By Kim McConnell, Canadians For Language Fairness
From: http://languagefairness.net/
Canadians who, initially, were deeply concerned about the Official Languages Act (OLA) and its disastrous consequences, are getting old. When this battle for the English language was started (by APEC – Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada in 1977* - see below for short history), there were many public servants who were directly affected. It wasn’t too difficult for APEC to get the attention and support of English-speaking public servants and get them to write letters and organize protests.
Remember that, since the passage of the Official Languages Act (1969), Canada was under the control of the Liberal government (except for the short stint under Mulroney), and it wasn’t until 2006 that Stephen Harper’s government took over.
During the years between 1969 and 2006, the Liberals - led mostly by Quebecers - made huge strides in increasing the power and influence of Francophones simply by entrenching Official Bilingualism, the Official Languages Act, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our Constitution. Francophones gained even more power when Quebec-friendly policies, such as Equalization Payments and Multiculturalism, transferred massive amounts of cash into Francophone hands, and allowed them to establish thousands of well-organized, and well-funded, Francophone groups right across Canada. It is very easy to attract prominent leaders to your cause when generous funding is readily available.
Anglophone politicians are easily cowed into silence by the threat of legal challenges mounted by the well-funded French groups. Not a single Anglo politician has spoken against these measures because they know that the courts and judges are governed by a Constitution mandated to Protect, Preserve and Promote the French language.
In 2012, Galganov and Brisson mounted a legal challenge to the Russell Township by-law which declares that all business signs must be in English and French, and that it is illegal to use any other language. Even as the judges admitted that the bylaw infringed Section 2b (Freedom of Expression) of the Charter, they applied their interpretation of the Notwithstanding clause (clause 1) to over-ride that infringement.
So, having no recourse to our justice system, Canadians can either meekly accept the tragedy of Official Bilingualism – or we can fight back. We expect that, as more Canadians understand why we are fighting so hard against the Frenchification of Canada, they will pressure the Conservative government to curtail the immense, unearned, power and influence given to the French. The CPC is already doing it in small steps (such as ending the $800 annual bilingual bonus to people who got their jobs because they were bilingual). This was initiated in the CRA, but I’m not sure if it has been extended to other departments.
The unions (controlled mainly by the French-speaking public servants) are a powerful group (weren’t they largely responsible for the recent Wynne government’s majority victory in Ontario?), so the Conservative government has to tread carefully. They are hoping that tax cuts resulting from cut-backs in the public service might persuade Canadians that money in their pockets is better than money sent to the government in the form of taxes. We have about 30 – 40% of Canadians who perpetually live off the government so it is up to the rest of us to make sure that the socialist parties like the Liberals and the NDP don’t assume power next year!
Kilroy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWcMg6pKxHg) has done excellent work in reaching more people with his very effective videos, and I have attached some to this message. We need more young people to help us fight because it is really their future at stake. If anyone has ideas that we haven’t tried, please feel free to forward them. In the meantime, do what Sharon has suggested – keep a short message that you can send to any company that gives prominence to the French language as opposed to the English language, and ask them why. A threat to boycott their product will also help – several people have sent me examples of their own efforts to do this and these efforts have brought results.
As I say, this is not just a battle for Canadians for Language Fairness – it is a battle that all Canadians must take on as their own.
Here are two links to some very effective video messages that Kilroy has created:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abOWJkf-Vh8&feature=player_detailpage#t=579
Complete video on Quebec and how the French are using the OLA to retake Canada from the English victory on the Plains of Abraham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW33xkVB-oI&hd=1
The boiling frog syndrome
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_the_Preservation_of_English_in_Canada
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