I've decided to start this column because there's just too much bigotry, hate, nonsense obsession and hilarity concerning Quebec's pathological obsession with the French.
Most of us don't have the time, the language skills or for that matter the inclination to follow what is being said in the French media which has embraced a paranoid narrative enounced by the cynical and racist government which pedals the falsehood that 'real' Quebecois are in mortal danger of losing their language.
Premier Legault's direct and insulting attacks on Quebec's minority constituents have opened up the floodgates and emboldened the haters to come out of the shadows and into the mainstream media.Here is a compendium, by no means complete, of recent stories that you may find interesting.
Anglo-basher puts her ignorance on full display
When somebody makes a mistake in another language it's a bit gauche to make fun of them, but in this case, I'll make an exception because the gaffe is just so delicious and ironic.
Sophie Durocher is one half of the Journal du Montreal Anglophobic power couple, along with her husband Richard Martineau.
My favourite Martineau quote is when he told a radio audience that a teacher wearing a hijab is akin to a teacher wearing an FLQ t-shirt.
But I digress...
In a recent article Durocher goes off on the French over their propensity towards English phrases. On a visit to Paris, she was scandalized by what she saw and heard.
"What makes me laugh is when the French think they speak English, but use faulty expressions. “Take away” instead of “take-out”."
Are there no editors checking her stories to prevent this embarrassment?
I don't think Durocher spends any time in England where 'takeaway' is very much their word for 'take-out'
It's always amusing to see a dunce giving lessons.
Bonjour-hi
Le Droit online devoted a long report on the dangerous and anglicizing term 'Bonjour-Hi' that has become the poster term of creeping anglicization, a phrase utterly despised by defenders of the faith.
The story describes that, unlike Montreal, Bonjour-Hi doesn't seem to be making much headway in the Quebec city region. The reporter sent out to investigate this important issue says that for now, things remain safe. THANK GOD! MERCI DIEU!
Interestingly the story goes on to negate the idea that French is in decline in Quebec, veering away from the conventional wisdom of an unfolding linguistic disaster'
"Sociolinguist Calvin Veltman doesn't believe that "Bonjour-Hi" is a symptom of the decline of French, as others fear. “It’s normal for languages to borrow expressions from each other,”
Quebecers - Francophones at least - have a feeling of inferiority towards the English, so we are much more touchy about cases like that than the French, for example," According to Mr. Veltman, this feeling of inferiority had its raison d'être before Bill 101 was passed in 1977. But today, it is no longer justified. In a recent article in La Conversation, Mr. Veltman argues that French is in a much better position in the 2016 census than in that of 1971, even if it has been in slight decline since 2001. LINK{fr}
Ikea's neat language hack
The Ukrainians are keen to learn French through a company immersion program and are doing well, some have already been promoted.In the meantime, they are fulfilling clerical, logistical and administrative roles but sometimes come in contact with customers and therein lies the rub.
To prevent 'incidents' where the English-only speaking employees might be confronted by customers for not speaking French, the company has devised a clever fix.
The Ukrainians are wearing big badges on their chest in the form of a Ukrainian flag with the message
Maybe I'm too sensitive but I can't help but be a little creeped out by the idea of forcing people to wear ethnic or religious identifiers in public.
Ex-Habs Petry asked for Trade because of Anglo Discrimination
If you think confrontations over language are rare, read this story where the management of the Habs admitted that longtime veteran Jeff Petry asked to be traded for lHis wife and kids were so miserable here that they decamped back to the USA, while Petry remained.
It seems that his wife felt persecuted because of her lack of French.
"In a recent Instagram story Julie Petry, the wife of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry, has reported being the victim of discrimination while simply doing groceries for herself, her family, and of course Jeff Petry himself. According to her story, Julie went to a local Costco where she was mistreated on the basis that she does not speak French, something that is of course perfectly understandable given that neither her nor her husband were born in a French speaking part of the world.
In order to avoid putting any words in Julie's mouth, here is her story in her own words:
Unfortunately for the Montreal Canadiens this will only help fuel the negative perception that many players in the National Hockey League have of playing in this market and will only serve to make it harder for them to attract free agents that often choose to go elsewhere when the option is available. Not only do players have to contend with a rabid fan base, which can also be a positive, but they have to deal with both French and English media when coming to the Montreal market.
Stories like this have a way of getting around and both players in the National Hockey League and their spouses are often in constant communication with one another. This will no doubt reach the ears of many players around the league and unfortunately for the Canadiens, who have done absolutely nothing wrong in this scenario, it could serve to hurt their chances of attracting players in the future."
Bill 96 threatens Quebec's video game industry
Here's an interesting article taken from a French (France) tech website discussing the video gaming industry in Quebec."A new law aimed at protecting the language of Molière in Quebec could have a strong impact on video game studios.In another story
We love our French language, but we probably don't love it as much as it is appreciated in Quebec. In this province of Canada, everything is done to preserve the use of our language, to the point that it sometimes becomes ridiculous.
Certain laws put in place force the titles of films and works of all kinds to be fully translated, often giving rise to more than laughable names. We think in particular of Fiction Pulpeuse for the famous film by Quentin Tarantino or even the Pixar Cars which has become Les Bagnoles. Even fast-food brands are not immune and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) bears the sweet name of PFK (Poulet Frit Kentucky) there.
The problem when love turns to obsession is that the dynamic can quickly become toxic and harm others. And this is unfortunately what is about to unfold with the adoption of a new law for the protection of the French language.
But what does this have to do with geek culture you might ask?
The video game industry with a strong presence in Quebec could well and truly be destroyed from the inside by this new projected law adopted by the government.
For those who do not know, Quebec is home to many studios and some of their branches such as Ubisoft, Warner Bros Games, and Eidos Montreal to name a few. The video game industry is so developed there that no less than 11,000 people are direct employees. In this profession, English predominates as the main language, but this is not going to last in Quebec studios.
Indeed, the new Bill 96 law provides for many changes in the legislation around the French language and the entire province will find itself impacted. With the adoption of this project, the French language will have to be applied everywhere and systematically, including at work and in business, everyone will have to learn French. International employees are starting to get scared and many are ready to jump ship to avoid the language barrier.In an effort to maintain the purity of the French language, officials in France have banned popular gaming terms such as 'pro-gamer' and 'streamer'. Going forwards, official government communications will use more traditional terms such as 'joueur-animateur en direct' in place of 'streamer', which literally translates to 'live player-host', and the slightly more forgiving 'joueur professionnel' for 'pro-gamer', which, as you've no doubt guessed, translates to 'professional player'.
Other terms effected by the change include 'eSports', which is now 'jeu video de competition', and 'cloud gaming', which became 'jeu video en nuage'. All in all, we guess it makes sense; the French language is beautiful and words like 'eSports' don't exactly have the same... je ne sais quoi. Hey, look what we did!" Journalgeek
A group of 138 Quebec tech industry leaders signed an open letter to the provincial government taking issue with the six-month language restriction as an “unrealistic deadline” for newcomers already dealing with a life-changing move, as well as the bill’s provision that all business contracts must be drafted in French. Link
Big stink over English on Quebec ferry
This utterly hilarious article offered in Le Soleil In English only sur un traversier de Charlevoix is my favourite story of the week.It seems that Quebec's scandal-plagued ferry service could not find a boat and crew to man a ferry service in the outback town of Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive where anglophones are virtually nonexistent and bilingual francophones as rare as a Leafs fan.
For the ferry service (STQ,), it was a choice between bringing in an outside boat (with a crew who come from away and speak no French) or no ferry at all.
And so you can imagine the calamity when the decision was made to bite the bullet,
In the best tradition of the error-prone ferry service, a spokesman had this to say.
« Nous aimerions que l’équipage soit 100 % francophone, mais l’anglais demeure une langue acceptable dans les circonstances. »
The story doesn't end there as the Anglo crew and the captain seem to be rather incompetent, crashing into the dock more than once and on one occasion knocking down and damaging several parked motorcycles.
Of course, complaints have been duly lodged against the boat and the ferry service, not for the bad driving, but rather for the lack of French amongst the crew
I told you it was funny!
Why Bill 96 is good for National unity
"In the end, the two controversial clauses are mainly about symbols and perceptions. But symbols and perceptions matter. In this case, they are a much-awaited step for many Québécois on the long (and tortuous) road to enshrining Quebec’s distinctiveness in the Canadian Constitution. The final paradox is that, by explicitly invoking the Canadian Constitution, Bill 96 thereby acknowledges that Quebec recognizes, albeit implicitly, the existing constitutional order. Bill 96 may well be ultra vires, but it is not an attack on national unity. Au contraire." Link
Two Solitudes
"Whatever your image of Quebec English-speakers -- rich Westmount-dwellers, perhaps -- odds are that it dates back a few decades.
A new report has created an updated portrait, and it's starkly different than what many expect, showing that English-speakers are struggling financially compared to their French-speaking counterparts."
Quebec English-speakers have higher unemployment, lower income than French-speakers: study Link
French music is unpopular amongst francophones (especially the young)
Only two of the top 20 artists played in 2021 are French and none in the top 12
"According to a report by the Office québécois de la langue française, with regard to Francophones, “young people aged 15 to 34 are those who practice their cultural activities the least in French”.Anglo-Saxon cultural imperialism must end!This imperialism endangers the cultural future of Quebec, the cultural industry of Quebec, cultural diversity in the world, the Quebec difference, the survival of the Quebec nation, etc.It is essential to reverse the current trend to safeguard Quebec's difference. Quebec culture should occupy a predominant place in the lives of Quebecers and constitute the culture of reference for them. " TVA{fr} Link (Eng)
What does the author propose as a solution?
"This is why I suggest that Quebec parliamentarians adopt a Charter of Quebec Culture.
The adoption of such a Charter should allow Quebec culture to regain the place it should always have occupied, that of common culture."
...of course.
No Comment.....
"France violated an international rights treaty when it banned a woman from wearing a headscarf while she studied at a school, a UN committee has ruled.
The move broke the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee said" Link
Montreal real estate broker in Quebec fined $1,500 for English-language social media ad
American network's story on the decline of Quebec's Catholic Church
Algeria to ditch French in favour of English in schools
Should the Habs draft more French Quebeckers {FR}
Ottawans move across the river to Quebec for cheap housing but work and pay taxes in Ontario.{FR}
