still there in Montreal, commanding us to fight for freedom.

    We are all familiar with the nationalist/sovereignist idea that "The Conquest" was a disaster for Quebec. Well, without getting into detail, at least Quebec avoided the excesses of the French Revolution and Napoleon etc.

    Returning to the image of franco Quebecois battling anglo Quebecois in the streets of Montreal that seems to be implicit in the "la chasse a l'anglouille" remark and responses, I don't see it. That exchange has more to do with testosterone than reality. It is now apparent that the idea of Quebec separating from Canada achieved its high water mark in 1995. The hard core sovereignists are very sore losers. It doesn't help, in my view, to rub their noses in it and taunt the poor fellows with the Battle of Agincourt.

    But I know, Dear Editor, I am just peeing in the wind with that last point, on this blog. Most of the comments seem to prefer Nelson's famous tactical advice : "Never mind manoeuvers - go straight at 'em"

    May your sails always be full.

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  58. Alexander,

    My comment on Nelson is a comment for Anonymous who commented about conflict between English and French for another Anonymous who commented, "La chasse à l'anglouille est ouverte!"

    In anyway, I also have to say that in the old days, England (well, actually the Great Britain) was "better" than France. While all the European kingdoms were brutal by today's standard, England was more humane and better managed than France.

    It is worth noted that in their effort to distinguish "us" versus "them", separatists like to think back to the 'good old days' of New France and extrapolating how splendid life in Quebec would be should France won the Battle of the Plain.

    I am in the opinion that being in Canada is the best thing that could happen to Quebec. Look around. Outside of Europe and Canada, the members of La Francophonie are developing or under-developed countries. Compare that with the Commonwealth. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Bermuda, to name a few. CMIIW, but one prominent historical figure from Quebec - whose name escapes me - wrote that the defeat on the Plains was actually a good thing. Should Quebec have remained with France as New France, Napoleon would just sell it to the United States as part of Louisiana Purchase. And certainly the French affair in Louisiana is not something to be envious about.

    As for quoting naval heroes, my favorite is ADM David Farragut during the American Civil War, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

    Fair winds and following seas.

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  59. ...to Troy re the state of the Francophonie nations: Good one! The nations under French influence, compared to the British, are definitely major losers! Small wonder the "English minority" in Quebec ruled. They created the wealth in Quebec while the Roman Catholic church, coupled with corrupt leadership in politics, encouraged ignorance of the proletariat under their collective thumb.

    Case in point: The shmendrick (likely Appuyezle9) who is fixated on how many Tim Hortons there are in Mississauga.

    I can always fixate on the number of chien-chaud-et-frites joints there are in Quebec, but I have much better things to do. I have a real, full-time job (where I speak a significant amount of French everyday here in Mississauga). Shmendricks who live off the public purse have time to research the number of Tim Hortons in Missisauga.

    Too, while Tim Hortons used to be primarily a doughnut shop, they sell far more lunch items than they do doughnuts now, and have since the 1980s. Too bad those câsse-croutes in Quebec still sell the same high-fat-nutrition-free food that is highly responsible for the high number of heart attacks and strokes sustained in Quebec--often where smoking is permitted!

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  60. Troy: "one prominent historical figure from Quebec - whose name escapes me - wrote that the defeat on the Plains was actually a good thing. Should Quebec have remained with France as New France, Napoleon would just sell it to the United States as part of Louisiana Purchase. And certainly the French affair in Louisiana is not something to be envious about."

    Also, being under the British mandate as of 1763 spared Quebec from the The Reign of Terror of Revolutionary France in 1793/1794, when thousands of people perished under the guillotine in ideological cleansings.

    Quebeckers dodged the bullet there.

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  61. "I ask simply ask you to do the effort to communicate in the official language of the majority of THIS COUNTRY, Canada. After all, you do live in Canada, do you not? And I am sure you know that Quebec is merely a province of Canada."

    Ooooh BURN!

    The French need to remember 2 important things: 1) they weren't the first people here, and according to their own laws and whining, should be speaking native languages in order to show RESPECT for the culture that was here before they beat everyone into submission and stomped all over them. 2)Quebec is NOT a country. The "language of the majority" in this country is English. The language of the majority in many sections of Quebec is ALSO English.

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