Canadian Language Education Questions

[garbon]

[viper37]

I'm surprised to hear you make a Teachers' Union argument like that.

Honestly, I don't really care about internal BC politics, or internal Albertan or Ontarian politics, so long as they do not affect me.
But to point the increase in private French immersion class as a sign that tolerance toward the official bilinguism of this country is on the rise is, in my opinion, based on what I read on the subject, a misleading statement, it is an incomplete picture of the situation.

[Berkut]

I don't understand your question viper.

You said that insisting on bilingualism everywhere is discriminatory.

I was surprised by this, since previously you had claimed that insisting that federal employees and officers in the military be required to know French in addition to English was perfectly reasonable, even that NOT doing so would be discriminatory.

I am just trying to understand what seems to me to be two completely contradictory positions.

[viper37]

I was surprised by this, since previously you had claimed that insisting that federal employees and officers in the military be required to know French in addition to English was perfectly reasonable, even that NOT doing so would be discriminatory.

You claim I insisted for "all federal employees" and "all officers".

Top government officials should be bilingual, elected or nominated.  And that goes for Quebec too, I hate to see a unilingual Premier and no cabinet minister should be unilingual, and most provincial government officials should be bilingual.

As for asking a corner store employee to be bilingual, I don't see why.  Requiring that a foreman be bilingual because the boss of the company refused to learn French is an absolute no.

The law requires that you justify the need for a bilingual position.  If you can't find a valid justification, it means that you don't really have one.

I am just trying to understand what seems to me to be two completely contradictory positions.

If French and English always had been equal in the country,  I'd have no problem.  They've been legally equal for less than 30 years.  They are still not factually equal.
I've linked the report before, you don't want to read it, it's your choice.  But there's a world between the law and the reality.  Soldiers aren't bilingual.  Officers a little more, but we're very far from the 100% that is supposedly required.  But I guess it's better to aim higher and miss it than aim delebirately lower than what you expect.
This is the reason why a 100% French regiment, the Royal 22e, or Van Doos was created in 1914.

Just as your country was built on the fear of British and Indians, mine was built on the fears of Americans.
To accomodate the French and avoid them joigning the Americans, certain concessions were made from official British policies.  Freedom of religion, freedom of language, mainly.  Religions doesn't mean much in Quebec nowadays, the times when French=Catholic are behind us.  Language still does have it's importance though.

I am of the opinion that if a law exist, it should be respected&enforced or repelled.  If you put a 50km/h speed limit on an highway but let everyone drive at 120km/h, you should change the signs instead of not enforcing the speed limit.  It's the same for bilinguism.  If Canadians find it too much of a burden to put French on an equal foot with English, than they should repel the official bilinguism language act.  Instead of constantly whining about it in editorials, columns and commentaries on news site.  If someone is outraged that our Prime Minister would adress the press in French, he should militate for repelling the official language act, not whining that Quebecers and French Canadians have too much rights.  Canada is either bilingual, or it is not. 

[Berkut]

Fair enough - that is a reasonable explanation. Thanks.

[Jacob]

If Canadians find it too much of a burden to put French on an equal foot with English, than they should repel the official bilinguism language act.  Instead of constantly whining about it in editorials, columns and commentaries on news site.  If someone is outraged that our Prime Minister would adress the press in French, he should militate for repelling the official language act, not whining that Quebecers and French Canadians have too much rights.  Canada is either bilingual, or it is not.

I agree with you on this, and I don't think we should repeal the bilingualism act. If someone is outraged that our Prime minster addresses the press in French, that someone is an idiot as far as I'm concerned.

[crazy canuck]

If Canadians find it too much of a burden to put French on an equal foot with English, than they should repel the official bilinguism language act.  Instead of constantly whining about it in editorials, columns and commentaries on news site.  If someone is outraged that our Prime Minister would adress the press in French, he should militate for repelling the official language act, not whining that Quebecers and French Canadians have too much rights.  Canada is either bilingual, or it is not.

I agree with you on this, and I don't think we should repeal the bilingualism act. If someone is outraged that our Prime minster addresses the press in French, that someone is an idiot as far as I'm concerned.

The premise of Viper's statement that is flawed is that the Act's intent is to "put French on an equal foot with English".  If that is what he thinks it is supposed to achieve then his frustration is understable because that is definitely not the purpose.  The Act only applies to Federal government services and areas of Federal regulation. Most people have limited contact with the Federal government.

For most of us the most signficant interaction is with the Provincial and Municipal levels.

[Jacob]

The premise of Viper's statement that is flawed is that the Act's intent is to "put French on an equal foot with English".  If that is what he thinks it is supposed to achieve then his frustration is understable because that is definitely not the purpose.  The Act only applies to Federal government services and areas of Federal regulation. Most people have limited contact with the Federal government.

For most of us the most signficant interaction is with the Provincial and Municipal levels.

Sure, but you agree that someone being outraged about our PM addressing the press in French is a nitwit, right?

[crazy canuck]

The premise of Viper's statement that is flawed is that the Act's intent is to "put French on an equal foot with English".  If that is what he thinks it is supposed to achieve then his frustration is understable because that is definitely not the purpose.  The Act only applies to Federal government services and areas of Federal regulation. Most people have limited contact with the Federal government.

For most of us the most signficant interaction is with the Provincial and Municipal levels.

Sure, but you agree that someone being outraged about our PM addressing the press in French is a nitwit, right?

Sure, but that just proves that any given population will always have nitwits. 

[Jacob]

Sure, but that just proves that any given population will always have nitwits.

Even the population of languish? 

[crazy canuck]

Sure, but that just proves that any given population will always have nitwits.

Even the population of languish? 

disproportionately so.