Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘language wars’

Imagine that: People in Quebec want the right to choose the language of their kids’ education:

A new survey of Quebecers’ attitudes on education shows that two out of three prefer to have the right to send their children to any school in the province they choose, public or private.

The poll, conducted for The Gazette by Léger Marketing, asked whether students other than those now allowed, including franco-phones, should have access to English-language schools if they wish.

A total of 66 per cent of a representative sample of Quebecers agreed that they should – including a 61-per-cent clear majority of francophones.

Non-francophones were even more overwhelmingly in favour, at 87 per cent.

It’s about time that the francophone majority realised that they’re the ones getting most hurt by the current policies. After all, their kids will grow up learning French at home regardless, and without a strong foundation in English, their opportunities will be very limited in today’s world. Then, there are the anglo parents who would prefer to send their kids to French school so that they could grow up fluent in French, but opt instead to send them to English school in fear that their children will lose their right to choose.

This poll is long overdue and I hope the provincial parties will actually take notice, rather than resorting to the same rationalizations as the SSJB. The protectionist stance that the Quebec government has taken with schools has not preserved the status of French; it’s impeded the potential of Quebec. Unfortunately, it’s not likely to change anything in the short term. But in the long term, it may demonstrate that there’s a real willingness to embrace change and institute policies that open doors instead of chaining them shut.

• Does anyone really still believe that Mugabe will go quietly? Didn’t think so.
• Here we go again: The construction on St-Laurent launches full steam ahead into round 2… as though round 1 wasn’t a strong enough demonstration of the city’s incompetence.
• Duh alert: Allophones have a harder time getting jobs than Francophones do in Quebec. Really? Is the sky blue, too?
• You know it’s hockey fever when… even the police cars are flying Habs flags. Too bad our idiot mayor doesn’t give the same fan-dom rights to the firefighters.
• The Habs decimated the Bruins on Thursday, but just barely eked out a win last night. 2-0 is 2-0 and we’ll take it, surely. But we’re going to have to step it up quite a bit tonight. Go Habs Go!
• Hockey fever on the road: Boston is being invaded by supporters of the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge. Should be an interesting mix in the stands tonight at the TD Banknorth Centre. Then again, the Bruins fans deserve it for inadequately supporting their team. As of Friday when I last checked, there were still tickets available for tonight’s game on the Bruins’ official website. Shameful.
• Did someone forget to tell it that it’s spring? After teasing us with gorgeous balmy weather, it’s been overcast, chilly, rainy and even threatening snow this weekend. Come back, sunshine!
• Good friends… good crepes… goodbyes. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

Canada must not have enough real problems, if something like this is keeping our Parliamentarians occupied all week:

The issue erupted on Parliament Hill this week as opposition parties criticized Doan’s selection as captain. Members of the Conservative government agreed with them that Hockey Canada should be asked to tell their side of the story and voted with the opposition to schedule a hearing before a parliamentary committee to explain why Doan was named captain.

All this because last year, someone accused Shane Doan of making a derogatory comment about francophones. He was cleared by a subsequent league investigation, not that the accusation was even worthy of an investigation in the first place. And here it is again, the subject of a full-scale government inquiry.

Don’t we have any middle eastern countries to invade or something?

When will people understand that certain ways of dealing with racism only serve to compound the problem?

Take, for example, the planned Quebec anti-racism initiative, which is being launched in response to public hearings and a report by the Task Force on the Full Participation of Black Communities in Quebec. Among the report’s recommendations:

- The Quebec government should adopt an official policy to fight all forms of racial discrimination.

- Quebec’s civil service should consider hiring quotas for blacks and other visible minorities.

- The province should document how blacks are portrayed in the media so it can inform journalists and media owners about how they ”often portray blacks negatively.”

- The Ministry of Education should review school textbooks to make sure they mention the contribution of blacks and other visible minorities to Quebec and the rest of Canada.

Hiring quotas? Media portrayal standards? Are we really back there again? Hasn’t anyone realized by now that this stuff doesn’t work?

Anyway, all of this is nothing but a smokescreen. The real problem with anti-racism initiatives in Quebec is that they’re politically-motivated. Any real efforts to combat racism would have to expose the nasty little secrets about Quebec society that nobody – particularly the politicians – wants to talk about.

The truth is, racism is a problem everywhere. But in Quebec, it’s more politically-correct to be racist against some groups than others. Sure, everyone will get on board when we talk about racism against people with different skin colour… so long as their first language is French. But racism against anglophones? Against Jews? Against Asians? Against groups that the Quebec government won’t even allow in as immigrants because their command of the French language is less than perfect? Anyone who dares bring any of those up is accused of being part of the bourgeoisie elite, or the oppressive “rich white English” from “Westmount” trying to keep down the poor, downtrodden working-class French.

Most of us who live here know that Quebec society has evolved past these outdated stereotypes. So why do government officials still insist on propagating them? And why is it that any discussion of racism only focuses on some groups and not others?

Quebec society is much more open-minded, multi-ethnic and multicultural than it used to be. Look how tolerant we are for, say, Hezbollah supporters who want to march downtown with flags comparing Israelis to Nazis… and with the backing of prominent Quebec politicians.

But racism isn’t going to go away here until we scrape under that surface. In the meantime, initiatives like the one proposed by the Quebec government serve only as expensive window-dressing.

Montreal’s hosting the first-ever OutGames. And Pauline has the scoop on the only people who seem to be offended, and on why:

Quebec agency offended by “Outgames”

Not by the existence of the event, a sort of gay and lesbian Olympics, but by the fact that organizers didn’t bother to give the name “Outgames” a French translation.

People unfamiliar with Quebec society might think I am making this up.

I am not.

Nope, not surprised at all. Pauline continues with a rant about the OLF that is pretty much what I would say about them. (Oh wait, I think I did. Yep.)

But what really gets me is this tidbit, linked to by Pauline at the end of her post:

But what IS news, and what brought this to my attention today, was this report:

Iranian Leader Bans Usage of Foreign Words

Way to go, Ahmadinejad, your repressive tactics have finally caught up with those of the Province of Quebec.

It’s refreshing to see that this language nonsense is the only controversy that the OutGames seem to be generating. Just another reason why I love Montreal so much. When I consider the very real problems of the rest of the world, I love how petty ours are in comparison.

By the way, I haven’t actually attended any of the OutGames events just yet, but it will be going on for a couple of weeks so I hope to make it to something-or-other. Downtown has been a lot of fun, though, in the leadup to the event. This is big from a tourism point of view, and it’s nice to see so many businesses getting into the spirit of things and flying rainbow flags or otherwise rolling out the welcome mat.

It’s also nice to see the influx of extremely fit, good-looking men, in town for the event… in particular, the three guys in Finland shirts walking down St-Denis this afternoon. (No, the point of the OutGames isn’t lost on me. But hey, a girl can look, right? No harm in a little eye candy.)

An NHL star is suing your MP:

Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan filed a lawsuit against Liberal MP Denis Coderre on Tuesday, alleging the former sports minister falsely accused him of making a slur against francophones during an NHL game.

Doan also demanded that Coderre make a public retraction in the motion filed in Quebec superior court.

Doan is heading to Turin as part of the Canadian Olympic team that will hopefully bring home the gold. Coderre, meanwhile, is fighting to keep his seat in a much closer race in his home riding than last time. Which of these two men would you rather be right now?

Thought so.

For those unfamiliar with Quebec politics, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about with those s-words, “sovereigntist” and “separatist”. Or why the use of one or the other can get people all up in arms.

Here’s Pauline’s take on the issue:

Sovereignty, after all, is a noble cause in our age especially in a democratic setting. Who would have the heart to deny a people their sovereignty?

Separation, on the other hand, can be messy.

Just ask any pair of conjoined twins.

So, it’s a case of spin, whitewashing, Disney-ficiation, the end justifies the means, etc. etc. Whatever.

To that I’ll just add that most separatists would prefer that we use neither word; both are in dreaded English.

Better late than never on this one: This would be sad if it were anyone else… but because it’s Gerald Tremblay, it’s extremely funny:

Will Mayor Gerald Tremblay have to stop using “Go” in his election slogan?

Quebec’s language watchdog yesterday said it will investigate complaints that Tremblay is contravening the provincial French language charter by illegally using English on election material.

[ . . . ]

The use of the English word “Go” is not a problem on election posters and billboards because the charter doesn’t apply to signs that feature “religious, political, ideological or humanitarian” messages of a non-profit nature.

But that exception does not extend to pamphlets.

The OLF is also chasing Bourque for the crime of distributing English-only brochures in my area:

Il y a quelques jours, l’équipe Bourque/Vision Montréal a également été montrée du doigt après avoir distribué des dépliants uniquement en anglais dans les arrondissements de Côte-des-Neiges et de Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

This election is actually very sad, because I detest both Tremblay and Pierre Bourque. I voted for Tremblay last time because he promised to de-centralize the megacity… and he promptly reneged on that promise and spent his entire term trying to circumvent the demerger process. As for Bourque, it was his egomaniacal ambition that sparked the whole merger fiasco in the first place. I have no intention of voting for either of them.

So it’s amusing to see both candidates on the defensive due to language policies designed to oppress the “maudites anglaises”.

The best graffiti of election posters seen so far: on the corner of Sherbrooke and Decarie, under a big poster of Tremblay reading “Go Montreal”, someone scribbled the word “away”. Please, M. Tremblay, just go away.

The Gazette published an editorial today by Don MacPherson in which it discussed results of a new CROP- La Presse poll stating that an Anglophone could never get elected Premier here in Quebec.

Excuse me for saying this… but duh!

Us make up less than 10% of Quebec’s population, we’re mostly concentrated in Montreal, and we’re not exactly what most people have in mind when they refer to the “Quebecois” culture.

MacPherson believes this is yet more evidence of the province’s oldest, and worst-kept secret prejudice: Anglophobia:

So the question of whether Quebec is ready for an anglophone premier is so hypothetical that it’s a wonder La Presse was willing to blow the cover of “civic” Quebec nationalism by having its pollster ask it.

The answers should have come as no surprise, since anglophobia is the one form of prejudice that remains socially acceptable in an otherwise tolerant Quebec, justified on the grounds of historic rivalry and a minority’s insecurity. And the opinion leaders in French Quebec who could lead the fight against this prejudice, as their counterparts have done elsewhere, instead, with few exceptions, feed and nurture it.

I would be the first to deny that there is a deep prejudice against English or English-speakers in this province. Anyone who has tried to apply for a job here – even with fluent French – has surely run up against it.

However, I don’t think I’d go so far as to claim that anyone who believes an Anglophone shouldn’t be premier is prejudiced against English. In a province where language has been the political issue for decades, is it so far-fetched to believe that people think the best person to lead a province is someone who represents most of the people on that particular issue?

I’m not defending Anglophobia. But it’s nonsense to claim it’s on par with racism or sexism. Those things have nothing to do with a person’s political leanings. Language, on the other hand, has everything to do with it here. Have we become so politically-correct that we are refusing to acknowledge this obvious fact?

First, they don’t let qualified nurses work even during a nursing shortage, because they failed a French exam. Now, they won’t let the nurses work because they did too well on that exam:

The message from the Office Quebecois de la langue francaise to anglophone and immigrant nurses is as clear as it is ridiculous: Learn French, but don’t learn it too well. For the second time in as many months, the Office has decided to reject a set of professional test results because they were too good.In both cases, the too-fluent applicants are required to write the darn thing again if they wish to practise their profession in Quebec. The latest victim is Scottish-born Janice Douglas, who works in the emergency room at the Jewish General Hospital. After failing the written part of the test on four previous occasions, Douglas hired a tutor and buckled down and spent three months mastering the intricacies of writing a business letter in French.

On her fifth attempt, she passed with flying colours, which for most people, would be an occasion to celebrate both Douglas’s industry and the competence of her tutor. But not for the Office. It’s not saying she cheated, but it is saying her mark was suspiciously high.

If this nonsense continues, second-language teachers are going to have to teach their students to be mediocre.

Too late, they already are. This really begs the question of what exactly the OLF is trying to accomplish, other than restricting job access to non-Francophones.

Hat tip: Suburban Guy, who comments:

The Office de Measuring Signs says that a person is sometimes asked to rewrite a test when they are suspected of memorizing a text rather than writing a business letter off the top of their head during the exam.Not only do these idiots get paid to measure the size of letters on signs but they can also read people minds and determine whether they actually memorized a text or wrote it off the top of their head.

This is all happening in democratic Quebec.

Ms. Pevreal has told the Brown Shirts err, I mean, the OLF that she would not rewrite the test.

Good on her.

But, the OLF has told her if she doesn’t retake the test she will lose her license to work in Quebec. It’s not good enough that she passed it but they have to make her life a living hell. Why? Because she is not a francophone.

Arrrggghhhhhhh!