French Versus English Volume 40

Flag Controversy Spins out of control

"A resident of the municipality of St-Denis-de-Brompton, in the Eastern Townships, has lodged a complaint to the Quebec Provincial Police after he was bullied for flying the Canadian flag.

Jean Sanson saw his Canadian flag ripped down from his flagpole and hung upside down on his fence. Above the maple leaf, vandals scrawled the word "traitor," with the name of the victim in the middle of the emblem.

The incident comes just one week after a hundred citizens presented a demand to elected officials to return the flag in the Council Chambers.

"I think it's cowardly to come here and damage my property , said Sanson, who said it is his right to display the flag. We are in a democratic system here. "

Readers will recall that the elected officials of the town, led by the separatist mayor,  decided in the wake of municipal elections in 2009 to remove the flag and fly only the provincial Fleur de Lys.

In a meeting in a closed session Thursday night, elected officials voted for the reinstatement of the Canadian flag in the council.

Earlier today, the mayor of the municipality and PQ member, Claude Boucher, condemned the vandalism, even if he himself had supported the decision to remove the Canadian flag.

"We received so many hate messages from English Canada, I understand the frustration of people, he said. Except that this is unacceptable. In a democracy, we speak and we try to understand." he had stated.  LINK {FR}

Partial language victory for Montreal family

That family from Mexico whose children lost their eligibility for English school have won a partial victory. One of the children will be able to return to the English sector. Read the rest of the story

Language issue on backburner?

A prominently placed opinion piece in Quebec City's LE SOLEIL had me scratching my head over the shear absurdity of it all. LINK{FR}

First the author informs us that the language issue must be returned to the front burner...
I'm not kidding, according to him, in Quebec, language is on the back burner!

Then he claims that statistically, immigrants find English nine time more attractive then French.
His reasoning is that while French outnumber English eight to one provincially, immigrants choose to assimilate to the English side of the language equation half the time.

Ergo, English is nine times more attractive. (seems to me, even by his reasoning it should be 8/1)

But of course when you start with bad assumptions, you get the proverbial garbage in/garbage out scenario.

The author uses the total population of the Quebec demographic as a base, but immigrants don't live in the Rest of Quebec, over 90% settle in the western side of Montreal where the language dynamic (in spite of what French language militants tell us) is closer to 50% French and 50% English.
By falsely expanding the base to include francophones in regions where immigrants don't live, the results are easily manipulated.
By the way, if I were to expand the base to include all of Canada, where the English outnumber French by about four to one, I could deduce for immigrants in Quebec, French has a language attraction four times as large as English.

Ah Statistics!......Bouncy, bouncy bouncy....

Then, in complaining about immigrants that don't speak French, the author launches this pearl;

"Quebec is one of the few countries where you can settle and even become a citizen without knowing a word of the national language..."....

"...A dozen European countries require candidates seeking permanent resident status to take language tests"

Hmm readers, as they say in French,  trouver l'erreur
 

Compulsory French during recess

"Conversations in English or Arabic could be banned from school grounds and school cafeterias. The  Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) is considering requiring students to speak French in all school spaces.
It would be a way to improve the success of the French at school, believes the CSDM, which also receives the approval of parents, a survey reveals that the press has obtained." LINK{FR}

The article goes on to say that over 70% of parents agree with this initiative, leading us to believe that it is widely popular.
But once again dear readers, I must call out another instance of 'bouncy' statistics.
Although not as an egregious misuse of numbers as the statistical gobbledygook that I highlighted in the story above, there remains a  basic problem with the 70% approval rating.
The survey included francophone parents whose children speak French in the schoolyard as well as parents of those students who speak English or Arabic.
Obviously all the French parents are in favour of this French only initiative, hence the high approval rating. If we consider only parents of the non-French speaking children, it's a different story and interestingly the story offered the data necessary to figure it out.

It seems that when you poll only the parents of these non-French speakers, that is, only those affected  by the initiative, only 44% are in favour, quite a difference!
That being said, even at that much lower approval rating, I'm surprised at how high that percentage is as well. Go figger.....

Aside from all that, can the state actually dictate the language of a private conversation, even that of a child under its jurisdiction?
Methinks it cannot.....

More fun from vigile.net?

It's good to see that the falling popularity of sovereignty hasn't affected two of vigile.net's most devoted separatists, Frick and Frack, whose prolific articles drip with the tears of the agonized suffering of the frustrated.
Their bitterness and exasperation perk me up every time I read another of their done-me-wrong screeds.

The always entertaining  Jacques Noël has created a separatist ENEMIES LIST, just like Richard Nixon. 
Read his piece entitled  L’adversaire HERE {FR}.  It's a jewel!!!
Here it is;

1.   The government of Canada and Prime Minister Stephen Harper

2.   The Quebec Liberal government and Premier Jean Charest

3.   The Supreme Court

4.   The Federal Liberal Party

5.   The United States Government

6.   Quebec's English minority

7.   Quebec's Immigrants

8.   Quebec's Jews

9.   Quebec's Natives

10. Gesca (Paul Demarais' media empire which he considers federalist)

11. The Montreal Gazette

12. Big Money

13. Mayors of the Province of Quebec (who he claims are all federalists)

Then there is the Frack, the insufferable Réjean Labrie, from Quebec's National Capitale who has ripped a page out of the book of old southern racists who kept Black voter registration down by means of literary tests. Link {FR}
Mr. Labrie suggest that in any future referendum only the pure at heart should be allowed to vote.
He suggests that every voter be subjected to a purity test, that will determine a person's eligibility.

1. A minimum number of years of residency (10, 15 or 20 years)

2. An examination to see if the potential voter uses the  French language in public and at home

3. A written test (given in French only, because language proficiency is essential to demonstrate membership in a society) to determine if the potential voter has sufficient knowledge of the social, historical, cultural, political reality of Quebec

4. A review to ascertain a potential voter's successful integration into Quebec society (insuring that he/she is not practising communalism or self-ghettoization) (in other words, Jews living in Cote Saint Luc, Chinese who live in Chinatown or Brossard, Greeks who live around Park avenue, Hasids anywhere, Blacks who like reggae music, Haitians who listen to Creole radio, those who shop at Adonis, anyone who wears a Sari, turban, yarmake, hijab and of course the hated niqab! -editor) 

WONDERFUL STUFF!!! For Mr. Labrie's benefit that, here is an example of a literacy test imposed upon Alabama voters back in the early sixties. Translate the document into French and make some minor modifications to make it more Quebecois and it's off to the races. SEE THE TEST HERE

By the way I think 75% of potential voters would flunk the third hurdle, including francophones.

GENTLEMEN, KEEP UP THE ENTERTAINMENT!!!

Quebec mayor complains about English signs in Paris?

Visiting Paris, Quebec City's mayor  Regis Lebeaume was shocked by the amount of English signage in the City of Lights.
Unable to contain himself, the mayor unloaded at a press conference for a meeting of mayors

"We'll have to become concerned that at some point. It is astonishing to see the ads here," he said Tuesday at a press briefing at the end of a series of meetings on the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF).....
"We can not have a healthy Francophonie if we do not decide to think about it. French politicians I talk to, whisper in my ear that I'm right, but it's a taboo subject...." 
 Asked about the growing use of English in his city, the mayor of Paris expressed concern about the phenomenon Tuesday.
"Sometimes when I listen to the radio or watch TV, I don't understand certain words," acknowledged Bertrand Delanoe after  a meeting with Regis Labeaume. "Particularly for new technologies that bring new words, a kind of language that is being created," he said. calling for vigilance, too.
"Language is something very precious...​​." LINK{FR}

Briefly... Quebec launches $100 fund to export its culture LINK{FR}
Mouvement Montréal français  calls for a boycott of stores that don't respect Bill 101  LINK{FR}
Official-languages czar scolds Tories for unilingual appointments LINK

Lastly... I'm thankful to a faithful reader who sent in a link to some recently uploaded photos of Montreal circa late fifties to seventies.

The colour pictures are especially outstanding and once again put paid to the lie that Montreal was always a "French" city.

The realty is that during my childhood and up until the Parti Quebecois was elected in the early seventies, the city operated bilingually and English signs were as prevalent as French.

I've included a couple of pictures to whet your appetite and even if you are not of a certain age to relive a precious era, you'll appreciate the beautifully English/French character of the city that was massacred by French language militants eager to re-write history.

Here is a link to the URBAN PHOTO website that first described the story of Alfred Bohn, the photographer. 

Here is a link to the photographer's 162 pictures of retro Montreal on flickr.

Here are two of the pictures that touched me personally.

The Van Horne shopping centre in the late fifties, looking East towards Victoria Avenue. 

My Dad took me shopping in the DUSKES HARDWARE store partly visible on the left. Aside from the stores which have all changed, the shopping centre looks remarkably unchanged.

If you're over 50 years old and lived in Montreal in the sixties, you've had to have eaten at the Woolworth's counter. I used to take my little sister out for lunch and we each had a hot-dog, French fries and Coke for 90¢ plus a 10¢ tip!

Can you get more bilingual than that!

Please visit the links above, even if you are young, some of the pictures are just outstanding! 

Have a great weekend!

English Witch Hunt Fizzles Out

You'd think the outing of two unilingual anglos working in upper management at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, was the outrage of the century, generating no less media hysteria in Quebec than that surrounding the treachery of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. in the USA back in the fifties.

"It is the ultimate symbol of Quebec pride — of francophones exerting influence within their own economy.

So there was some surprise in the news Tuesday that two senior managers at Quebec's Caisse de depot et placement can't speak French." Link

Yup, the Quebec media was certainly en maudit, the Caisse being a national pillar, a symbol of Quebec emancipation and financial independence. To many, the Caisse represents the potential financier of an independant Quebec.

Ever since Premier Charest placed an anglo in charge of the faltering Caisse over two years ago, after the disastrous run led by Henri-Paul Rousseau, which saw the fund lose one-quarter of its value in the great financial meltdown of 2008, French militants have been doing a slow, angry burn over the appointment.
That simmering rage has now exploded, triggered by the announcement that two unilingual Anglos have been toiling unchallenged, at the highest levels of management.

To paranoid French militants, it's a nightmare come true, a vindication of their deepest fears, that the insidious Anglo influence, if not held in check, will take over Francophone society.

English unilinguals in the beloved Caisse!!!!!

Inconcevable!!!!!..... pas des maudits blokes ! ......Aggghhh!!!!

By the way, (and completely beside the point) under the tutelage of Michael Sabia, the Caisse has rebounded nicely, although not spectacularly. The Caisse is back making money that is well within the acceptable range of return on investment.

The two unilingual managers involved, work in the Caisse's real estate subsidiary, the result of a merger between two Anglo companies that the Caisse acquired, Oxford-Cambridge Realty, originally based in Toronto and Ivanhoe, the real estate arm of the old Sam Steinberg empire, once one of Quebec's largest food retailers.
The new company became Ivanhoé-Cambridge (complete with an added accent 'egu') and the original Anglo staff were slowly replaced by Francophones when the head office was consolidated at the Caisse's head office in Montreal.
The new company Frenchified it's pronunciation and Ivanhoe became Ivanhoé, pronounced "EE-van-away."....Really.

Incidentally, insiders have told me that there was a massacre of senior personnel at Ivanhoé-Cambridge recently with forty employees, many top mangers let go suddenly and without warning, some with over twenty years experience.
The outing of the two unilinguals sounds like a settling of accounts.

Now the reaction in the mainstream press as well as the militant websites seemed to be eerily in sync.

"Et ce n’est que la partie visible de l’iceberg !"Mario Beaulieu

"Mais tout cela n'est que la pointe de l'iceberg."Joeseph Facal

'Patrons unilingues anglais à la Caisse de dépôt: la pointe de l’iceberg! Ameriquebc.net

I haven't translated the quotes because all that's interesting is that they all make reference to the  'tip of the iceberg!' an analogy that means that there's much more beneath the surface.
I wonder if they held a conference call before filing their stories.

"All the sophistry in the world will change nothing, we have too long looked away and retained the unacceptable institutional privileges granted to the historic English history minority, which in fact is about 3% of the Quebec population (Anglo-British-born Quebec)." LINK

Readers, I included this last quote from the insufferable Mario Beaulieu because "3%" represents a new low in the ever-fluctuating figure of that invented separatist term 'historical Anglophones'
Mr. Beaulieu doesn't even  follow his own own script. 
The rest of screed was a rehash of dishonest and misleading statistics contrived by the insufferable, Institut de recherche sur le français en Amérique, a tiny separatist lobby group masquerading as a legitimate research 'institute' 

At any rate, the three stories that included the reference of the 'tip of an iceberg' all hinted that this was just the beginning of an insidious plot by anglophones to take over Quebec.
Here's a more complete quote from Facal;

"Unilingual anglophones appointed to the Supreme Court, the Auditor-General and top jobs at the Caisse. Illegal signage everywhere. Our  Parliamentary weight falling in Ottawa.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. "LINK

That's a lot of ominous hinting, but no suggestions.
What's next? Arcade Fire at the Fete Saint-Jean?
 
Mr. Facal even suggested that Francophones were 'cuckolds,' actually enjoying having their language screwed over by the dastardly English.....
All this over two English employees in a company of 880 that supposedly operates on an international level.

"La chasse à l'anglouille est ouverte! "

Reading the story and then watching the hysterical reaction in the press had me concluding sadly that we were in store for a witch hunt by French-language militants in search of other unilingual English speakers in high positions.
It's the type of issue that French language militants love to sink their teeth into, rooting out and denouncing offending Anglos, a passionate labour of love.
And so I imagine they took to the task with the same passion and conviction of those who chased down the Salem Witches!

It didn't take long, by Tuesday we had our next denunciation, a highly placed member of management at the Banque National was outed, this time surprisingly by the generally conservative /federalist La Press newspaper from Montreal. LINK
By the way, I've omitted naming  these so-called offenders for obvious reasons.

And so I expected more and more denunciations in the coming days as inspired militants rose to the challenge of denouncing their colleagues like Judas betraying Jesus.

But readers, it didn't  happen......

Shock of shock, no more revelations!
Why had the hysterical zeal and anglo bloodlust dissipated so quickly?

That, gentle readers, is because there were no more witches to be found.

Yup.... Try as they might, French militants couldn't come up with any other names and so these three poor saps who were outed, actually represented the exception that proved the rule... that Anglophones need to speak French in Quebec to succeed at the higher levels.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is the lesson that French language militants will pull from the story.

*****************

To American readers of this blog and the many Canadians celebrating with their family and friends visiting from the States, Happy Thanksgiving!

School Board and Hospital Humiliate Anglo Community

Quebec subsidies this week{FR}

Each week the Journal de Montreal devotes a page to highlight the millions and millions of taxpayer dollars given away, sometimes rather foolishly in subsidies that can mostly be characterized as pork.

Going down the list is almost as amusing disappointing as reading about the various school boards around the province which blow taxpayer money on 'educational' trips to the Caribbean or waste precious resources on 'training' sessions in luxurious spas and retreats.
As our school population dwindles, the amount of money spent on school board administrations continues to spiral, taking an ever bigger bite out of education resources.

Between 1999 and 2009, the province lost 140,000 students and gained 700 more school board administrators. Link{FR}
 
The utter disdain shown by public institutions towards the public purse is by no means a Francophone phenomenon, as our English institutions have sadly shown themselves to be the same fatted pigs at the trough.

In Quebec, waste, greed and indifference towards the public purse transcends the language and cultural barrier. Last week, two news items reminded us of this sad reality.

Perhaps the most disdained Anglo Quebec institution of all, is the English Montreal School Board, whose main function it seems, is to decide which English schools get padlocked each year.

Born out of the reorganization of Quebec's school system that eliminated religiously based schools, from the gitgo, the handwriting was on the wall for Anglo education, when the government imposed the backward name of  'English Montreal School Board' over the more natural Montreal English School Board.
Ever since then, the EMSB's chief occupation is to react to the disastrous decline in enrolment, due largely  to Bill 101 and lately Bill 115, which serve to limit those who can go to English school.

And so, the EMSB replaced the old Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal in 1998, which in its heyday, ran at least twice as many schools as th EMSB does today (but still uses the same amount of office space.)
In its short history, the EMSB can best be characterized by its infighting and incompetence.
In 2009 the government had to hire a lawyer to try to mediate between feuding officials at a cost of over $100,000. Read :Infighting still divides EMSB

I've written before on the extravagant waste and maddening sense of entitlement whereby school officials, with the blessing of elected school board politicians, abuse the public purse.

Read my previous posts,  Quebec Anglos Prove We Are Pigs as Well  and Stupidity and Greed Cross Language Divide where I describe reckless spending on foreign trips by the EMSB.

Well it seems they are at it again, sending no less than seven officials to China on a recruiting trip.

"The English Montreal School Board is defending its decision to send a delegation of seven people to China this month to try to recruit new students.

The board says the 18-day trip will cost $25,000 and revenue generated from its international students will be used to pay for the trip - not money from its regular operating budget...."

"The group of seven includes three elected commissioners - an addition to the delegation that commissioner Julien Feldman called "a boondoggle and a waste of taxpayer funds."

"Jetting off to China in the middle of the (EMSB's) crucial school closure consultation period is not only wasteful of precious public resources, but irresponsible and disrespectful to the students that may be affected by their political decisions,"

Read:English school board defends trip to China  Alternate Link

By the way readers, do school board officials really believe that we lowly observers are so dumb that we cannot do the math? Is it at all possible to send seven people to China for 18 days for $25,000?
Let's see;
A quick visit to Expedia.ca shows that the cheapest airline ticket to China costs, with taxes and airport fees, in the neighborhood of $3,000, or $21,000 for the group.
That leaves only $4,000 ($222 per day) to pay for eighteen days of hotels, meals and transportation for seven people!
HaHa!!!!
I wish the EMSB was as careful with the rest of its budget.

Editor's Rule 37- Don't trust anyone with a bow-tie

Next comes the story of the McGill University Health Centre's decision to keep the insufferable Dr. Arthur Porter, its current Director General, in place as the institution's top banana after a rocky closed door session of the board of directors decided that it would be less of a fuss to let Dr. Porter finish out his last months as president of the hospital rather than take the heat over the embarrassment of firing him.

An utterly gutless decision in light of the facts.

That Dr. Porter was hired a number of years ago to the top job at the MUHC was more a triumph of image over substance. Dr. Porter had the right stuff, a talented minority, extremely well spoken with an elusive snooty accent that bestowed upon the hospital an image of inclusiveness, modernity and gravitas. 
Too bad he hardly worked, turning over the day to day operations on his staff while he spent his time galavanting around the world, using his vaunted position to boost his personal position.

While working for the MUHC, Dr. Porter remains deeply involved in other for profit projects in Canada, Africa, the Caribbean and Great Britain.
He has collected corporate directorships like baseball cards and while he was supposed to be working full time for the MUHC, he opened his own cancer clinic in the Bahamas, where incredibly, he is listed as the managing directer.
 
In Great Britain he is listed as chairman of CancerPartners UK®. LINK
Check out his many, many other business interests HERE

Jetting between his various preoccupations, he became an absentee boss at the MUHC, (a 12,000 people organization) all without any objection from the board of directors, which was paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars at the time.

It all unravelled when his relationship with murky ex-Israeli lobbyist consultant and purported arms merchant Ari Ben-Menashe, came to light, over a purported 'charitable' project they were working on together. LINK

The explanation offered by Dr. Porter describing his relationship with Mr. Ben-Menashe, was so lame and unbelievable that the president of the banana republic involved, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, felt it neccessary to distance himself from the whole affair. LINK
Read Ben-Menashe's version of the deal, which is most unflattering to Porter. HERE
That being said I wouldn't put much stock in the story of a con man.

By the way, Dr. Porter holds an unpaid yet powerful diplomatic position from that country, this contrary to his contention that the position is honorary, as underlined by his offer of another Sierra Leonine diplomatic position, to David Angus, Chairman of the Board of the MUHC.
What was that about?

At any rate, Dr. Porter was forced to resign from his job as chief civilian overseer of Canada's spy watchdog committee. Link

Too bad the MUHC didnt' take the hint and dump Porter as well.
Instead the board of directors took the coward's way out and let Dr. Porter finish his mandate, allowing him to collect his lucritive salary while he twiddles his thumbs for the hospital.

Incidently the MUHC is facing a massive deficit this year again.

"The MUHC has an accumulated operating fund deficit of $39.2 million. But it used to be much worse: $216 million that had piled up since 2002, said Stephane Beaudry, director of financial resources at the MUHC.

This year, the government stepped in and gave a grant to the MUHC of $188 million." LINK

 KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, BOYS AND GIRLS!

Postscript......readers;
The Porter affair has badly blackened the image of Canada's spy agency, CSIS, which is seen in the international spy community as a sad-sack organization, unable to properly vet those given its highest security clearance.
It is painfully embarrassing that Canada's spy agency allowed a civilian with dual loyalties to oversee its most sensitive activities.

Mr. Porter's position as a Sierra Leonine diplomat is anything but honorary, as those in consular and diplomatic community understand.

In the diplomatic world an 'Honorary' title means unpaid, but it is a real functioning diplomatic position, unlike an honorary degree from a university.

Honorary Consuls and Consuls General toil the world over, even for Canada, representing the home country in the place of a permanent consular mission.
They have limited diplomatic immunity and undertake the same work as professional consular personnel, but on a much more limited scale.

Honorary Consuls and Consuls General do this work for the prestige, a diplomatic passport and sometimes dual citizenship. There are other perks as well.
By the way, many of these positions are bought and paid for, by those looking to spruce up their social image. It is not uncommon for high elected officials or bureaucrats in banana republics to accept cash payments, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars, in exchange for an Honorary Consulship.

All this leads me to predict that in Canada, Porter is toast.
In April, he'll likely leave Canada, his reputation in tatters.

French versus English Volume 39

Three siblings ousted from English School.    

"When he went home after the first day of school in August, Grade 11 student Emiliano Morales-Espinosa learned he'd have to leave Royal West Academy.

After doing all his schooling in English in Quebec - including four years at Royal West - Emiliano was no longer allowed to attend English school. The verdict from the Quebec government has meant leaving his friends at Royal West and enrolling in a French school, where he didn't know a soul, for his last year of high school." Read the rest of the story Alternate Link

This is what happens when bureaucrats make rules and regulations in a vacuum......

'Civil Servant?' 'Public servant?' or just plain 'consultant?'    

"Top staffer resigns in protest as storm grows over unilingual auditor general" 

LINK to National Post

"Veteran civil servant quits over AG pick" LINK to CBC

Michel Dorais-Not a civil Servant

Is it media spin or just getting the facts wrong?
These headlines in the National Post and the CBC are typical of the dozens of stories in newspapers across the country, that by accident or design gave the impression that Michel Dorais was at the time of his resignation, an active and experienced employee of the government. IT ISN'T TRUE!

Mr. Dorais is no more a staffer at the Auditor General's office than I am.
Imagine you own a company and hire a lawyer to fight a zoning problem or an accountant to do your taxes.
Are these professionals 'staffers' or your  'employees'?

The story about his principled resignation over the appointment of a unilingual Auditor General was used to underline the indignation over the recent Conservative party pattern of hiring on the basis of merit, not bilingualism.
But the impression left by the media  that Mr. Dorais was a high-ranking  permanent employee of the Auditor-General's department just isn't true.

This from Mr. Dorais' own company website;

"Michel Dorais retired from the Public Service in April 2007 after 31 years in both federal and provincial governments. He has recently founded the Groupe Listal and provides services related to governance and management of public institutions." LINK

Mr. Dorais sits on the internal audit committee which is composed of three employees of the Auditor General's Office and two "outside" members, Peter Boomgaardt and until his resignation, Michel Dorais.
Both of these men are not employees of the the Auditor General's Office.

Quebec's war on Christians

"Quebec's continued determination to stamp out religion, as if it were some pestiferous bug in need of squashing, is as mystifying as it is alarming and paranoid.

In the latest episode, the Montreal borough of Lachine has fined Paula Celani $144 because she and her 80-member Catholic lay group, a registered charity, prayed and held mass in a city-owned hall they rented.

It's good to know that Celani plans to fight the constitutionality of the ticket in court. It's about time someone challenged this insidious mania over secularism that has led to the ludicrous scenario of a private party being fined for worshipping in a hall they paid to rent.

The Parti Quebecois wants a ban on civil servants wearing what they term "ostentatious" religious symbols, which includes necklaces with crosses or yarmulkas, something many Jewish men wear...." Read the rest of the story

Question to readers.... If the group involved was Muslim or Jewish, would the borough have issued a ticket?

OQLF investigates English at Caisse de Depot

"It is the ultimate symbol of Quebec pride — of francophones exerting influence within their own economy.

So there was some surprise at news Tuesday that two senior managers at Quebec's Caisse de depot et placement can't speak French.

Montreal La Presse newspaper reported that meetings are frequently held in English at the giant pension-fund manager, because two senior execs can't speak the language of Moliere....." Read the rest of the story

Separatist mayor removes Canadian flag

Mayor Claude Boucher

"In a province where the fleur-de-lis flies proudly, there is one small town in Quebec's eastern townships where some residents are rallying around a flag of a different colour – the red Maple Leaf.

The battle over the Canadian flag actually began two years ago when former Parti Quebecois MNA Claude Boucher was elected mayor of Saint-Denis-de-Brompton. The mayor quickly removed the Canadian flag from outside the town hall and from inside the council chamber...." Read the rest of the story

Negative Fallout over OQLF sign campaign    
On Wednesday I wrote about the Office québécois de la langue française's campaign to force companies to adopt descriptors to 'explain' their English trademarks.
As you can imagine most of the comments by readers were decidedly negative.  See the post

But a lot of negative reactions came out of the French side of the language equations where many found fault with the initiative for a variety of reasons.
Instead of applauding, Mario Beaulieu of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, complained bitterly that the OQLF was rewarding non-compliance of the law by offering subsidies to small companies to help them get in line with the law. He along with a colleague wrote a letter to the Minister in charge;

"We are writing you to  denounce the creation of an awareness campaign coupled with a new grant program aimed at companies not complying with the Charter of the French language, as the President, Louise Marchand of the Office québécois de la langue française announced in Quebec, in a letter received last Friday.

Is it really the will of your government to provide up to $50,000 to companies in order that they can comply with the Act? This seems unacceptable and odious to say the least. Companies that break the law while showing contempt for our language should have to pay a fine (up to $ 20,000) rather than be  rewarded with a grant of up to $50,000. These businesses should fill the government coffers instead of receiving such generous and abnormal  subsidies.

Le président du Mouvement Québec français, Mario Beaulieu
Le président du Mouvement Montréal français, Denis Trudel  LINK

While such  reactions from militants is to be expected an opinion piece in LE DEVOIR by  Carole Lavallée made an interesting point.


Madame Lavallée pondered if the whole campaign was really about convincing Francophones that the signage problem is not as big a deal as is made out to be.

Huh?
At first I thought the article was to be another diatribe by another paranoid French-language militant, racked by a persecution complex. 
But wait.....She makes some excellent points.

Here's what she contends;
Why on Earth run the advertising campaign in French only, if it is English stores that are the problem? Surely the bosses in Toronto or New York aren't going to pay attention to a French campaign in Quebec.
Instead of contacting the offending companies at their headquarters, she asks, why is the OQLF undertaking an advertising campaign in French and organizing a tour in the boonies (where English signs don't exist)  to explain the law?
She quotes a passage in one of the advertisements that explains which English phrases are acceptable under the law. 
Why do this, rather then implore companies to use French?

Her conclusion is that the OQLF is really attempting to educate consumers over the rights of businesses to display their brand name in English, so as to reduce the number of complaints.


Hmm..... She's got a few good points. Read the article in French


Readers, in preparing my Wednesday post, I downloaded the rules (Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, RRQ, c C-11, r 9) concerning this issue and in educating myself I was surprised that there is a lot more latitude in the law than I had assumed.

Remember the piece I wrote about complaints at a French hospital over a sign in Spanish. LINK
Turns out the sign is completely legal!

 18.   Public signs and posters concerning health or public safety may be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently.

So technically, are bilingual streets signs that deal with safety legal?
Here are some other interesting regulations;

19.   Public signs and posters of a museum, botanical garden, zoo or cultural or scientific exhibition may, on the premises thereof, be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently.

21.   A public sign or poster bearing directions for the use of a device permanently installed in a public place may be both in French and in another language provided that French appears at least as prominently. (What does this actually mean????)

23.   Public signs and posters displayed by a natural person for non-professional and non-commercial purposes may be in the language of the person's choice. 

10.   Catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications may be in 2 separate versions, one exclusively in French, the other exclusively in another language, provided that the material presentation of the French version is available under no less favourable conditions of accessibility and quality than the version in the other language.

However, the version exclusively in another language may be inserted in a news publication published exclusively in that language; it may also be sent to any natural person having made a written request to receive such documents in that other language.

In addition, catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories and any similar publications intended for persons belonging to the same ethnical group may be written only in the language of such group.

 (Remember the guy who complained about an English SAQ flyer included within an English newspaper.---It's legal!)

Have a good weekend!!!!

Further reading: French versus English Volume 38

OQLF Sign Directive Not Neccessarily Legal

Quebec's language watchdog agency, the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF,) has announced that it is cracking down on stores that display unilingual English names without a French 'descriptors,' a phrase that precedes or follows the actual name and describes what is being sold.

"The Brick" and "Second Cup" are a no-no, but "Brick meubles et électroniques" and "Les cafés Second Cup" are fine, according to a new campaign by the Office québécois de la langue française.

Starting Monday, French TV commercials and an Internet site will induce companies to add French descriptions or slogans to their brand names, said Louise Marchand, president of the provincial agency in charge of protecting the French language.

"We will take all necessary measures so that at a very minimum, businesses will put up a description," Marchand told a news conference Sunday."
Read the rest of the story in the Montreal Gazette  or this  Alternate Link

Militants protesting a legal store sign...

The knee-jerk reaction by the language cops was to be expected as language militants have been ratcheting up the pressure, especially active these last weeks, culminating with a noisy march along Montreal's Ste. Catherine street, the main shopping drag, where marchers symbolically 're-baptised' the offending signs with French only versions.

And so the OQLF O-feece has mounted a new campaign to force merchants into line with directives that require,'English' store names attach a French descriptor.

The first question we must ask ourselves is why these descriptors are necessary, since everyone knows what is sold in Canadian Tire, Best Buy, The Brick etc.etc.
Even the staunchest of French-language militants will readily admit that the imposition of descriptors is based solely on desire to publicly aver that in Quebec, French is the king of the castle and English, the dirty rascal.

The demand that 'English' signs be defaced prefaced with French descriptors is more about humiliating English and anglophones than promoting French. It's simply a question of showing anglos their place.

Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, RRQ, c C-11, r 9

25. On public signs and posters and in commercial advertising, the following may appear exclusively in a language other than French: 

(4) a recognized trade mark within the meaning of the Trade Marks Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. T-13), unless a French version has been registered

EXPRESSION THAT MAY SPECIFY FIRM NAME

27.   An expression taken from a language other than French may appear in a firm name to specify it provided that the expression is used with a generic term in the French language. LINK

According to my research, the above regulations have been on the books since 2003 and likely long before, but the OQLF until now, has never demanded that stores using English trade-marks modify their signs.

Readers, I'm no lawyer, but over the years I have become somewhat expert at reading laws, rules and regulations and have discovered rather surprisingly that not everything is as well written clear and precise as one would imagine.

In my humble opinion, Regulation 25(4) and Regulation 27 are not concordant.

First things, first.
There is a principle that in law, that holds that the specific trumps the general and this clearly is the case between the two regulations.
Nothing can be clearer than Regulation 25(4), while Regulation 27 uses the undefined term "expression."

Is a trademark an 'expression'?
Most likely not, because in using the term 'trade mark' in one rule and the word 'expression' in another, the writers imply that there is a difference.

If the intention of the writers was to make trademarks subject to descriptors, they should have said so unequivocally.
And so Regulation 27 should have read that when companies avail themselves of the benefits of rule 25(4) (that is, to use trademarks in their banner), they must add descriptors, but it doesn't.

And so, the current interpretation of the regulations by the OQLF may very well be faulty and hasn't, as of yet been tested in court, because the provisions have never been imposed.
It remains a legal question as to whether  the OQLF is over-reaching and misinterpreting its own regulations.

That being said, there remains a more important legal issue as to whether a provincial government  may impose limitation on the commercial use of trademarks at all, since trademarks belong in the federal jurisdiction.

Aside from all this, there remains the utter stupidity of telling a company like Canadian Tire that after 60 years of operation in Quebec, that its name is offensive.

The 'O-feece' published a guide this week, detailing what stores must do to fall in line with their interpretation of the rules and even here, one has to question the competency of the agency.

At the right is an example provided to the media by the O-feece describing a fictional merchant named "DAILY LIVING' and examples on how it can comply with the OQLF's current interpretation of the regulations.
Readers, how on earth does "DAILY LIVING" translate to "LES BEAUX JOURS"?
Utter, utter nonsense!....

Going back to the photo of the demonstrators above who are protesting the signage at the SECOND CUP, which is actually 100% in line with these new regulations, it underlines that separatists and language fanatics aren't interested in anything else except the total eradication of English in public.
They make no bones about it.

Incidentally, the O-feece announced that banners like 'Harveys' are exempt because they are proper names, but technically that isn't really true.
While 'Harvey' is a proper name, 'Harveys' with an 'S' acts as an English possessive, even though the apostrophe is gone.
In French no 'S' is added to indicate the possessive.

Readers of a certain age will recall that 'EATON'S' was forced to become 'EATON.'
And so unless the 'S' refers to a plural, such as in the McDonalds brothers who started the hamburger chain, the names should actually be disallowed!

Now the Wendy's hamburger chain has taken a page out of the Liberal Party handbook and replaced the apostrophe with a little Canadian Maple leaf.
Very clever, but I'm sure the O-feece will look closely at that and perhaps demand that a Fleur-de-lys replace the hated Canadian symbol!
You never know how ridiculous plays out in Quebec.

Such are the deep and esoteric questions that the O-feece must ponder.

I've nothing more to say except to express a profound sadness at the utter mindlessness and vindictiveness that drives people to hate.
This sign initiative is not driven by the desire to preserve the French language but rather motivated by a desire by one portion of society to impose its will on the other, solely because it can.

When language militants tell us self-satisfyingly to 'respect' an unjust law, I'm reminded of all the minorities around the world who are discriminated against on a daily basis, based only on the tyranny of numbers.

An unjust law need not be 'respected' and to language militants who tells us to obey or suffer the consequences, we should choose to suffer the consequences.

Remember the utter humiliation that language militants suffered by one article in the New York Times and one interview on 60 Minutes by Mordechai Richler. It still reverberates today.
I'm not sure that Quebec could stand a concerted publicity campaign in the USA decrying the rule that forces American companies to forsake or bastardize their names.

In the end Quebec Anglos have the power to resist and resist we should.

None of we Quebec anglos want to impose English on Quebec, but we'll be damned if militants attempt to take away what is ours, our names........

**************************************

To save the O-feece, much time and effort, I'd like to humorously propose some descriptors of my own; 

McDONALDS- Malbouef
THE GAP- Vetements pour les nuls.
TACO BELL- TACO BELLE
WINNERS - Vetements pour les perdants.
BANANA REPUBLIC- Republique du Quebec

Readers......How about some suggestions to help out the OQLF?