Monday, October 8, 2012

Language Blowhard Plays Victim Card

For Mario Beaulieu, president and chief cook and bottle washer of both the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the Mouvement Quebec Francais, selling his radical view of language is not a particularly easy task, but to his credit he continues knocking on reluctant doors with the zeal and energy of a determined Jehovah's Witness canvasser.

No doubt, he is a keener and like the religious proselytizer, accepts failure and rejection with aplomb, measuring success and victory in the tiniest of measures, plowing on despite a fading message that no longer resonates.

Now I'm not talking about his sovereigntist view which has considerable but minority support in this province, it is his unholy crusade against Anglos and Ethnics and of course all things English, that sets him apart.

Even sovereigntists find his obsessive hatred and crusade of English tiresome, membership figures in his organizations remains top secret, a sound policy considering how few people are actually involved.
While students can regularly muster 20,000 plus to rallies and demonstrations over tuition fees, Beaulieu can rarely muster more than one or two hundred demonstrators, most of them the grey-haired set, diehards from a bygone era.

That being said, we should give Beaulieu his due, like Henny-Penny  his schtick is entertaining and so he is afforded oodles of air-time on Quebec's two all-news television stations which must fill too many empty hours.
But even with all the free publicity, Quebecers, a skeptical sort, aren't drinking the Kool-Aid and so Mario must ratchet up the rhetoric in order to keep his message alive.
And so we are treated to entertaining blasts of fire and brimstone, wherein he direly warns Quebecers that they are on the 'Eve of Destruction.'

Like a preacher who tries to jazz up the same old, same old sermon, Mr. Beaulieu is always on the lookout for a new optic, something to re-energize the shopworn refrain that has lost its lustre.

To wit, we have seen  M. Beaulieu cleverly invent a new theme, born out of the shooting on election night, where a deranged Anglo allegedly bent on killing Pauline Marois went on a shooting spree that mercifully ended when his rifle jammed,  sadly not before one tragic death.

Was the shooter a nutcase, or as Mr. Beaulieu tells us, a product of the overwhelming hate and francophone-bashing in the Anglo media? 

Of course the message resonates with the militant language conspiracy types and plays successfully with the old guard who collectively wallow in a bath of self-pity, coupled with an unhealthy dose of paranoia inherent to those suffering from a persecution complex.

 And so when a lady assaults a bagel eater with a thrown sandwich because he is speaking in English, it is the nasty Anglos that created the milieu of hate.
When a bus driver harasses a 12 year old or harangues an immigrant over language, it is our fault.
When a drunk youth assails a couple of English-speaking Asian tourists over French, it is of course, the Asians fault and when a metro ticket agent puts up a nasty sign telling non French speakers to take a hike, it is our over-reaction that is at fault.

This nonsense is to be expected from a man who stood before reporters and complained that stores with English non-French proper names like BENTLEY or QUIZNOS are an affront, an insult to true Quebecers.

The proper term for Mr. Beaulieu is a 'linguicist' someone who hates on the basis of language and when the media, on the rarest occasion, call him out on his irrational hatred, he trots out his favourite defence, francophone-bashing.

Mr Beaulieu gives every story a particular tweak, just enough dishonesty to inflame his minions. In his rant against the English media, he complains that stories in the English media portrayed Quebec francophones as racist and bigots, when in reality those charges were actually made against the PQ and Pauline Marois for statements made during the election campaign.

In the latest incident he chastises anglophones for reacting angrily to a STM employee who put a sign up in his booth, reminding metro riders that in Quebec (or at least in the employee's ticket booth) service will only be offered in French.

Make no mistake about it, whether the sign reflected the law or not, the posting of the home-made notice was a political statement and as such completely violated company policy of keeping politics out of the Metro and bus system.

Mr. Beaulieu complains that many comments that were appended to the story of the metro incident in English media were violent in nature.
I never read one comment that threatened physical violence and Beaulieu has cited none. This from a man who always republishes 'offensive' quotes.

In a post on the MQF website he continues spinning the story to suit his fancy, complaining that Montreal comedian Joey Elias, on a Facebook posting, mistranslated the sign, when in fact Mr. Elias was just editorializing, saying;
"sign basically says that unless you speak French I'm not serving you" Link{fr}

What Mr. Beaulieu and others are really upset about is a planned protest at the metro station, because when English people protest over language, it is intimidation, aggression and violence, but when the French-language lobby groups demonstrate, for example, outside the Bell Centre, calling for the firing of the Canadiens unilingual coach, it is noble and laudable.



Mr. Beaulieu goes on to whine that CJAD, a Montreal radio station had no business in playing a snippet of an interview with presumed shooter Richard Bain, because he is a terrorist.
Of course the interview was broadcast on a French station at the same time, but that isn't included in the narrative.
The fact that FLQ terrorists regularly write articles published not only on vigile.net but mainstream media is of course not germane, because after all, those are francophone terrorists and so it is okay.

It is ironic that Anglophobes like Beaulieu are the ones leading the charge against perceived francophobia as well as insufferable whingers like Robert Barberi-Gervais complaining on vigile.net that Mr. Bain's action was directly attributable to hateful comments in English newspapers and blogs. This from a man writing on a website that has been branded antisemitic and anglophobic by the French media!

At any rate I can only say that the English media that Mr. Beaulieu complains about, had the good sense to pixilate or blur the face of the metro ticket agent, while Mr. Beaulieu's story and the Journal de Montreal did not.

And I wonder if Mr. Beaulieu will reprint this story that appeared on CTV;
"Students from Marymount Academy are showing their appreciation for bus drivers the day after an STM ticket taker created a language kerfuffle by posting a sign in his booth.
During the lunch hour on Friday the high school students set up shop at the Villa Maria metro, just a block away from their school, to distribute coffee and muffins to bus drivers." Read more:
Not likely!
At any rate, as I said in the beginning of this post, that Beaulieu is always looking for something new to perk up interest in his moribund group.

May I humbly suggest an inspiring and rousing theme song to be played at every public gathering of the Mouvement Quebec Francais, the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, etc. etc. 

I'm offering these new lyrics, sung to the tune of the "Eve of Destruction"
Of course they'll have to be translated it into French......
♫♫♫
The English world, it is exploding
Anglo culture flarin', language dominating
You otta know by now that English is a scourge
There is no other option, we need a thorough purge'
And know without some action, we're really on the verge.

♫♫♫(Refrain) .... But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If English is not checked, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save, the French world in a grave
But even if we live, we'll be nothing but a slave
Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy.

♫♫♫(Refrain)

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin'
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
But a handful of demonstrators won't pass no legislation
And marches alone can't bring no francization
When francophone respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too damn frustratin'

♫♫♫(Refrain)

The world is full of hate that is so very widespread
Then take a look around to Beaconsfield or Hampstead
You may leave here for a week in outer space
But when you return, it's the same old English place
The grinding' of the Anglos, is really a disgrace
They want bury French and never leave a trace
They hate us with a passion, our language they debase

But you tell me,
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction.

♫♫♫
If you've never heard Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction", (Shudder!) give a listen;






Happy Thanksgiving!

121 comments:

  1. Well done. It is not racist to call a racist a racist. And just because NOT ALL francophones in Kaybec are racist anglophobes does not mean that the majority are not. PLEASE kick French Kaybec out now!

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    Replies
    1. Why don't you people get a referendum going in the ROC and kick us out? That way we can get a partition party going and keep only the people who want to be a part of Canada and live by the Canadian Constitution. You would be doing us a great favour because we also want out of Quebec and want the separatists to go their own way minus the land masses that decide to remain in Canada. This would suit all of us and we could have our own bilingual province or join Ontario and/or New Brunswick. Awaiting that precious referendum!

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    2. Oh, believe me, Cutie, there are those of us trying to do JUST that. The problem as far as I'm concerned is two-fold: a) where the borders will be (I believe Montreal can and should be divided, since it is home to the worst and most violent separatists who do not deserve or want to live in Canada, for example) and b) how to repatriate the anglos AND loyal Canadians who speak other languages who, no matter what borders we assign, will be left in hostile territory.

      DO NOT join New Brunswick. The northern part is ALMOST as racist as Kaybec is and the push for "bilingualism" (read Frenchification) is forcing anglophones out of jobs in both government and private sector (sound familiar?) and incurring resentment (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?) while the government does nothing (don't tell me, let me guess).

      Believe me Cutie, you are a perfect example of the people I would want to save and rescue from the racist francophones. And I love your way of thinking. Please keep contributing here and other sites (Canadians For Language Fairness, Democratic Protection League etc.) for updates and advice.

      EVEN WE ANGLOS are not unanimous in our goals. Some want a united Canada, rife with racist francophones who want nothing to do with us. Some want an independent Montreal (and what happens to brave souls like Meghan Moran who fought language discrimination on the South Shore?) and everything in between.

      I think the biggest problem we have is that no federal party has shown its willingness to defend us, which is to say the least, unconscionable.

      Just remember---people like me will do everything in our powers to keep you safe and Canadian!

      And yes, a Canada-wide referendum is at the very least a good start.

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  2. I love the way the powers that be pretend that 101 is not anti-English by always referring to “languages other than French”. I passed by an Italian restaurant the other day simply called “La Verità”. Guess what? No complaints about that, no sir-ee Bob! I see Spanish, Chinese, Arabic business signs all the time… no problemo! But call a place “Café Chill-out”? Burn it! BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!

    The fact of the matter is that the majority of francophones are perfectly happy with the way things are now (that is, as happy as anyone ever will be) and it’s only the seppie minority that will never be happy, no matter how much grovelling you do, no matter how much French you learn, no matter anything you try whatsoever, because they have chosen to follow the path of perpetual victimhood. Everything is all about "On wa les awouère, les maudits anglais!" with them. Point final. There’s no accommodation that will ever suffice. That’s it, that’s all… salut la visite!

    Hence, there’s no longer any point in even trying to satisfy that particular minority anymore.

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    1. I knew this was the case when Bill 22, the Bourassa iteration, was tabled. Imagine: little kids being forced to endure language tests with an examiner playing God and often failing kids for making the most minute of mistakes. One examiner asked a child to go to a bowl of wax fruit and bring her a lemon. The child was failed by the examiner for not knowing what a lemon was - she never saw a lemon in her life or simply didn't know what a lemon looked like.

      The examiners were blatant separatists, pure and simple. This was before the more stringent Bill 101 was tabled and passed only because Bill 1 was too strict and Laurin wanted the language legislation to be passed into law before the school year began. Talk about the yves of destruction!

      It was abundantly clear there was no future for minorities in Quebec with that avalanche of anti-everything-but-French legislation and the accompanying white paper that was the forerunner. What else can you expect with the overt racist rhetoric from the government. I'm still waiting to learn what Jean-François Lisée meant by "corrective action" on CTV News on last month's election night. Guillotines or the firing squad? I guess Lisée and Beaulieu would hold a coin toss to see who gets to drop the blade or fire the rifle.

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    2. That's right Cat - that's why we must partition this province and let them go their own way. No more sucking up because it just makes them think their actions in limiting minority rights is justified.

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    3. You may not get the impression by reading some of the commenters on this blog, but I believe that most anglo-Quebecers AND franco-Quebecers believe that having some measures to protect French is both necessary and justified. The problem is that some people think that there are no limits to those measures that will ever be sufficient; the more they get, the more they want.

      A while ago, complicated wrote one of his comments about the big, bad anglos, stating that “The pendulum is swinging the other way now.” This succinctly summarizes complicated’s superficial understanding of the situation, given his relatively recent arrival here. The pendulum is NOT swinging the other way now; it HAS swung the other way a long time ago and now has swung so far in the opposite direction that it has swung much further than it ever did in the first place.

      I don’t have any precise statistics at hand (and, unlike S.R, I don’t wish to make up imaginary and unsubstantiated statistics to prove my point) but I do know for a fact that many franco-Quebecers resent being denied the choice of education and the opportunity to learn to English properly. Many who want to learn it wind up speaking like Pauline Marois or worse…

      Also, this eternal harping about anglo-Quebecers who don’t speak French is very bothersome. I personally don’t know a single anglo who doesn’t speak French in Quebec. However, I know plenty of franco-Quebecers who don’t speak English. I was astounded on a drive to Toronto this past summer at the rest stops along the 401. I noticed that some of the francos ordering at the fast food places were perfectly fluent, some spoke with a horrible accent that hurt my ears but were still functional, and to my shock, some people became completely mute and couldn’t utter a single word, unable to even order a hamburger trio, this in spite of the teenage staff trying their best to accommodate them. Really, how hard is it to translate “un trio” into English when outside the province??? Talk about being handicapped!! No wonder the PQ wants to build a wall around Quebec and live in a bubble…

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    4. I guess I wouldn't know that Anglo-Quebecers have some kind of affection for the French language.

      Wow.

      This is particularly tragic.

      If we didn’t care about the French language, why would we be making any fuss about it? Why would this blog even exist?

      I’m very disappointed in you, Yannick.

      Have you even met an American and seen what they think about us??

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    5. "I'm still waiting to learn what Jean-François Lisée meant by "corrective action" on CTV News on last month's election night. Guillotines or the firing squad?"

      His real name is Doktor Lisée-Mengele. You should read some books about Doktor Josef Mengele and you will notice too many similarities between Lisée and Mengele. Both have this idea-probably coming from the German philosophy of the 19th century-to have a mission, that of churning out special rules and semi-occult remedies to improve society. In both there is the idea of a power being bestowed upon them by Somebody (God or Bill 101 or the Race or the Supremacy of Francophones), a crusade-based politics.
      Also, Yannick or Michel or S.R: read some of these books before coming on this blog and conveying the idea that "Le Québec est à nous seulement".

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    6. Well thought out comments Cat - I am one of those senior citizen anglophones residing in Quebec and you have no idea how many times, looking back over my life, that I wished that I had asked my French Canadian friends to teach me French and talk to me in French but that never happened because they wanted to learn English, which was fine with me at the time. I still help them with their English correspondence and have ensured that my children speak French but not learning French has been to my detriment. At least 99% of the anglos I know at the present time speak French but, after listening to the SRs of the world, this will never be enough anyway, including for my own children. Again, I wish we would partition the province and let those separatists go because there is no changing their minds on this issue let alone making anything better for any of us. The remaining Canadians will be bilingual and will be much better off here, and everywhere, for knowing how to speak two languages at least. Let those separatists have a new quebec and live within their own stinted society.

      PARTITION PARTY PLEASE.

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    7. Who said that Montreal should become an English-only city? Who said that it was an English-only city in the past? Provide examples.

      I've seen comments referring to Montreal as a bilingual city in the past, and aspirations for it becoming fully bilingual again in the future. Or that it is a de facto bilingual city at present despite all of the efforts of the French language supremacists to wipe out every last vestige of English.

      Delete
  3. It's nice to be back in Ontario. The 99% who aren't language assholes in Quebec suffer the shame of the 1%. One of them being my mother in law. Bound and bent never to leave the safety of her haven of hate against the English who came to her land and tried to assimilate her. I will travel there next weekend and meet / see many great people who speak little or no English. The only sad part will be the rott in my gutt to see her hateful face judging me for no reason other than her shallow view of English rights.

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    Replies
    1. Isn't that what mothers-in-law are for? I think the "language assholes" make up far more than 1% of the population (15-20%). For almost 40 years the so-called federalist Liberals (federal and Quebec) passed the Constitution, and in Quebec Bills 22, 178, 86 and 103. All this trouble for the sake of 1% of the population? Really!

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  4. Mr. Ed Brown,

    I was away for the last few days and I missed your reply to my Clark's doll experiment in a previous post.

    You wrote : "The difference being that Afros got out of the hole and made something of themselves. Today they are Doctors with a private practice, lawyers etc. Their entertainers make top dollars and they entertain all over the world. The Francos . . . ."

    Your comment is interesting.

    Just to let you know : franco doctors and lawyers are common things. Francos run what was once the second-largest distributor and retailer of pharmaceuticals and related products in North America. Francos run the largest company-owned convenience store operators in the world (6000 stores). Francos run the second largest investment fund in Canada. Francos built the largest association of credit unions in North America. Francos run the world largest electric power producer.

    The best-selling female artist of all time was born in Charlemagne, Québec. Ninety millions persons worldwide experienced the magic of the Cirque du Soleil.

    Perhaps you just did not notice, we got out of the hole and made something of ourselves too. I thought that I should let you know.

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    Replies
    1. @MP

      Tout de même surprenant que tu prennes le temps de répondre à de telles absurdités.

      Delete
    2. S.R.,

      Moi, personnellement, M. Brown, je ne le trouve pas méchant.

      Delete
    3. Yes, Michel, add the Peladeaus, the Charrons (Videotron), Bombardier and SNC Lavalin and you have Quebec's biggest success stories. A couple of dozen success stories, and millions who live off the government teat. Still a poor ratio. Think Celine Dion will be paying any personal income tax in Quebec? Just when they sell their island estate near Montreal, and Schwartz's when they sell, and that will be a lower corporate income tax.

      Quebec is well on its way to becoming another Greece. Good luck with that!

      Delete
    4. OOPS, WRONG THREAD

      Mr. Sauga

      Péladeau, SNC, and so on, you are right. And also, quebecker Marc Garneau, first canadian in space, and Julie Payette. And numerous olympic medalists. And Cossette Communication, world class marketing agency.

      I hope that Céline Dion not paying income taxes to Québec is of some comfort to you, you seem to need it. Twenty years of bitterness and grievances, on ne doit pas rire tous les jours chez vous.

      If I ask my oldest daughter if francophones can achieve the same success as anyone else, not only will she think that yes, they can, she will not even understand the purpose of my question. And this is a revolution that I am proud of.

      Delete
    5. Michel no one is saying francophones cannot achieve great things, what they are saying is you do not need to outlaw the English language to do great things. In fact outlawing the English language is wholly detrimental to francophone success, I hope your eldest daughter achieves many great things, however do you think she could achieve much of anything by being held back and living as a monolingual francophone?

      Delete
    6. In fact, Mr Brown says that francophones, unlike afro-americans, haven't got themselves out of the hole and haven't done anything of themselves. I read this as "cannot achieve great things". Hence my reply.

      Thank you for caring for my eldest daughter. She is in first year of high school, her curriculum emphasizes english (she attends the pompously named Programme d'Études Internationales). In the second year of her high school program, spanish will be added to the curriculum.

      Next year, my second daughter will do half of her sixth grade in french and the second half in english.

      This being said, could they achieve anything without speaking much of english? Many ones around me make a good living without speaking english.

      Delete
    7. Michel,

      It's not surprising that many people you know "make a good living without speaking English." After all, you live in Quebec City, where the Anglophone population is only about 1.5%. There are also many cushy provincial government jobs there that don't require knowledge of English.

      Delete
    8. Pas de "cushy federal government jobs" à ottawawa?

      Hmmmm...

      Delete
    9. @ Yannique,

      "Typical : A rebuttal is met with a change in tactics."

      That's been your methodology for a long time. As Adski said, you're very talented at "muddying the waters."

      @ S.R,

      There are indeed a lot of cushy government jobs in Ottawa too, WHERE KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH IS OBLIGATORY. Francophones receive preferential treatment in both cities.

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    10. For sure = if you're not french or fully bilingual (meaning you're much better in french than english) you cannot get promoted into 90% of the positions in the Federal Public Service. If they fired all those french separatists that work in the Federal Government, then our unemployment rate for the Ottawa/Hull area would probably be at about 1%. Time for them to go - partition Quebec and let those separatists go work for the new federal government of quebec. (No capital letter for the new quebec - that has to be earned over the next 150 years when they grow up and stop blood sucking off the ROC.

      Delete
    11. GovernmentSubsidizedMiddleClassMonday, October 8, 2012 at 7:10:00 PM EDT

      Not as racist as rigging the hiring practice in the civil service 100% in their favor.

      Delete
    12. Yannick,

      What I said about Anglophones and the English language in Quebec City is true. I responded to a rebuttal with another rebuttal.

      Delete
    13. S.R you neglected to reply to your post on Friday's thread like you promised to.

      Delete
    14. Vous me décevez R.S,à titre d'anglo,vous devriez être le maître du web,non?Moi,je suis limité à l'infime (ou infâme,c'est selon) fraction francophone.

      Delete
    15. S.R you are still neglecting to reply to your post on Friday's thread like you promised to.

      Delete
    16. Ce sont des références historiques Québécoises donc non reconnues/valables pour vous :(

      Delete
    17. S.R you are still neglecting to reply to your post on Friday's thread like you promised to.

      Delete
    18. M. Patrice,

      I did not know that Madonna was born in Charlemagne, QC. I thought that she was born in Bay City, MI. I guess I learn something every day.

      Delete
    19. Troy,

      My mistake. : )

      According to Internet, it seems that there is more than one best selling female artist of all time.

      And can you believe that Nana Mouskouri has sold 400 millions records?...

      Delete
  5. Péladeau, SNC, and so on, you are right. And also, quebecker Marc Garneau, first canadian in space, and Julie Payette. And numerous olympic medalists. And Cossette Communication, world class marketing agency.

    I hope that Céline Dion not paying income taxes to Québec is of some comfort to you, you seem to need it. Twenty years of bitterness and grievances, on ne doit pas rire tous les jours chez vous.

    If I ask my oldest daughter if francophones can achieve the same success as anyone else, not only will she think that yes, they can, she will not even understand the purpose of my question. And this is a revolution that I am proud of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M. Patrice,

      I wonder, is there any French-Canadian who achieves great success, outside the realm of politics, without being able to speak English?

      Delete
    2. Troy,


      At the international level, one would have to speak english because english is, for better of for worse, the international language.

      Delete
    3. Yannick, Michel,

      There is a reason behind my (obviously) rhetorical question. Go to the sites of MQF, SSJB, Imperatif-francais. The underlying message on those sites is that one needs not know any other language in Quebec than French. They even go further to denounce any effort to provide English instruction to the population, young or old.

      The reality is simply not true. As you both concur, there is no great successfull unilingual francophone in Canada outside of local politics domain. Also, for almost all goods and services the population enjoys in French, there is somebody translating all the way in the supply chain.

      Delete
    4. Yes, Troy is right - Those organizations make it VERY VERY clear that nothing other than french is acceptable in Quebec and they would have it no other way. The rest of us are less than nothing and do not deserve any rights AS CANADIAN CITIZENS - They fight every effort made to provide services to anglophones and allophones including going to city council meetings protesting anything to do with other languages. These are sick, demented people with nothing better to do with their lives and wish to push everyone down to the sewer where they reside. I hope that the majority of francos see through their BS and strike them down every chance they get like we must. All of us have to fight these bigots to the best of our ability and with all the ammunition we can muster. If they continue to push our rights aside as if we're vermin, we must push them out to their own area of space in this province. Off you go seppies - partition this province and leave them to their own hate and self-destruction!

      Delete
    5. Yannick,

      Did you actually read the sites that I cited? I can not give you the links (too tired to do that) but off the top of my head these are examples of what they are against:

      1. Teaching of English in French elementary school.
      2. Help wanted ads that specify competence in English.
      3. Free English course (private) in Quebec City.
      4. Bilingual construction signs.
      5. Courses to increase English competence for job seekers by Emploi-Quebec.
      6. English instructions in French universities.

      Say, can you just name me one moderately successful francophone who does not speak English? Forget Garneau, Dion (both), Laliberte, Beliveau, Bilodeau, Vanasse, Chretien, Peladeau and Villeneuve. Just give me someone that you and I and most of the readers here know and agree on his/her success.

      Delete
    6. Yannick,

      Marie-Mai speaks English. At least that is the impression that she exerts. Check her Twitter page. Also, she makes comments on her music videos on YouTube.

      Delete
    7. Troy,

      You ask "can you just name me one moderately successful francophone who does not speak English?"

      In fact, I could hardly name one francophone (successful or not) who doesn't speak at least some english.

      Our discussion reminded me of an interesting discussion at Bazzo.tv : http://bazzotv.telequebec.tv/occurence.aspx?id=894&ep=106 (It's in french. I remember that you attended french classes on your arrival in Québec, but I don't remember if you speak ennough french to follow a discussion in french.)

      Due to today new post, this comment thread will soon become inactive. Perhaps you should update your blogger profile and add your email to it. (You can find my email in my profile.)

      Delete
  6. Too bad mr. mouthbreather in the STM booth can't read English...

    http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/10/06/conrad-black-as-quebec-decays-toronto-seizes-greatness/

    Dear separatists...please, please pleas have another referendum!

    We want your doctors, your engineers & architects.

    We'll also take your software engineers, veterinarians, construction foremen and marketing experts.

    We're not greedy though. Y'all can keep your "artists" (Dan Bigras, Arianne Moffatt)and you can also keep your philosophy students and anyone studying "social sciences."

    Merci and thanks for coming out.

    Je dis à tous les Québécois...Welcome to Ontario!!!

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    1. Est-ce qu'il s'agit de ce monsieur Black (fraudeur notoire) qui vient tout juste de sortir de prison?

      Hssshhhh...!

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    2. At least Conrad Black didn't kill anyone, as Rene Levesque did while drunk driving (without wearing his glasses) shortly after being elected as Premier of Quebec.

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    3. Conrad went to jail. We all know Levesque never had to answer for his crime.

      Delete
    4. Refuser de comprendre la différence entre un accident routier et de la fraude volontaire,nous donne un idée de la morale de M.Durham.Combien de pauvres petits investisseurs s'enlèvent la vie lorsque floués par ces escrocs professionnels?

      Attention aux trolls Yan...

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    5. It's not considered an accident when the driver is drunk. It's homicide.

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    6. All French uber alles seperatists suck Yannick. Hard to point them all out. By extension, and generalization, since most Quebecers either openly or quietly support 101 and the complete subjugation, demonization and political disenfranchisement of minorities in the province, it's fair to say that all of Quebikistan sucks. In black and white terms, which should be the judgement criteria when it comes to basic human rights such as the freedom to speak and write a language in public and to adequate political representation, 101 apologists are rabid bigots not yet grown into their skin or too cowardly to admit that their self interest, in racial terms, supercedes the rights of anyone else
      Canadians should boot us out of the federation or do a better job at resubjugating this backwater of incestuous politics, backroom dealings, Turkish - style language legislation, and corruption crossdressing as a justice sytem. Thankfully, horrid economic policies by uber governments have already made the province the dependant crackhead of Canada who shifts and screams incoherent demands inspired by an incoherent and fantastical view of history while he waits for his handout.

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    7. Merci ethnic de nous démontrer une fois de plus que ce sont les anglos les plus brillants qui ont quittté ou quittent actuellement le territoire Québécois.La prospère ontario vous attend les bras ouverts...Qu'attendez-vous?

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    8. 'If I ask my oldest daughter if francophones can achieve the same success as anyone else, not only will she think that yes, they can,'

      But of course they can achieve, as long as the roc pays for it all, the sky is the limit. Then again, the roc has been paying for decades and we fall a little short on achieving a bridge that won't take out the unaware commuter. Shorter still when it comes to social justice, or any type of justice for that matter. We have the cheapest education in Canada but the little Quebekistani achievers still flaunt nazi salutes in their demonstrations.
      Spare us the manopause Streisand moment Michel. I wonder if your daughter will understand the difference that you see between a Rheale remaining out of prison while a Bain will be buried in it. I guess it depends on the level of infection.

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    9. Once again, our troll decided not to reply to Apparatchik's intelligent rebuttal of his comment on Friday, thereby broadcasting the fact that he only wants to drop in with repetitive, moronic one-liners and is unable to provide any intelligent commentary. Then he wonders why no one takes him seriously...

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    10. Je vous rappelle que Bain a tenté d'assassiner notre Première Ministre.

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    12. And your FLQ heroes murdered Pierre Laporte, choking him with his own chain. Sick sick sick

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    13. Whereas Rheale only tried to blow up a few anglos having coffee.

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    14. C'est pourquoi j'évite le port de parures ostentatoires comme une croix en or par exemple.

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    15. No need to rip SR. Of the pro 101 posters on this blog, he's the only one who's honest and direct enough to express his real opinions and not whitewash them with the typical bullshit we've been hearing for years from language zealots.
      Michel and Yannick will honey up the same arguments that SR just dishes with one sentence. Personally, I hope he remains unedited as he is the true face of 101.

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    16. Michel Patrice,

      "Thank you for caring for my eldest daughter. She is in first year of high school, her curriculum emphasizes english (she attends the pompously named Programme d'Études Internationales). In the second year of her high school program, spanish will be added to the curriculum."

      Tell us more about this school. Is it public or private? How can the curriculum "emphasize" English? Is this not contrary to legislation which prohibits francophones from attending English schools? Is this not in effect an English school?

      As for your other comments about Celine Dionne etc, once again you have twisted things. While you have mentioned a relatively small number of success stories, no one has ever suggested that francophones are incapable of being successful in various fields. In fact, you have contradicted yourself because Quebec's language legislation had no bearing on the success of these individuals and companies. Even worse for your case, in order to achieve the degree of success that they have, they have had to do so in the English speaking world.

      The point is that a francophone legislature in Quebec adopted legislation which deprived anglophones of their rights and continuously seeks to make life as unpleasant as possible for anglophones, with the support or indifference of most francophones.

      You know very well that Pauline Marois ran the most racist, hate filled campaign in Canadian political history.Yet you supported her and remained silent.

      Do you have any anglophone friends, persons who invite you to their homes or who have frank conversations with you about their lives?

      In your own blog, you wrote:

      "One of the key to understand quebeckers is, I think, this : quebeckers greatest fear is disappearance. If one analyses all of what we do and all that we have done through this filter, one would better understand our history, our actions and what we are. One would not necessarily agree, but one would simply better understand.
      This is why we seem unwilling to give up one inch, unwilling to absurd levels."

      We understand this all too well. Based on the hypothetical premise that unless anglophones have their rights taken away anglophones will make your language disappear you are willing to exercise the power of the majority to deprive anglophones of their rights so that your culture will not disappear. You will even protect francophones against the power of the English language by requiring that an American/Canadian cultural product in the form of a film be translated into French. Do you really think that will achieve your objective of social engineering? Has it worked anywhere else in the world? Ironically, in your case it may all be in vain.Your trilingual daughter, may, in a few years, bring home to meet you someone very different from a francophone. This will be something over which you will have no control and you will find that your ordered universe has been torn apart.





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    18. Editor,
      I'm not sure why you remove SRs comments. Is there a polite way for someone to tell you you are a disenfranchised second class citizen?
      Is Michel's defence of the Rheale sentencing more appropriate because he doesn't flaunt his approval over the value of one life over another?
      Is it really a civilized discourse when your life, your culture and your human rights are belittled and torn away by the polite and apologetic who claim that it's only necessity?
      If you're going to post the douche metro employee then SR, as a true representative of the same, should be allowed to express what so many in Quebec really believe.

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    19. Hi Mr Krug,

      Only a few minutes to comment.

      School = french public school with more hours in english than regular curriculum + spanish.

      Brother in law = anglo-montrealer. I love him like a brother.

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    20. P.S. Many interesting questions/points, some weird points too. Will be back later.

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    21. What the hell is this? Are we playing "who killed whom" now? Are we keeping a tally of which side has more villains speaking the mother tongue of the other side?

      M. Patrice: Tell your daughter to enjoy it while she can, she won't be having much English in her curriculum at all once the PQ is through with her. At least the Liberals wanted to increase the already dismal quality of ESL...



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    27. Wow, I wish I had checked back earlier.

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    28. Don't worry, it wasn't worth it... just needed to balance the leaves.

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    29. Mr Krug,

      The school is french and public. Here is a quote from the program :

      "12. Accélération en anglais. La langue anglaise, joue de toute évidence, un rôle important dans un programme international : à la fois comme outil de communication avec d'autres communautés linguistiques et à la fois comme moyen d'accès à d'autres cultures. Les meilleurs élèves en anglais peuvent s'inscrire au cours d'anglais langue maternelle (English Language Arts). Tous les autres élèves suivent un programme accéléré destiné à compléter le programme de 5e secondaire à la fin de leur 3e année. Ensuite, les élèves étudient le programme d'anglais langue maternelle (ELA)."

      and

      "13. Espagnol. À compter de deuxième secondaire, l'espagnol est une matière obligatoire. L'enseignement de cette matière se poursuivra pendant au moins deux ans. En 4e et 5e secondaire, l’espagnol est offert comme cours optionnel. Nous ouvrons ainsi une autre porte sur la communication et la compréhension des autres cultures. La langue espagnole a été choisie parce que, avec l'anglais, elle est la langue la plus parlée en Amérique."

      (http://www.derochebelle.qc.ca/organisation/programmes/pei.php)

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    30. Mr Krug,

      You said : "...no one has ever suggested that francophones are incapable of being successful in various fields..."

      Mr Brown did, he wrote "francophones, unlike afro-americans, haven't got themselves out of the hole and haven't done anything of themselves." And this how this long argument began.

      You wrote : "Your trilingual daughter, may, in a few years, bring home to meet you someone very different from a francophone. This will be something over which you will have no control and you will find that your ordered universe has been torn apart."

      As I said earlier, my sister brought home someone very different from a francophone. He was welcome in our family, he is now part of our family and I love him like a brother. And my two nieces speak both french and english with the most charming and unusual accent.

      How about you? How would you react if your daughter brought home a pure laine quebecker? Would I be so full of shit if I insinuated that you would find you ordered universe torn apart?

      As I told you earlier elsewhere, we are not monsters.

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    31. I wouldn't be surprised if some contributors to this blog's comments board were on the Man's payroll.

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    32. As someone who's been dating a pure-laine francophone for a considerable amount of time as an adult, I'd have to be against this idea that francophones are all xenophobic racists. Her family is also pure-laine, with little to no ethno-cultural divergence in her family history, and I was accepted easily once they got to know me. They were a bit surprised I spoke French as well as I did (they had their own preconceptions, something of which we are all guilty of) but the amount of respect they accord me has nothing to do with my mother tongue.

      They are pequistes, and they know that I'm an ardent federalist, but we do each other the common courtesy of leaving politics out of discussions.

      Her mother is also a co-worker of mine.

      While there are militantly linguicist and xenophobic francophones out there, it is important not to generalize, especially not if you live in Quebec; it will make life difficult for you to live comfortably. You don't want to be always wondering if this person is a seppie or that person hates anglos.

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    33. You are very brave, courageous, bold...to date a pure-laine francophone and to be able to get on well with the pequiste "in-laws". Almost a hero or a martyr or a masochist man of our English community.

      BTW, we are "guilty" of nothing other than fighting for the right to live, work, eat and so on in the language we want.

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    34. 'Michel has never indicated that he held any prejudice against different cultures,'

      He absolutely has. Anyone supporting French-first initiatives that come at the expense of minorities politically, economically and socially is a bigot. Claiming self-defense to a condition that only exists in your fantasies does not absolve the calculated moves Michel supports that are leading to the extinction of anglophones in the province and the disappearance of their history.
      It's the worst kind of prejudice one can have because it's ideological and not based on ignorance. You won't like it again, but the comparisons to 1930s fascism are inescapable. Quebecois ideology revolves around the concept of defense from a non existent enemy to whom all ills are ascribed and who is then systematically repressed and erased. Where have we seen this strategy before, I wonder?
      Zig Heil!

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    35. They just replaced the "Sieg Heil" with the "Sieg the White Francophone Race of QC". They don't know it, they deliberately don't want to know it, they do everything to ignore it and they do deny it on a daily basis, but the level of subtle indoctrination they have been exposed to since the '70s is as enormous as Paul Joseph Goebbels' propaganda machine. The "Sieg the White Francophone Race of QC" propaganda machine is an everyday's on-going mantra on TV, in the newspapers AND in some provincial schools. The mantra is always there, working like a non-stop assembly belt, echoing in every corner of their brain, repeated like a prayer, a voodoo ritual.
      That's why you have propaganda deniers like Yannick, Michel and the lowest of the lowest, S.R.

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    36. I taught in the French and English school boards for over a decade. The indoctrination is not in some schools but across the public school system. Anglophones are taught to loathe themselves for the ills they supposedly committed against the pur laine and the Francophones are taught to hate. Just nab a couple of history books from your local public schools.
      Those responsible should be tried at the Hague, nevermind the special status they're accorded in this country by cowardly federal governments who are unwilling to face the extortionist policies practiced by Francophone politicians on the provincial and federal level.

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    37. ...that's why I don't understand how an Anglophone and a québécois(e) can match as a couple.

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    38. The problem with every revolution, quiet or loud, is the difficulty that every new establishment will face in cooling people down. Every revolution raises people's pulse and appeals to their sense of vanity, it boosts people's egos and promises a land of milk and honey.

      After the "regime change", people are supposed to go back to the daily grind. But it's not always easy. Especially when you've been told that you are distinct, special, a maitre. For some people, it's hard to let go of these notions.

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  7. FROM ED BROWN
    Michel I am very aware that there are plenty of french doctors but still not enough. That's why my english doctor at the clinic was sent to a god forsaken french area. He left the province even though he could speak french they made him feel like a servant sent to do their bidding.
    I'm tired of seps like you promoting Celine Dion as an example. She is one person who only made it when she sang in English. Compare this one person with the number of blacks you see on TV>
    Cirque de Soleil performers are from 40 different countries and I notice on TV interviews they all speak English as fluent as if they were English bred. The credit union worldwide because it was created by the Roman Catholic Church and is still strong in the affiliation. Hydro Quebec was built by English when it was called 'Montreal Light Heat and Power.' It was taken over by french through shear numbers. French worked their way up to take over the English jobs when they were forced out of the province in the seventies. Ed

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    1. Mr Brown,

      You said : "Hydro Quebec was built by English when it was called 'Montreal Light Heat and Power.' It was taken over by french through shear numbers. French worked their way up to take over the English jobs when they were forced out of the province in the seventies."

      Montreal Light Heat and Power had nothing to do with what Hydro-Québec is today.

      MLH&P was taken over in 1944. From 1944 to 1962, Hydro-Québec's capacity increased sixfold. This increased capacity wasn't stolen from anglos, it was built by francos.

      In 1962, Hydro-Québec bought the remaining electric power companies. In the following decade, the building of Manic 5 would be completed and then would begin the James Bay project. These large projects were not stolen from anglos, they were built by francos.

      You said earlier that francos haven't achieved anything, unlike afro-americans. Well, francos took over electric power companies and turned them into something bigger and more successful than anything the former anglo owners ever dreamed of. It might have been insulting to see those poor pea soup unilingual franco porteurs d'eau achieve such an outrageous success. And they did not steal it, they built it.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro-Qu%C3%A9bec

      Belittle all that we did if you feel like it. Nevertheless, your claim that francophones, unlike afro-americans, haven't got out of the hole and haven't made anything of themselves shows, at best, your misunderstanding of the last decades.

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    2. What Mr. Brown succeeded in demonstrating is that québécois toke advantage of what had already been built by Anglophones. Anglophones built and québécois used (for their purposes, of course).
      When québécois are reminded of that, they feel offended, humiliated, chastised, taken advantage of, exploited, belittled bla bla bla...

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    3. Mr. Patrice, francophones didn't do anything, nor did anglophones. Quebecers built Hydro-Quebec, not specific people from a specific ethno-linguistic background. Unless you can be sure that every single person that ever significantly contributed to Hydro-Quebec's development was a unilingual francophone, please refrain from insinuating that that was so.

      The same goes for you, Mr. Brown. "Anglos" didn't do anything, Quebecers did.

      I can see that Mr. Patrice feels the need to defend francophones from Mr. Brown's accusations (because he is a francophone, and it is only natural), but he is unconsciously drawing from a linguistic divisiveness that we can all agree is bad for everyone in Quebec, if not the entirety of Canada.

      It's like comparing "whose culture is better". Personally I think that Quebecois music is absolutely terrible, but you can't argue empirically with an opinion as your thesis. Plus, lots of American and Canadian music is pretty damned horrible, too.

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    4. Give us a break Michel, the whole province is kept afloat on anglo and ethnic investments who are the primary employment providers. Not to mention that everything else is either directly or indirectly subsidized by the federal government (the Canadian taxpayers who are denied equal rights in the province they pay for). There's a reason that Montreal is the economic heart of the province and not QC, or Three Rivers or any other unilingual backwater. If anything, unilingual policies and Francophone governments have only brought deterioration to the province. Montreal is not the economic and cultural centre it was in its bilingual years. It's only a shadow of itself. Since proof has to be found in facts, making a case for productivity, advancement and success in Quebec as a Francophone province is as retarded and false as Beaulieu's demeanor.

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    5. Michel, I cannot understand why so many Quebecers are proud of H-Q. Well, they built some mega projects but people build mega-projects all over the world. There is nothing original. Any country with enough man-power will make it (even third wold countries). Given the position of H-Q, it's nothing special. Now, we are talking about some real original achievements, what does Quebec offer to the world? Poutine? Céline? Give me a break!
      Oh, I forgot, 4 Nobel laureates are Quebecers, but they are all anglophone so they don't count!(in the eyes of Québécois pure laine)

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    6. FROM ED BROWN
      Foremost, You are another who reads and puts his spin on it. I did not say anglos built H.Q. but they damn sure did found it. Herbert Samuel Holot owned Montreal, Light, Heat and Power. He sold the gas part To Quebec Gas Co. and continuud running Hydro until 1947 hen it became hydro Quebec.

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  8. FROM ED BROEN
    I sent an email to Jack Cafferty on CNN. Cafferty reads emails from all over the world on the 'Cafferty File" from 5 to 6pm. I asked why PM harper sent his minion Baird to the U.N. to tell asians about human rights while he doesn't have the courage to face the PQ and protect rights here in Quebec.
    CNN tells me that in future I should use this link for a better way in.
    www.cnn.com/caffertyfile Ed

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    1. Je ne crois pas que M.Obama soit en mesure de régler vos petits soucis ou même intéressé par les "problèmes" des canadiens-Montréalais.Vous êtes vraiment désespérés,n'est-ce pas?

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    2. Did you even understand the question? Sheesh!

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  9. FROM ED BROWN
    Brought forward from an older post. I didn't notice it was closed. Ed
    FROM ED BROWN
    English is predominant all over the world. It began with King James of England having the Christian Bible translated into English. Many of the religious sects that developed in Scotland and England took advantage of this. Unitarian and Weslian to name a couple. The puritans brought English and religion to America and English speakers from Canada, England and the U.s spread it to other countries during the world wars. A friend of mine stationed in Iceland for six years said when he arrived none of the population could speak French or English. He was with the van Doos. He said when he left both languages were everywhere. Asia is rife with English due to the Korean and Vietnam wars. Most of Vietnam was French when the Americans arrived. They brought french translators with them. (Vietnam was originally called French Indo China) In a few years they became fluent in English.
    The point is people pick up languages naturally because they find one convenient and comfortable. You can no more force a language than you can force people to change religions or eating habits. Ed

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    2. Ed, I read an article recently about Esperanto and how it was thought that it would become the international language in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. While it’s undeniably true that in fact, since the end of WWII, English has become the international lingua franca, it is incorrect to state that it is predominant all over the world. In South America, Spanish and Portuguese predominate. In Eastern Asia, Chinese predominates. In Southern Asia, Hindi predominates. In Northern Africa, Arabic predominates.

      Your earlier comment about French being “decadent” because it has two genders (which, by the way, is in common with all other Latin-based languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian) was especially unfortunate. By your reasoning, German is the most decadent language of all because it has three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese are not at all decadent because they don't use any genders.

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    3. Russian can have four or five, depending on regional dialect.

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    4. FROM ED BROWN
      Yes True, Spanish is predominant in South America And we all know that Chinese is spoken mainly in Asia China predominates. But for a language that is used world wide English predominates. In any airport in any country English will be spoken. That's predominantall over the world.
      I don't care what happens in Germany, Portugal or Roamania. We are being forsed to learn french and compared to English which is sensible enough to know that a table is neither male or female
      it is decadent. English has become more streamlined mostly due to American influence on Tv etc.
      Instead of trying to update the French language they are pulling it backwards. Even using words that are no longer used in France. Ed

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    5. Give it a rest, Ed. It ain't that complicated and certainly it isn't decadent. I'm quite happy to live my life in English, but it's more to do with it being spoken by most of the world than for any superior "moral" quality. And, by the way, a table in Italian can be either male or female, you just change the ending vowel. The only prescription is that you use articles and adjectives that are consistent with it. In facts, in most cases, unless you are actually making a deliberate reference to a male or female object (not sure why you would), you only have to look at what letter it ends with and use the same for its article and adjective: a purely mechanical process. By your own logic, would Swedish (that has no different ending for third person verbs, unlike English, but has two genders) be more or less "decadent". And, for the record, there are many of my fellow Italians (like in any other population) who are ignorant as shit, but even they can work out the different genders without straining their limited intellect.

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  10. Michel Patrice is as condescending as JF Lisée when he attempts to speak to the anglos.

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  11. "General rebellions and revolts of a whole people never were encouraged now or at any time. They are always provoked." - Edmund Burke

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  12. FROM ED BROWN
    People forgive the typos I'm crashing good night. Ed

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  13. FROM ED BROWN
    Quebec Partition, I thought I made it clear that I don't care what happens in foreign countries. I'm talking about Quebec. Why do you tell me what's happening in Spain? Do you know we have a language problem here. You talk as if you're a linguist which is fine but most of us are not. We simply don't want a language that many find difficult forced on us. Ed

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    1. Ed, with due respect for your advanced age: you called a language "decadent" for no other reason that you never bothered to learn it. In the past I've always made the point that nobody should force anyone to speak a language that they're not comfortable with, so you're arguing with the wrong person. However, you seem to move too swiftly from saying that you don't speak French because you "find it too difficult" to declaring it's decadent because it uses genders. Apart from the inanity of declaring any language "too difficult", which I'll overlook because I believe that, once you reach a certain age you should be allowed to live your life as you see fit, the two statements are not the same thing, nowhere near: in fact, one is a statement about civil liberties (which I agree with), the other is a racist statement (which I despise). I'm sure that when the red mist has lifted you will be able to see that difference.

      BTW, I'm an engineer, not a linguist... a language is just another thing you can learn, if you want.

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    2. Further proof that I'm not a linguist... what I meant was that not wanting to be forced to speak another language is a statement about civil liberties (obviously, not the fact that it's difficult).

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  14. Chief cook and bottle washer he is. It's a one man show at this point. Everyone else there is just for decoration.

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  15. I still fail to see what my impoverished ancestors did to oppress francophones. Someone please tell me.

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  16. FROM ED BROWN
    For God's sake Partition, where the hell are you reading. I have never said I did not speak French. I am fluently bilingual. I have never said I find it difficult. I know many older people have trouble because they didn't learn early like I did. Back then we had no use for it. My old brain may not be ass quick as yours but at least I can still read without misinterpreting the words or reading other things into it. I don't bother reading french because I find it slow and I feel if someone wants to communicate with me do it in English if you can. Ed

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    1. Fair enough, I misunderstood your sentiment, although you mention older people and I clearly stated that they should be cut some slack - again, no disagreement there, apart from wrongly implying you shared their discomfort. Still, no retraction on the "decadent" comment. As I said before, I generally agree with you, but I cannot let that pass.

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    2. On second thought, a few more things are bugging me about what you just wrote. For starters, nobody accused you of having a slow brain: how's that for misinterpreting and reading other things into it? I'm afraid you're not immune from it yourself. I only said that in general, but especially past a certain age (which I surmise you reached, from your memoirs), people should be spared from having certain impositions forced upon them. However the point I've been trying to make, but that you repeatedly skirted around, is that using gendered words is neither fiendishly complicated (besides the fact that even English uses gendered words, think of when you use "she" or "her" when you talk about a ship, which is an inanimated object without any discernible set of genitals) nor "decadent".

      Then you go on to say that you find it "slow" to read in French, which begs the question of how truly bilingual you are, unless you were clumsily trying to say that the prose of French writers is more convoluted than that of their English counterparts. I might even agree with the latter statement, but you must admit that the way you originally phrased it sounds like something S.R. could have said (with the languages swapped).

      Finally, I find it rather haughty that you should say "if someone wants to communicate with me do it in English if you can" if you are bilingual. Sounds a bit like: I may speak two languages, but the burden to make the effort is on you (Sounds like something Pauline Marois could use to her advantage). Surely decency dictates that you hold a conversation in the language where there is the greater degree of mutual understanding, rather than having a default mode, especially if the conversation is not initiated by you - although I believe you should be free to start every conversation you wish in the same language of your choice and then switch according to need, but everybody else has the same right, regardless of which is their language of choice.

      Finally, the old age references were not spiteful or patronising: I look forward to growing old disgracefully, be an embarrassment to my children and generally not give a damn, which I see as one of the perks of advanced age. If you already are in that position, I envy you and I wish you all the best. However, if the current situation sticks in your craw, I can't help pointing out that lumping together the moral faults of a certain political group with the language they speak, does not do anything to improve the situation. Not all the PQ's supporters grievances are unfounded (although their methods are certainly unacceptable), but you are actively giving prominence to the few ones that had some grounds of legitimacy when you call a language "decadent" or "slow": that's the very Rhodesian attitude that's keeping the Mugabe's up.

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    3. FROM ED BROWN
      Partition, first using she for a ship is a slang pronoun not an English article. We do not have gendered words in English. It refers to the ship having graceful lines and beauty like a woman. This is not a decadent language.
      Second, You find it haughty when I say approach me in English. If I am talking to a French person I always begin in french and continue unless he changes it. Is it so bad for me to ask the same respect.
      Third, I have never skirted around gendered words. You keep telling me that they use them in Italy and Spain and I keep telling you I am not interested in what they do in other countries, I am interested in what's happening here. In case you haven't noticed this blog is about the language prblems here in Quebec.
      Finally, You say lumping together the moral faults of a certain political group with the language they speak. Jesus man, where have you been. That's what this whole blog is all about.
      That's exactly what the PQ is doing to us. Making out that we're immoral because we don't agree with them. Please partition stop being annoying with your irrelevancies. I don't have time to answer rambling thoughts. Ed

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    4. FROM ED BROWN The reason I find it slow to read french ia because I am a speed reader and don't like taking time to translate. Ed

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    5. This is not a decadent language.

      The only decadent thing here is your attitude: if you use feminine pronouns and possessive adjectives, it's a feminine word. Besides, you also use it for certain buildings.

      Second, You find it haughty when I say approach me in English. If I am talking to a French person I always begin in french and continue unless he changes it. Is it so bad for me to ask the same respect.

      Unless you have it tattooed on your forehead that you're english, how the hell is anyone approaching you supposed to know? How do you know that someone YOU are approaching is french? You've got to start talking in either one or the other language (unless you already know the person, in which case you should already have an agreement on which language you'd normally converse), and so does everyone else. Either guess or use the one you're more comfortable with and change when the conversation stalls, this is what normal people do.

      Third, I have never skirted around gendered words. You keep telling me that they use them in Italy and Spain and I keep telling you I am not interested in what they do in other countries, I am interested in what's happening here. In case you haven't noticed this blog is about the language prblems here in Quebec.

      In case YOU haven't noticed, you have made a racists statement (that you re-iterated) about certain languages being decadent. In case you haven't noticed, the fig-leaf used by the PQ is that the treatment they're dealing out only mirrors what they had to put up with. Whether that's true or not, you're doing a good job of strengthening their case.

      Finally, You say lumping together the moral faults of a certain political group with the language they speak. Jesus man, where have you been. That's what this whole blog is all about.
      That's exactly what the PQ is doing to us. Making out that we're immoral because we don't agree with them.


      Well, in that case you are no better than they are: you have just legitimised their methods.
      I must have misjudged you: I hope you enjoy it when Pauline Marois parades men like you to get the votes she needs to strenghten Bill 101.

      P.S. If you are bilingual, you do not translate when you read in your second language: you just switch to thinking in that language.

      Delete
  17. Okay, for shit and giggles.

    Imperatif-francais has found another culprit guilty of Anglicization. That party is so wicked that they threatens the French-language African countries toward more and more English.

    Who are they?

    The French (of France).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, because Quebecois are more French than the French.

      Makes sense.

      Delete
    2. The Toubon Law isn't so bad compared to the draconian 101, and the French are cosmopolitan enough to know that borrowing from other languages expands your vocabulary, thoughts, and ideas rather than confine them.

      L’Académie is woefully behind current usage but that doesn't stop the average Frenchman on the street from incorporating all kinds of borrowed words in to their daily speech, and the younger the person you speak with the more creative they get.

      French isn't dying it's just evolving the same as any other language, in my world there is a place for French next to English neither one should have to be dominant.

      Delete
  18. For shame!!!!!!!!!!!! Who do those in France think they are? Introducing English = will the persecution ever end?

    ReplyDelete
  19. FROM ED BROWN
    James John. your ancestors did nothing to oppress the french. Montreal was English from St. Lawrence west. From St' Laurent to the east was french. That french woman that complained about the fat lady in Eaton's who did not serve her had an account at Dupuis Frere in the east. She only went to Eaton's to make trouble. The Eaton's employee did not refuse service. She said at the time that the woman never gave her a chance. The problem was that the English area had fancy stores and was clean. Nothing was ever done east of St.Lawrence until Mayor Sarto Fournier created the Dozois Slum Clearance project. Before that the English came to the west to Christmas shop. The French coveted everything the English had built. They now control most of those things. Hydro Quebec started out as 'Montreal, Light Heat and Power which was built by Herbert Holt who owned Montreal gas co., Eaton's, The Baie have all been sucked up by the french who hold practically every job. They have taken everything and still cry for more. Ed


    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete