Who stands for Canada?
Canadians for Language Fairness
by Kim McConnell
The language issue is divisive – there is no doubt about it. Every corner of the country has written reams and reams on the criticism by the Minister of Heritage and Culture, James Moore, and the Commissar of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, that there was insufficient French at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics.
There is a surfeit of arguments on both sides of the debate – enough for anyone to conclude that, unless and until we solve this problem, we will waste a lot of energy and resources that could otherwise make this a more productive and happier country.
The rabid Francophones and Francophiles will never be satisfied, no matter what we do. The opening ceremonies were colorful, French was first in the banners preceding each participating country, announcements were made in French first, our esteemed G.G. addressed the ceremony in French first – what else do they want?
Now Graham Fraser wants to conduct an
investigation into the complaint – again wasting time and money on a useless exercise. In the meantime, VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) will scramble to add more French on the closing ceremonies, again showing that this country is overwhelmingly concerned about French sensitivity! That’s because English-speaking politicians are still too intimidated to speak up – the Liberals are all for French-domination, so are the NDPs and the Conservatives are afraid of losing votes.
In the misguided philosophy that “Democracy is all about the rights of the minorities”, they dare not speak up against this powerful group of malcontents. But whether they notice it or not, more and more Canadians are fed-up and not hesitating to speak up!! Read the following comment by reader Brett in which he responds to Chantal Hébert. It is classic!!!
If anything can be said about this latest French Whine, it is that it gives the silent majority an opportunity to vent, so please vent away – tell everyone you know that it is time to stop this failed policy!!! Throwing more money at it won’t solve anything. Contact your MP and tell him/her – STOP before Canada is totally destroyed with this navel-gazing exercise!!!
Of all the articles I’ve read, only the Ottawa Citizen has shown any sense of balance. (The Citizen editorial follows Brett’s comment.) --Kim McConnell
| Brett writes: So, Chantal Hébert thinks that it is the non-French majority in Canada that is intolerant of French people and the use of the language in this country. Well, to quote a lyric..."isn’t it ironic. Don’t ya think"? Chantal has decided to speak for the most narrow minded and self-obsessed people currently existing and living off the kindly handouts of others in the western world. If not for the countless compromises and tens of billions of dollars from English-speaking Canada, French-speaking Canada would barely exist any more. So now, apparently, we are supposed to make 20% equal to 80%?? Not even the most ingenious social engineering project can make that happen. Sorry, Chantal!! As a society, we have been forced to redirect billions of dollars and deny the majority access to jobs simply to appease a demanding minority. Many of our brightest and best have left Canada for just that reason. Imagine what level of heath care, public education, senior care, day care and military (to name just a few) we would enjoy, not to mention much lower taxes, if we did not fund this unappreciative militant group, many of whom would rather not be part of Canada. Then they wonder why we are fed up!? Well, they are right. According to a recent poll, French Canadians were the least liked minority in Canada outside Quebec!! Gee, I can't seem to understand why??? It certainly can't stem from their attitudes of self-importance and entitlement!! It seems Chantal also laments that Canadians can now freely comment on media web sites as well as blog and tweet opinions. Guess she does not like the fact that Canadians are free to express how they really feel about this issue without going through the editing filter of the Toronto Star, CBC or the Canadian National Film Board. More and more we see Canadians, both old and new, saying, “enough with the French already”. As the population and the economic strength of the west continues to boom and the number of French speakers and the economic power of Quebec continues to sharply decline, those saying, “enough with the French” will continue to grow. Get used to it Chantal!!! To quote another lyric in Canada, "the times they are a changin". Brett N. |
(Chantal Hébert’s article follows the Citizen editorial)
Resist the recriminations
The Ottawa Citizen, Editorial, Feb. 18
Slam poet Shane Koyczan said a lot of nice things about Canada during his performance at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Vancouver, and he deservedly brought the house down.
In his playful poem We Are More he made note that Canadians are a people who value civility -- "something as simple as please and thank you" -- and that "we are vineyards of good year after good year." Sentimental perhaps, but perfect for the moment. When Koyczan was finished, we thanked God that insulin was invented by a Canadian for our veins were chock full of maple syrup. It was impossible not to watch the opening ceremonies and think that this is a fine country.
Unfortunately, Canadians are self-conscious about unconditional celebrations of nationhood, and very soon it became clear that the opening ceremony would be but a short high. Resentment and self-doubt set in.
Even Olympic glory provides no vacation from the divisive politics of language. The tradition in Quebec of being humiliated by this or that slight, real or imagined, is alive and well. Quebec talk shows are full of irate callers angered by the lack of French in the Olympic festivities.
However, these are not Quebec's games, nor Ontario's for that matter. And the truth is that more than 50 per cent of Vancouverites claim a first language that is neither English nor French. Canada is a huge, multi-cultural and frankly multi-lingual nation. It shows bad faith to be in a constant state of surveillance for some offence or oversight.
Read more:
ottawacitizen.com/opinion/Resist+recriminations/2579193/story.html
By Chantal Hébert
National Columnist
MONTREAL - Hours before Quebec's Alexandre Bilodeau struck gold for Canada at the Vancouver Winter Games, a Valentine's Day torrent of anti-Quebec rhetoric was pouring forth unto the websites of some of the country's major media outlets.
Heritage Minister James Moore involuntarily turned on the tap by echoing disappointment at the low French content on offer at Friday's opening ceremony but most writers did not need much of an excuse to lash out at what has become one of the most flogged horses in the Canadian English-speaking media blogosphere.
"Would someone remind Mr. Moore he never received one vote from anyone in Quebec or France during the last election campaign? Or has this egghead from Ottawa forgot (again) who voted him into office?" wrote one contributor to a major newspaper website.
"Western Canada should be able to vote to Evict Quebec. Then all of this crying, whining and nonsense will stop. What is going to happen next? The East Indians or the Chinese wanting language and culture benefits?" added another.
"I certainly hope that there will be no more French spoken at the closing ceremonies ... !!" was one suggestion that came up repeatedly.
There were also many commentaries along the lines of: "I suppose the fact that English was used at all is not acceptable to the franco-fascists."
This is just a sample of about 1,500 comments on just one mainstream media website. On some Quebec websites, writers responded in kind.
Read more: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/766674--hebert-truth-comes-last-in-olympic-dustup-over-french
| Martin Lawrence has struck the right note – tell Quebec that the “era of Quebec grievance” has passed. |
Heritage Minister James Moore had a point of sorts in saying there wasn’t enough French content in the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. There could have been more.
But it was hard to keep from yawning. His complaint sounded 20 or 30 years out of date, from a bygone era. Bilingualism is still a noble cause but in the public psyche it has faded in importance. It was part of the Quebec grievance era. That era, beginning with the arrival of separatist forces in the early 1960s, spanned almost four decades.
It was remarkable when you think about it. Quebec angsts, Quebec separatists, Quebec issues dominated the national agenda to an astonishing degree. There was the rise of René Lévesque, the October Crisis, the election of the Parti Québécois, the 1980 referendum, bilingualism uproars, the repatriation debate, Meech Lake, Charlottetown, Jacques Parizeau, Lucien Bouchard, the 1995 referendum, the Clarity Act. There was the run of Quebec-based prime ministers — Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien, Martin.
Read more:
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/comment/article/452969--time-to-let-the-era-of-quebec-grievance-pass
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