French Versus English Volume 42

French militants to demonstrate at Bell Centre before game.

"The grumbling continued Thursday over the Montreal Canadiens’ appointment of a unilingual anglophone coach.
The latest to denounce coach Randy Cunneyworth was the Mouvement Quebec Francais (Movement of French Montreal), which issued a statement that a peaceful demonstration would be held before the Canadiens’ next home game, Jan. 7." Link

Montreal Bars advertize New Years party in English only

An article in Le Journal de Montreal took several Montreal bars to task for advertising their New Years Eve bash in English only.

The newspaper produced a list of fifteen bars that had posted English-only advertisements touting the celebrations.

When questioned by reporters about the slight, bar owners insisted that they were just targeting tourists who made up over 90% of their clientele. Hmm.....

Bars have always been 'selective' on who they let in, using doormen to cull potential clients and admit those that fit in with the 'image' that the club wants to project.

Although never admitted, most clubs attempt to control what type of clients enter their premises based on dress, sexual preference, colour, race and now apparently language.

While nobody may be refused or admitted exclusively on the basis of these criteria, it happens every day and patrons understand where and where they are welcome.

And so it seems, that these bars are promoting an 'English-only' affair, something that upsets French-language militants.

The ever-indignant Mario Beaulieu misses the point entirely, thinking that the bars are trying to attract francophones by using 'cool' English.

"It's deplorable. I don't know why, but it seems that people think they must speak English to appear cool with younger people," he denounced, "It's something to be changed. Otherwise, French will be in real danger in Montreal."

Mr.  Beaulieu fails to understand the message being sent. 

It's an English only party, so don't expect Loco Locass to be played or French commentary from the deejay. Link{Fr}

Bombardier union frightened by language attacks on company

I guess someone is worried about attacks over English at Bombardier and the spectre of losing jobs. The union representing employees is painfully aware of the international nature of the company and the tenuous grasp each division holds on its jobs. It moved the union to make an official statement supporting the company;

"The progress of French at Bombardier Aerospace may be imperfect, but it has grown steadily over the last two years, said union representative , Eric Rancourt..."We cannot be said to be in favour of the agreement (a waiver to allow English..ed.,)but we are far from being against it, because that provision affects new development programs at Bombardier like the CSeries that create jobs," he said.. Link{Fr}

Wow.... Talk about doublespeak!

Health agency to stop serving immigrants in French

"Quebec's medicare agency is taking steps to reduce the dependence of immigrants on the English language, according to The Canadian Press.
Starting January 30, 2012, the Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) will impose a one-year limit on communicating in English with immigrants, even if their knowledge of the French language is weak." Read the rest of the story

Quotes of the week

Anne Lagacé Dowson, the insufferable leftist bore (recently sacked from the radio station CJAD) told a French language television panel that;
"Bill 101 saved Canada"
When Tasha Kheiriddin complained that many Canadians object that unilingual anglophones be excluded from consideration for top governments jobs, the host of the debate, Céline Galipeau told her that;
"There are plenty of bilingual francophones who can replace these people." Link{Fr}

English bonus legal

"After offering a bilingual bonus to 40 of its employees, the City of Sherbrooke was the target of a lot criticism from certain politicians and organizations fighting for the protection of the French language. Three months later after the story broke, the Office québécois de la langue française(OQLF) confirms that the premium remains perfectly legal.... "From a legal point of view, it is not forbidden," ruled a spokesman for the OQLF, Martin Bergeron." Link{Fr}

This ruling has infuriated the French supremacist group Impératif français which in a news release fumed that;
"Quebec is a nation occupied by the English language. Even the  Office québécois de la langue française contributes to this influence!...
Although it was created to defend and promote French in Quebec, this agency has declared "legal" the discriminatory practice of offering a bonus to some employees who speak English in Quebec" Link{Fr}

Phoenix versus Phénix
The continuing controversy over the name selected for a new QMJLH hockey franchise in Sherbrooke continues to brew.
But an article concerning this debate intrigued me for another reason, the last paragraph particularly where the journalist claimed that there is opposition to an Anglophone head coach.
"By appointing an English coach,the Phoenix organization has become the target of much criticism. Fans are demanding a francophone coach and propose the appointment of Patrick Roy, who is willing to listen to an offer by the Phoenix, even if he  is already the head coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts.

I guess it doesn't matter if the Anglophone speaks French or not . The fact that the fans demand a francophone, no matter what,  doesn't seem to be that big a deal to the  the journalist.....Hmmm.... Link{Fr}

Too much English at Montreal city hall
Vision Montreal councillor Elsie Lefebvre complained in public that French was being disrespected in City Hall by the overuse of English.
The mayor, Gerald Tremblay dismissed her claims saying that such ideas were in her DNA, being a former Peekist.

"Tremblay's remarks follow Lefebvre's decision to rise on a question of privilege during a meeting of city council on Tuesday to contend her rights as a city councillor were being belittled "because this municipal council becomes more anglicized month after month, week after week." LINK{Fr}

This follows a complaint that a bilingual flyer was sent to homes around the Park avenue area encouraging people to shop on the street during a bothersome construction project.
The OQLF deemed the flyer legal, but chastised the city for setting a bad example. Link{Fr}


Vigel.net continues strong support for murdering Assad's Syrian regime 
In its pursuit of a policy of opposing everything that Canada, America or Israel supports, regardless of any moral imperative, vigel.net continues publishing stories favourable to the Syrian regime.
In a series of articles, some of them outright fantasy, the radical website attempts to explain why killing unarmed civilian protesters is legitimate.

vigile.net touts Assad 

"As you recall, the decision to attack Syria was taken at a meeting at Camp David, September 15, 2001, just after the attacks in New York and Washington....

....President Bashar al-Assad is not like his father. He is not an autocrat. He governs with a team. The strategy of his government is on the one hand to preserve civil peace and deal with attempts to destabilize and sectarian division, and also to strengthen its alliances, especially with Iran, Russia and China." Link{Fr}

Why the urgency by the international community, to announce new sanctions without being concerned about who are the real perpetrators of this violence. We know that states, grouped behind the United States, decided from the very beginning of this story, that President Bashar Al-Assad is solely responsible. Witnesses and analysts who argue along the lines of another explanation are ignored." Link{Fr}

Also featured on the website is a video showing Assad being wildly cheered by adoring crowds. The video entitled 'Syria Loves Bashar' can be seen on vigle.net or YouTube

Two standards for bilingual websites
Le Devoir ran a story entitled "No French for Baird and his collegues" in which English ministers  were called out for running English only personal websites. John Baird, Tony Clement, Jason Kenney, Joe Oliver, Jim Flaherty, Peter MacKay and  Diane Finley were all mentioned in the story as the guilty parties.
The article did however mention that two ministers ran French-only websites, but this wasn't reflected in the headline and the story which highlighted the linguistic faux-pas of the Anglos only.

'Quebec Delegate General in New York communicates in English only...
(NDOA exclusive story)

While the Quebec government tut-tuts the use of English at the Caisse du Depot, its very own Director General in New York, responsible for relations with eight States across the eastern seaboard communicates with Quebeckers in English only.
John Parisella, who acts as Quebec's 'ambassador,' to the United States, has been serving in the job since September 2009. He has been writing an official blog (in English only) about his activities for almost two years.  Quebecnewyorkblog.org.

Says Mr Parisella on his front page in English only;

"I intend to use this space to keep you informed on my work and to update you on my government’s actions in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond."

He also has a FaceBook page and Tweets regularly on behalf of the office, all in English only, as well.

In fact the Twitter account associated with the blog, @QuebecNewYork, follows 101 other Tweeters, all English, except one! (Radio Canada Info)

This from an official Quebec government representative.

'Short stuff
After a few months of operation, the Quebec based site modeled after WikiLeaks has quietly gone on hiatus. Problem- nobody sent in anything to leak ..Link{Fr}

A veteran separatist and self-proclaimed 'intellectual' Gilbert Paquette complained that his Federal MP has dared to send a bilingual pamphlet to his home.
"I hope your future mailings will respect the French fact in Quebec until such time that we can remove the control of Quebec by the Parliament of Canada." Link{Fr}

Another unilingual Anglo has been publicly outed and denounced, this time a coach for the University of Montreal football team. Link{Fr}

In a fantasy too often repeated, a letter writer in La Presse, tells readers that in business, its more important to learn Mandarin, Spanish or Portuguese than English.... Portuguese. REALLY? Link{Fr}