French Versus English Volume 43

Hilarious language video goes viral

Link to see video

On Wednesday I wrote that the demonstration in front of the Bell Centre by French language militants, protesting the hiring of a unilingual anglophone as coach of the Montreal Canadiens, would probably result in many free agents striking Montreal from the list of possibilities.
There is however another negative development, which I could not have predicted.
It's a hilarious video, a send up of demonstrators that is all the rage on YouTube.
When I first posted the video, there were less than 400 clicks, but since then, it has gone viral. 

At the time of writing this post, there have been over 70,000 views.
Now I know that humor transcends the language barrier with great difficulty and many Francophones, even bilingual ones will have trouble 'getting' the video.
Trust me when I say that the video is extremely insulting and portrays the demonstrators as hopelessly sad ideologues.
The seriousness of those interviewed belied the fact that they were being mocked rather shamefully by Abdul, who is admittedly quite the deadpan comedian.

What kind of impact will the video have?

Nothing flattering, that's for damn sure. Think back to "Star Wars Kid'

The video just may be the worst nightmare possible for French language militants, becoming a meme, portraying them as buffoons across the Internet.

Regulator worried about companies avoiding public stock offerings in Quebec

The AMF, Quebec's regulatory agency for stock markets, brokers, etc. has publicly noted that some companies having their headquarters outside Quebec avoid making a public offering in the province, because of Bill 101.

"As stipulated by the law, companies are required to write their prospectus in French. The prospectus is a document to be published by any company planning to raise funds on financial markets. 
According to the AMF, nearly 54% of companies avoid public offerings in Quebec due to language requirements imposed on them.
To justify their decision not to raise funds from Québec investors, the businesses claimed it is a question of costs related to the translation of texts.

"Companies are saying, 'We'll go somewhere else to raise money and we will exclude Quebec from our efforts.' So it's a situation, in fact, that is a concern to us and something on which we will have  to consider, "said Sylvain Théberge, spokesman for the AMF.  Link{Fr}

Quebec workplaces least diversive
"...Seventy-three per cent of Canadians describe their workplace or school as diverse, compared to 70 per cent of Americans, 68 per cent of Britons and 67 per cent of French respondents.
Sixty per cent of Quebecers work in a multicultural environment, the lowest proportion of any province.
Fewer Quebecers work and study in multicultural environments because most of the province’s immigrants are concentrated in Montreal, and because the city attracts fewer immigrants than Toronto or Vancouver, Jedwab said. Also, Quebec has a lower proportion of cultural minorities in government jobs than other provinces, he said.Fifty-seven per cent of francophones in Canada describe their workplace as diverse, compared to 74 per cent of anglophones and 83 per cent of people who speak a language other than English or French.." Link 

Does Premier Charest want a Francophone coach for the future NHL team in Quebec? 
The headline in La Presse announced that the Premier of Quebec wants a francophone as a coach of the future Quebec city franchise;
"Charest favorable à un entraîneur francophone pour les Nordiques" Link{Fr}
but the headline in English media said something a little different;

Future Quebec City NHL coach must speak French: Premier Charest  Link

The difference in the above two headlines isn't just splitting hairs, one headline indicates that the Premier wants a French coach, the other says that he wants a French-speaking coach. The discrepancy is not lost on we English who are interested to know if a French-speaking anglo is acceptable or not.

Over the course of the Cunneyworth debate of late, most of the language militants who complained publicly over the issue, made sure to use the term 'unilingual anglophone' when describing the issue. But every now and then they forget the word 'unlingual and complained about an 'anglophone' as coach of the team. Freudian Slip?
I think so.
Under all of this pseudo talk of unilingualism, there lies an undertone of racism, where the idea of an anglo running the team is offensive, bilingual or not.
So what exactly did Premier Charest say, Francophone or bilingual?
Actually both...
In the article, the Premier told reporters that a future coach of the Nordiques would have to speak French 'as a minimum,' but later on, mentioned in joking that if ever the Nordiques couldn't  find a qualified Francophone, they could hire Quebec City mayor Regis Lebaume. Link{Fr}

More English schools closing

"Things might be looking up for several schools at the English Montreal School Board on the cusp of a crucial vote on school closings.

In a surprise move on Monday, the EMSB announced that its long-range planning committee now recommends closing three schools instead of six. The committee has also backed off several proposals to relocate schools and programs.

No final decisions have been made yet. Commissioners will vote on the proposals on Wednesday."

 Montreal Gazette    Alternate Link 

Quebec Unemployment numbers explode
For over two years Quebec nationalists have been crowing that the unemployment rate in Quebec was lower than in Ontario, something that rarely happened before.
Of course it was only a matter of time before Ontario pulled itself out of the recession and restored itself to more traditional numbers After a disastrous month of job losses Quebec's unemployment rate ballooned to 8.7% as opposed to Ontario's number which declined to 7.7%;

"You never have to look far to count the ways in which Quebec breaks with the rest of the country.

Quebecers watch more television than Canadians in any other province, due to a thriving French-language broadcasting industry that regularly draws more than a million viewers for its top shows. They’re the least-stressed, play hooky from work the most, and traditionally have the lowest rate of home ownership.

But Statistics Canada's numbers released Friday show Quebec is also splitting from other provinces on job creation, registering another employment decline in December while the rest of the country was either up or flat. Quebec’s jobless rate stands at 8.7%, higher than that of the United States."LINK

A call for a French Archdiocese in Ottawa.
Citing the example of French Catholic school boards and French secular school boards which were created in the late eighties to better serve the Francophone community, particularly in the Ottawa area, an opinion piece in Le Devoir by Pierre Allard is calling fro the Catholic church to split the Archdiocese of Ottawa along linguistic lines.

"Of the estimated 400,000 faithful of the Archdiocese of Ottawa...some 40% are francophone, with the majority English. In a context where the religious institution remains an important factor for the Franco-Ontarian minority who built the parishes and churches in their own image, ever since the nineteenth century, is it not time to question the linguistic structure of the church and give back to the French, collectively, the direction of their parishes? Is it not time to split Dioceses along language lines? Why not?" LINK

Anglos outlive Francophones.
A report in the European Journal of Epidemiology indicates that the life expectancy for Quebec Francophone men is 76.5 years, which is 2.3 years less than for Anglophone men. For Francophone women life expectancy is 81.8, or 1.4 years less than their Anglophone counterparts. The difference is particularly marked among men in major cities other than Montreal, like Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Gatineau, where the difference is 5.1 years.
Higher smoking rates and higher alcohol consumption among francophones are signaled as the major contributing factor to the gap, Link

Mohawk Doctor in peril of losing her license over French

A doctor practicing in the Montreal suburb of Chateauguay, (which has a large Anglo community) is in jeopardy of losing her license because she cannot pass a French exam.
Brought up in the nearby native reserve of Kahnawake Mohawk territory, Dr. Ojistoh Horn is the first female Mohawk medical doctor from Kahnawake. She is the daughter of Kahentinetha Horn, an important native activist.

"Roxann Karonhiarok selected (for an Indigenous person award..ed.) Kahentinetha Horn, publisher of Mohawk Nation News, and her daughter, Dr. Ojistoh Horn, the first female Mohawk medical doctor from Kahnawake. Roxann described the mother and daughter as, “An amazing duet and strong women."
Roxann said, “I nominated Ojistoh because she delivers our babies. Being a matrilineal society she is responsible and takes a hands on role in the delivery of the mothers of our nation." She added, "That woman does not sleep. She does house calls and even looks after people during family events on her time off! I love that beautiful woman. She’s an inspiration and deserves it!” LINK

Unfortunately she apparently doesn't have a satisfactory command of French, according to the licensing board which has as a requirement that every doctor be capable of passing a French exam.

Readers should understand that Native bands in Quebec are closely associated with either the English  language or the French language, but not both. Mohawks, along with the Cree in the North, speak English along with their native tongue. French on these 'English-leaning' reserves is practically non-existent.
Dr. Horn is to be given one last chance to pass the French test, before being suspended. Link{Fr}

Radio personality complains that restaurant brawlers spoke too much English. 

For those of you who haven't seen the video of a New Year's eve brawl in a Montreal Chinatown eatery, the New Dynasty, watch it here; 

But as amusing as it is, it was a brawl between two English parties, one Asian and the other Black, so why does this story make the French versus English page?

It's hard to believe but blowhard radio whiner Benoît Dutrizac, actually complained on the radio that the two fighting groups spoke only English.
I'm not making this up.
While interviewing fellow language supremacist Mario Beaulieu on his radio show, he decried the fact that everyone involved spoke English, as well as the waiters.
Why?
Dunno....perhaps if one group spoke French, he'd of had someone to stick up for.
Listen here, the fun starts at 2:50 LINK{Fr}

Controversial mayor

For Huntington mayor Stéphane Gendron it's been quite a turbulent couple of days. First he was assailed by Jewish groups for remarks he made on his television news magazine where;

"On the December 27 edition of his Face a Face talk show on the V Television Network, he called Israel an "apartheid state" that "does not deserve to exist."  Link

Suffice to say that Mr. Gendron is not a fan of the Jewish state. He also is not afraid to take on other sacred cows and has in the past criticized the Office québécois de la langue française, and openly mocked Mario Beaulieu in an interview, calling him intolerant.
Perhaps it was to deflect the overwhelming condemnation over his Israel remarks, Gendron again lashed out at the OQLF, telling them that his Eastern township town (40% English) would not comply with regulations making French predominate. Link{Fr}

First baby of 2012
Once again Quebec's first baby of 2011 left French language militants wringing their hands.
Tyler Stephen Wilson was the first baby born in Quebec in 2012, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, weighing 3 kilograms.

Mom Teresa Howick Wilson and husband are ecstatic.

Here's a picture of the happy English couple and readers can draw conclusions as to why the Jacques Noels of the province were none to pleased.

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FINALLY LET'S FINISH WITH SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE POSITIVE!
If you've got some time this weekend, watch this food/travel show which will illustrate why we all love to live in Canada's most imperfect, yet most exciting big city...

"Without Montreal, Canada would be hopeless, it's where the cool kids hang ....-Chef Anthony Bordain;