[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[viper37]

If we were trying to "assimilate a populace" surely we would have gone about it in a completely different way.

How so?

[crazy canuck]

If we were trying to "assimilate a populace" surely we would have gone about it in a completely different way.

How so?

Well for starters we would stop funding French education options like French immersion in our public schools.

[viper37]

Well for starters we would stop funding French education options like French immersion in our public schools.

What is the probability that your son, having attended one of those school, will choose to educate his children in French when the time comes?

[Malthus]

There are also considerably more Anglophones in Quebec, than Francophones in Alberta.

1st, for the record, anglophone population is about 8% in Quebec, compared to about 2% and going down in Alberta for the francos.

Isn't that what I said? Quebec has four times more anglos than Alberta has francos.

I'm willing to bet that Alberta has more Ukrainian speakers than francos. Numbers I read had francos at around 86,000 and ukies at around 147,000, or more than half again as many. Why not have the province bilingual in Ukrainian?

Now, if we were to stop provinding public funding for education & healthcare, not translate any laws, have trials exclusively in French, in the space of 40-50 years, how many anglos would be left here?

That's pretty rich, given that Quebec has been attempting in various ways to drive English out of the public sphere.

I think numbers here is a false excuse.  If you do everything you can to assimilate a populace and an hundred years later you claim "ah see, there ain't any french here, so we don't need no bilinguism", that's a bit silly, don't you agree?  or are you advocating that Quebec shouldn't cater to its language minority?

Quebec - and really every province - should (1) not take punitive steps against language minorities; and (2) cater to its language minorities in proportion to their actual numbers.

[Monoriu]

I bet there are more Chinese in BC than French speakers 

[Malthus]

I bet there are more Chinese in BC than French speakers 

If that's the case, and if these Chinese are Chinese-speaking Canadian citizens, they should have more right to local government services in Chinese than francos. 

[Monoriu]

I bet there are more Chinese in BC than French speakers 

If that's the case, and if these Chinese are Chinese-speaking Canadian citizens, they should have more right to local government services in Chinese than francos.

That's an insult to our English proficiency    We can read English alright, no need for Chinese signs 

[garbon]

Well for starters we would stop funding French education options like French immersion in our public schools.

What is the probability that your son, having attended one of those school, will choose to educate his children in French when the time comes?

I'm not sure how that hypothetical is relevant to CC's comment on assimilation.

[Malthus]

I bet there are more Chinese in BC than French speakers 

If that's the case, and if these Chinese are Chinese-speaking Canadian citizens, they should have more right to local government services in Chinese than francos.

That's an insult to our English proficiency    We can read English alright, no need for Chinese signs 

Having a right to something isn't the same as exercising it.  Look at Viper, who clearly reads English just fine, but who is all fussed about the right to be able to read traffic tickets in French in Alberta.

[viper37]

Isn't that what I said? Quebec has four times more anglos than Alberta has francos.

So, a province can be unilingual if it chooses so?

I'm willing to bet that Alberta has more Ukrainian speakers than francos. Numbers I read had francos at around 86,000 and ukies at around 147,000, or more than half again as many. Why not have the province bilingual in Ukrainian?

Why not have Ukrainian has an official language of the country?

That's pretty rich, given that Quebec has been attempting in various ways to drive English out of the public sphere.

How many english public schools or hospitals were shut down in the last 50 years in Quebec?  How many trials by the english community to get adequate fundings from the government to their hospitals and schools?
For how many years was english teaching forbidden in Quebec?

Quebec - and really every province - should (1) not take punitive steps against language minorities; and (2) cater to its language minorities in proportion to their actual numbers.

Then what a province need to do is stop subsidizing public schools and other services for a few years in the other language.  By the time things get settled in the Supreme Court, assimilation will have worked its charm.  And then, the province can claim it is offering services in proportion to their actual numbers.  Exactly like Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British-Columbia, to name a few

[Monoriu]

Having a right to something isn't the same as exercising it.  Look at Viper, who clearly reads English just fine, but who is all fussed about the right to be able to read traffic tickets in French in Alberta.

I remember seeing a meeting between the Vancouver mayor and some Chinese groups.  The mayor tried to impress his guests by trying to speak some Chinese.  Meanwhile, the Chinese are perfectly capable of speaking English and don't hesitate to do so.  So we have a white caucausian trying to speak Chinese to a group of Chinese, and a group Chinese speaking Engilsh to a white caucausian. 

[viper37]

Having a right to something isn't the same as exercising it.  Look at Viper, who clearly reads English just fine, but who is all fussed about the right to be able to read traffic tickets in French in Alberta.

Isn't it the same debat for anglo-québécois, a cause you always supported in the past?  Most of them can read&understand french, so why bother with bilingual courts?  Why bother with english hospitals?  Why fund english colleges and universities?  They can all speak french, and worst case scenario, they could learn it.

[Monoriu]

When I was a kid, I was told that we could solve all language problems in the world if everybody would learn English.  I still think that's a good idea 

[viper37]

Well for starters we would stop funding French education options like French immersion in our public schools.

What is the probability that your son, having attended one of those school, will choose to educate his children in French when the time comes?

I'm not sure how that hypothetical is relevant to CC's comment on assimilation.

Of course it is.  French immersion class are not a danger to the English community.  Less than 15% of English Canadians, including those living in Quebec are bilingual (French-English).  French immersion classes aren't designed to assimilate the anglo population into the French population of the country.

There is zero chances that the use of French will progress due to a very few people chosing to learn to other officiall language of the country.  I applaud the effort, but it is no way compensating for the lack of decent french services in the rest of Canada.

Either Canada is a bilingual country, and both language groups get equal services everywhere, or they stop pretending they are a bilingual country, just like the US, and provide services in only one language, i.e. english.

[Malthus]

Isn't that what I said? Quebec has four times more anglos than Alberta has francos.

So, a province can be unilingual if it chooses so?

Sure, if there aren't very many speakers of the other language in the province. What part of 'the local government should provide the services necessary to serve the local population' doesn't make sense to you? 

Why not have Ukrainian has an official language of the country?

Because while there are more Ukrainian-speakers in Alberta than francos, there are more francos in Canada than ukies; plus, tradition. 

How many english public schools or hospitals were shut down in the last 50 years in Quebec?  How many trials by the english community to get adequate fundings from the government to their hospitals and schools?
For how many years was english teaching forbidden in Quebec?

How many people work in the Alberta language police? Does Alberta prosecute people for writing in French on their blogs? 

Then what a province need to do is stop subsidizing public schools and other services for a few years in the other language.  By the time things get settled in the Supreme Court, assimilation will have worked its charm.  And then, the province can claim it is offering services in proportion to their actual numbers.  Exactly like Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British-Columbia, to name a few

Yes, I can see how appealing to last century's woes works for you. How about letting the rest of us live in the 21st century? 

Surely if anyone has cause to complain about last century's woes, it is ukies in Alberta. How many francos were *imprisioned for being francos* during WW1?