Mean-Spirited Bus Driver Typical of Language Zealots

Last week's incident wherein a Montreal City bus driver got into it with a visiting student from Pakistan is not atypical when French language zealots decide that confrontation is a good way to defend the French language.

If you missed the story, read about it here.

On a city bus passing through the predominantly English community of Côte Saint -Luc, a visiting Pakistani student studying at McGill, asked the bus driver an innocent enough question- 'What time is it?' in English.

She replied in English, "I don't speak English."

To which he replied, "But you just spoke to me in English!"

The driver became annoyed and stopped the bus and called the police claiming that the passenger was 'aggressive'

To make a long story short, the cops came, emptied the bus and sent the grouchy driver on her way.
Passengers who were put off the bus complained that the next bus skipped the stop, obviously on instructions from the first aggrieved bus driver, further extending their ordeal. As result some were inconvenienced and even late for work. More evidence that the driver was mean-spirited.

Now the driver was within her rights not to speak English, it isn't part of the job description, but....

Clearly she was a xenophobe or a language zealot, looking for a confrontation, rather than satisfying a customer and doing her job, which is serving the public as best she could.

50% on Francophone Montrealers are bilingual and for those that deal with the public, the percentage is much, much, higher. There's every likelihood that the driver could very well have answered the customer's question, had she made the effort.

But let's us assume that she truly didn't understand English. What would a reasonable driver do in that situation?

There were a least a dozen bilingual people on the bus and all she had to do was to call out in French for someone to help out this guy who spoke only English. Easy as pie!

Instead, she chose to pick fight and for that she should be censured.

Her case is rare but not unusual for the minority of French language zealots who validate their existence as language crusaders through confrontations such as these.

Most francophone Montrealers who work with the public are keen to use their English and proud to offer service in English when required. This story shouldn't tarnish the vast majority of Montreal bus drivers who do a good job and try their best to help out customers in both English and French.

I guarantee you that for every negative French/English story as described above, there are thousands and thousands of incidents where francophones offer superb service in English.

My 80 year old plus mother was recently rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night by the publicly-run Urgences Santé Ambulance service. The francophone attendants did a fabulous job of ministering to her and they did so in English, as a matter of routine. Bravo! Fantastic!

Unfortunately, there's a small group of French language militants who religiously seek out violations of the language law and 'illegal' use of English with a dedication and passion that would make a Spanish Inquisitor blush.

My first experience (rather my future wife's) with just such a language zealot was over 35 years when she bought a train ticket in Montreal's Central Station.

When she asked for a ticket to the 'Two Mountains' station, (a railroad stop near Ste. Eustache), the ticket agent turned surly and lectured her harshly that even when speaking in English, the station is properly called 'Deux Montagnes.' "Proper names" he sneered, "are never translated literally."

"Great!" I thought, when she told me the story "A language lesson from a ticket agent!"

I told my wife to pay no mind, the agent was just another language crusader who exemplifies the principle that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. He was not only rude and disrespectful, but also dead wrong in his assertion.

"You should have asked the idiot ticket seller, if he admonishes francophones when they request tickets to "LES ETATS UNI", because in accordance to his own criterion only "THE UNITED STATES" is proper!"

haha!!!!

UQAM To Offer English Courses

Unable to attract enough foreign students for courses in French ( Why? One may ask) the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) is trying a novel approach. This fall the university's l'École des sciences de la gestion (ESG) will be offering six science courses in English.

Get ready for a new skirmish in the eternal Quebec war to defend the French language.

Already Mario Beaulieu of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (SSJB) has said that 'the bilinguisation of UQAM is unacceptable.'

Michel Laporte, first vice-president of the Syndicat des professeurs de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (SPUQ), the union that represents the school's professors, says that the move contradicts the mission of integrating immigrants to francophone culture.

Look for fireworks before this one is over, it's happened before.

When John Abbott College decided to abandon courses in aeronatics, CEGEP Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil decided to offer English language courses in aircraft maintenance as well as French at it's affiliated school based at St. Hubert airport.
l'École nationale d'aéronautique de Saint-Hubert will offer English courses to English students only, those coming out of the English school system.

It seems like a sweet arrangement, the school could use the extra students at the underused airport. The whole arrangement makes eminently good sense. But for language crusaders it was a dastardly attempt to pry the door open to bilingualism.

Back to the UQAM offering classes in English;

Is it an admission that foreign students just don't see French as useful in the business world?

It is a sad commentary that the school can't even attract foreign French students to the business program, considering that they benefit from reduced tution, because they are francophones.

Michelle Obama - This Empress Has no Clothes!

It's bad enough to see the American media write fawning and flattering articles about Michell Obama's supposed good looks and fashion sense, all of which is patently ridiculous, but when Canada's own Globe and Mail runs a front page photo spread (last Friday), it's time for bloggers to say what the mainstream press won't.

Michell Obama is not pretty.
Michelle Obama is not fashionable.

Pretending that she is what she is not, is a dis-service to the public who look to the media for honest reporting.

Don't get me wrong, I don't really care about her looks or lack thereof, but when the Globe presents her as a fashion plate, someone has to call them out. Why on earth did this monstrously ugly photo end up on page 1 of the Globe and Mail and why is the newspaper giving so much free publicity to J.CREW.



I had to scan this image from my morning newspaper because the online version of the Globe and Mail had the good sense not to include the picture with the story, a wise aesthetic choice but a bit strange considering that it is key to the story.

Globe retailing reporter Marina Strauss has written one of the worst puff pieces I have ever seen and the newspaper should be ashamed to foist this garbage upon us.

I'm no fashion maven, but any red-blooded male can tell what is pretty and who looks good in their clothes.
Take a look at France's first lady Carla Bruni;

That's more like it. How about a photo spread on her? By the way, I bet she doesn't wear J.Crew

How does this picture of Spanish Princess Letizia and Carla Bruni walking up the stairs of Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid strike you?



Ummmm! Talk about poetry in motion. Now go back to the picture of Michelle Obama at the top of the page.

I rest my case....

Still don't believe me?
Show the above picture of Michelle Obama to any 10 random men and I bet not one of them will tell you that the package is the least bit sexy, flattering or appealing. Not a chance....

If anything the photo convinced me to dissuade my wife from ever donning anything offered by J. Crew. argh.......

At any rate, why the Globe would write a fashion story about the US First Lady is beyond me. They'd be better off writing a story on the keen fashion sense of Stephen Harper's wife, who's name is.....?

I make no apologies to Michelle Obama for the insult, she has portrayed herself as something she clearly isn't. The doting US press reminds me of the famous fable of The Emperor's New Clothes. Why on earth is the Canadian press complicit in the illusion?

If the Globe and Mail is keen on writing these stories, may I humbly suggest their next subject, a woman who is already inspiring others to copy her keen fashion sense.


 
See:

Michelle Obama Needs First Lady Lessons

Michelle Obama is a Plain Jane

Separatists to Gather at Plains of Abraham

As you recall, the re-enactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which was to take place next week was cancelled due to pressure from nationalist groups and the threat of violence.

In it's place, a group called Le Moulin à paroles is staging a 24 hour read-a-thon to commerate the battle in a less 'violent' and 'respectful' manner .

The public is invited to listen to famous Quebec personalities give various readings from books, speeches and letters that have some historical context.

Notwithstanding that a few anglos were invited to read, the whole event has morphed into a sombre sovereignist gathering, where a wake-like atmosphere will mark the 250th anniversary of "LA CONQUETE" Quebec nationalists very own version of the Palestinians "NAQBA"

The regular cast of nationalist characters will be front and center, including Patrick Bourgeois, the leader of the Réseau de Résistance du Québec, the group that led the successful attack against the re-enactment. Other stalwarts include ex-PQ Premier Bernard Landry, Louise Beaudoin, MP from Rosemount and longtime anglo foil and of course the chief blockhead himself, Gilles Duceppe.

Yes, it's revving up for a fine weekend of teary lamentations and sovereignist dissertations. The tenor of the whole affair has started to scare scheduled federalists from attending, not however Premier Charest who refused the invitation from the start, knowing full well where the event has headed.

Mayor Regis Lebaume of Quebec City, decided to cancel his appearance, calling the whole affair "too partisan.".Instead, he's off to Colombus, Ohio, to give a speech (in English!).

An unnamed Liberal MP has also cancelled, calling the text he was to read by Robert Bourassa, "too nationalistic"

I'm sure that the event won't attract the same crowd that Paul McCartney drew last summer when he gave a free concert on the "Plains," even for sovereignists, the event sounds like a crashing bore.

Ontario Lottery Board Example Shames Quebec

This week chairman Michael Gough and the entire board of directors of the Ontario's Lottery Gaming Board were asked to resign in the wake of some disturbing expense claims.

Provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced that CEO Kelly McDougald was "dismissed with cause," and therefore will not receive a severance package.

"Over the last two years, senior staff at the OLG billed taxpayers for, among other things: expensive bottles of wine, a Weight Watchers membership, babysitters, luggage replacement, credit card fees, and a cloth grocery bag, according to documents released by the province of Ontario." Ottawa Citizen

"Today we are taking another step to protect taxpayer's money. New leadership at the OLG will work under a mandate to instill increased accountability and a culture of respect for the public interest and taxpayer dollars." – Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance

Wow could this ever happen in Quebec? Never!

"Dismissed with cause" is a foreign concept in Quebec government circles. When civil servants are caught abusing the public purse, they are quietly reprimanded or outright excused as in the case of Hydro-Quebec's Thierry Vandal.

Remember Jean-Guy Chaput the Quebec boss of SODEC (Société de développement des entreprises culturelles) who's lavish expenses led to him being relieved of his position.
When told that because of his unacceptable spending spree, his services were no longer required, he threatened to sue.
In order to end the bad publicity and the embarrassment as soon as possible, the government decided to pay out his contract, which cost taxpayers a further $100,000.

In Quebec it's always better to sweep these things under the rug.
Everybody agrees.
Nobody cares.