Quebec: Les Enfants

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

Quebec in Canada, Still

Some years ago, Quebec declared itself officially unilingual, and promptly began a campaign to rid itself of the English language, and as much evidence of Anglophone culture within its borders as possible. Having contemptuously spat upon Canada and Canadians, Francophones then demanded that the rest of Canada arrange its affairs to accommodate Quebecers, in French, across the nation.

And what did Canada do? Canada meekly complied. Canadians did not, does not, have the courage to simply say "No. We don't do business that way." We said "Yes Sir. By all means, Sir."

While millions upon millions of people around the world teach themselves and their children to speak and write the English language, Canadians feverishly teach their children French. While Asians and Australians also teach their children Mandarin, Canadians force their children to learn French.

Canada gives Quebec about $1.3B each month, money that it uses to heavily subsidize electricity, day care, and tuition. While we pay top dollar to educate our children, we also pay Quebec top dollar to teach their children to live and work in a language that is spoken in France, Haiti, and in a cluster of failed states in Africa.

Quebecers migrate down the 417 and the 401 into Ontario where the promptly demand that we provide them full services in French. Ontario kneels and provides the required funding - no questions asked.

The Charbonneau Commission is investigating crime and corruption in Quebec's provincial and municipal governments, unions, and construction industries. La belle Province is under investigation, no one else.

Canada distributes money - Equalization Payments - to the provinces to ensure that each can provide services approximately equal to the national average. Since the program's inception, the federal government has distributed just some $300B. Quebec's haul? $150B - precisely half. Alberta, a major contributor, receives nothing - precisely zero.

Quebec insists that it needs this funding and legislation to avoid being assimilated by the Anglo majority. Hmmm.  If that were the case, one would guess that other cultures, such as the Chinese, who have immigrated to virtually every place on Earth, would similarly lose their language and their culture.  Has that happened? Not at all. The Chinese are resourceful, diligent, intelligent, and, they work hard - at whatever they do.  The Chinese do not need coercive, cumbersome, and incredibly expensive legislation to protect their language and culture.

But Quebecers do. What is wrong with Quebecers? Are they unable to fend for themselves? Apparently not.

If Quebecers were imbued with even a small measure of those traits that characterize the Chinese, they would be partners with Canadians, working with us to build a nation for everyone. But Quebecers don't function that way. Quebecers declare their province to be French only, and then demand that the Rest of Canada arrange its affairs to accommodate them.

* * * *

Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair are both avid supporters of Quebec's aspirations. Listen closely to their remarks during this current federal election campaign. –JGP

Supreme Court of Canada dismisses Quebecer’s Seven/Sprite suit against Air Canada

Response from a Quebecer: Cue the monolingual anglo whining section, proud Canadians all, as long as they don't have to speak, read, or hear the "other" Canadian language.  It tires them so.

My response: We do not have a problem with the language spoken in Quebec. We do, however, have problems with the puerile people who speak it.

If Quebecers were resourceful, diligent, and honest folks who worked hard and earned their way, you would not need the incredibly cumbersome, coercive, expensive, and divisive language legislation that has been enacted on your behalf.

If you were a proud people with an exemplary history, you would be too ashamed to accept the $1.3 billion in welfare that we ship to you every month.

So, a proud people with an exemplary history you are not.

And suing an airline for not serving you in your own language? That really is quite childish. That act alone tells us that you have some years to go before you are old enough to vote.

Grow up and we will welcome you in Canada. Continue as you are, and you will continue to earn our contempt.

Gerry Porter
Ottawa

Champlain Bridge

To: Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

Sir, if Quebec wants a new Champlain Bridge, they will pay for it themselves. Every bridge built within provincial boundaries is a provincial responsibility, and this particular bridge is no different; Quebecers must foot the bill for their bridge, not the rest of us.

Cuddling and coddling Quebec and Francophones has become the default position of every level of government and we, citizens of the Rest of Canada, are sick and tired of our money going into Quebec coffers, ~$1.3B/month, simply because they happen to be French.

When Canadians need something, we buckle down and we work for it. It is high time that Quebec learned this simple lesson.  Whatever became of diligence and plain old hard work.

Gerry Porter,
Ottawa

Can Francophones earn their way, or do they really need BOLA - Babysitter Official Languages Act?

A Frank talk about Francophones

(This essay was written in response to comments published in the link. The author’s name has been replaced here with ’Monsieur’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSiBY6UIINk)

Monsieur,

As a consequence of Britain’s legacy of military successes against France et al in the 15^th, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries, North America became an English-language place, as indeed did various other places around the world.

North America’s expanses were quickly filled with Europeans and Asians of every stripe, but despite its polyglot cultures, North America retained its English language. (Indeed, in modernity, of Earth’s ~7.2 billion people, ~2.5 billion speak English, while some 400 million people, mostly in failed African states, speak French.)

In the New World, both the English and the French were just two cultural and language groups not unlike all the others, except in one critical manner; unlike all the other cultural groups that flooded into North America, put down roots, and succeeded, the French remained, in your own words, a “… fiefdom of a small group of wealthy Anglo oligarchs.”  You dutifully list all the legislative initiatives taken by various Canadian governments at various times demonstrating that French studies were banned.

Well, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, and other cultural groups, at different times and places, have also been subjected to restrictive and offensive laws over the intervening centuries. But guess what, these folks survived and thrived on their own, and have kept their cultures and languages alive and vibrant despite centuries of oppressive legislation.

So, why are the French in Canada unable to flourish like other cultures? Hmmm.

The French in Canada never really came into their own until they were given a security blanket: the Official Languages Act. The OLA is an odious piece of legislation that transformed Canada into an Officially Bilingual nation. Without this legislation, Francophones would have had to compete in the market place just like everyone else. However, with this babysitter legislation, BOLA, there is no need for you to be resourceful, diligent, and hard-working. With BOLA riding shotgun, you can coast; you can have it all – without having to really earn it.

Francophones immigrate down the 401 into Ontario and are instantly coddled by our French Language Services Act. Beyond whatever taxes you pay, you are not required to contribute a dime to the vast array of extras - welfare by other means - that we give you: your very own unilingual schools, school buses, school boards; cultural and social facilities; your very own unilingual television network, and your extensive network of organizations scattered across the province, each of which is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving French language and culture, and ensuring that, if an English sign is displayed, there will be a Francophone lurking nearby to insist, nay, demand, that it be replaced by a bilingual version – even if the local Francophone population is zilch.

Now, there is nothing wrong with such organizations, per se, except for the fact that funding for them comes out of the public purse; Francophones are not required to contribute a dime beyond what you normally pay in taxes. We also pay taxes, but part of our taxes that would normally operate our bilingual schools, pave our roads, and build our subways, gets diverted to fund your Francophone groups, who, evidently, are unable to do for themselves.

And let us not forget the other side of this sorry story; while we coddle and cuddle Francophones in Ontario and the rest of Canada, Francophones daily demonstrate their utter contempt for Anglophones and everything English in Quebec. While, each month, we pump $1.3B into Quebec’s coffers, Quebecers spew us with spite and spittle. 

While we are not angels, and we do have Rob Ford, we do not have the equivalent of the Charbonneau Commission - anywhere in the Rest of Canada.

Monsieur, we are told that Francophones are desperately afraid of being assimilated. Francophones, we are told, will shrivel and disappear unless we Anglos protect you from the wayward winds that  gust and swirl through this 21^st century world.  We are told that your Francophone language and culture are so fragile, that, without our hugely expensive, intrusive, coercive, and bloated body of municipal, provincial, and federal laws to coddle and cuddle them, they would become as dust.

However, we understand that this dreadful fear of assimilation is contrived; it is an artifice.  If your culture and your language were as weak and fragile as you claim, they would not be saved by immensely cumbersome bodies of legislation and massive amounts of cash.

Language and cultural attributes are sustained by people imbued with character, courage, fortitude, and competence.  If you have these qualities, you don’t need all that you demand of us.

If you refuse to make the effort to stand on your own, we cannot, we will not, stand for you. 

Gerry Porter, Ottawa

Mr. D. replied in French, May 3, 2014 (Google translation):

Typique give what condescendence O thank you so generous (wasp) white man to have hanged Louis Riel ... And destroyed the French communities outside Quebec.
By the way what is your contribution and your culture Canadian English blade American copy or allegiance to a foreign crown.

Not even fucking have you do a clean identiée you're a translation of your name to your Candian hymn O Canada nothing but a translation ... When you have a clean culture you a real identity may instead you hide behind multiculturalism have seen what has to be proud and want to share.

Original follows:

ypique give quel condescendence merci O si généreux (wasp) homme blanc de n'avoir pendus que Louis Riel...Et détruit les communautés Française hors Québec.

En passant quel est votre contribution et votre culture English Canadian une pale copie américaine ou une allegéance a une couronne étrangêre.

Même pas foutus de vous avoir fais une identiée propre a vous vous n'êtes qu'une traduction de votre nom Candian a votre hymme ô Canada rien d'autre qu'une traduction...Quand vous aurez une culture propre a vous une véritable identité peut-être au lieu de vous cachez derrière le multiculturalisme vus aurez de quoi a être fière et vouloir la partager

My response:   Monsieur, you mention multiculturalism as something we Anglos hide behind. On the contrary; Mr. Trudeau, the elder, introduced the asinine concept. Under the precepts of multiculturalism, all cultures are deemed "equal" and are thus protected from all criticism, a cloak that shields such practices as genital mutilation, from its critics. Francophones, your language, and your culture, are, under that very same blanket, similarly protected. 

As for the remainder of your response, I leave it to your readers to decipher. I'm not sure what you are trying to say.
Gerry Porter, Ottawa

 

Francophones Must Learn to Earn Their Way

Jack MacLaren, MPP for Carleton Mississippi Mills

There is matter that I would bring to your attention. Although it is not your concern politically, it is a matter that concerns us, the people of Ontario. I refer to the extent to which Francophones have quietly, but resolutely, insinuated themselves into the political and social fabric of Ontario, and the staggering costs associated with that process.

We recently assembled a list of some of the Francophone organizations operating in Ontario, and are in the process of determining the costs to Ontario taxpayers to fund these agencies and organizations.  We do not expect the number to be insignificant.

The list, attached, is impressive and exceeds anything we might have imagined. I do not expect you to read it, but merely leafing through it, leaves one with the impression that Francophones have been very active over the past several decades, building, with public funding, a solid infrastructure of unilingual Francophone schools, community centres, agencies, and their very own television network. 

And now, with their unchallenged power and influence throughout Ontario, Francophones confidently fly their fleur-de-lis flag fly above our Ontario flag and the Canadian flag - in contravention of federal legislation. They are also demanding that we build more French-language universities to serve francophones - and anyone else who will study in the French language. Despite the fact that about a quarter of Earth's population speaks English, and the vast majority of global commerce is conducted in English, Ontario's Francophones demand that we immerse our children in French-language studies - where is the wisdom?  Is there a politician with the courage to stand and object?  Such a principled individual has yet to step forward.

Francophones are treated extremely well under the sheltering FLSA, a circumstance that is not replicated for Anglophones and the English language in Quebec.  In Quebec, we are daily denigrated, despised, and physically mistreated. We shudder when we  hear of yet another Anglophone being shoved about and shouted at while seeking medical treatment in a Quebec hospital.

Canadians are largely unaware of Francophone activities outside Quebec's borders; our focus tends to be on Quebec's obsessive dalliance with its own nationhood. However, some of us are aware of, and deeply concerned for, the long-term viability of English Ontario.

Mr. MacLaren, we do not deny Francophones a rightful place in Ontario, but we do insist that they earn their way rather than rely exclusively on extensive, and expensive, legislative interventions by municipal, provincial and federal politicians acting on their behalf.  We must ask ourselves why we feel obligated to yield to Francophone demands for ever greater levels of funding for more programs that serve only to anger us and aggravate Ontario's serious indebtedness.

Francophones insist that such funding is necessary to prevent their culture from being assimilated. Our response is simple: if the Francophone culture is vigorous and vibrant, it will survive on its own merits - as do sundry Asian and European cultures in regions scattered across North America. If Francophone culture is otherwise, no amount of public funding will invigorate it.  We cannot do for them with cash what they are unable to do for themselves.

There is, of course, the need to live with the realities of official bilingualism. As it currently functions, OB is essentially a dictat that promotes, protects, and preserves the French language and culture at the expense of the English language and Canadian culture. OB is not an intelligent route to national unity; it is, in fact, an act that divides the nation more effectively than any legislation since conscription.

We cannot afford to coddle folks who simple refuse to do for themselves. Let Francophones do what the rest of us do; let them earn their way.

Gerry Porter
Ottawa

On the matter of language in Canada

“English Canadians have nothing to offer us but their stupid mediocrity. Everything that weakens and humiliates Canada must cause us to rejoice". Jeanne Sauve, former governor general, 1984-1990"

Canadian Forums, January, 2010

Quotes on the matter of bilingualism in Canada

"My roll as Secretary of State of Canada is first and foremost to ensure that my French compatriots in Canada feel with deep conviction, as I do, that this is their country and that it reflects their image".

"I too had some difficult years as a politician; I'm still having them, in fact, because everything we undertake and everything we are doing to make Canada a French state is part of a venture I have shared for many years with a number of people".

- - - -

"You know the idea, the challenge, the ambition of making Canada a French country both inside and outside Quebec -- an idea some people consider a bit crazy, is something a little beyond the ordinary imagination". - Serge Joyal, Secretary of State, but now in the Senate. 'ENOUGH' by J.V. Andrew, page two.

- - - -

“Unilingual Anglophones will be sentenced to a lifetime of job immobility" - Pierre Trudeau.

- - - -

" ....Given these facts, should French-speaking people concentrate their efforts on Quebec. or take the whole of Canada as their base? In my opinion, they should do both; and for the purpose they could find no better instrument than federalism", Pierre Trudeau, Page 31 "Federalism", (1968).

- - - -

"The Canadian community must invest, for the defence and better appreciation of the French language, as much time, energy, and money as are required to prevent the country from breaking up" - Pierre Trudeau, Page 32, "Federalism" (1968) also quoted in “Farewell The Peaceful Kingdom” by Joe Armstrong.

- - - -

"There is no way two ethnic groups in one country can be made equal before the law....and to say it is possible is to sow the seeds of destruction". Pierre Trudeau, 1966.

- - - -

"Quebec can make French the only official language in spite of the Constitution". Pierre Trudeau, 1967.

- - - -

"Bilingualism in truth was nothing less than a social revolution…no one in Ottawa in the later 1960's let on that a massive change was about to happen… Trudeau knew this all along. He lied about it as a necessary means to an end". Richard Gwyn in his book the “Northern Magnus”.

- - - -

"The separatists' Bill 101 is a brilliant piece of legislation" - Stéphane Dion, Federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (2001), President of the Queen's Privy Council and newly appointed watchdog over official bilingualism.(2001) Presently leader of the Liberals.

- - - -

"If Québec separates I will go with it, my loyalties are with Québec" - Pierre Pettigrew, Federal Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce (2001).

- - - -

"We are never entirely satisfied and we want to promote bilingualism (French) even more than we do now" Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board, 2001.

- - - -

"The French language is mandated for use by government and its agencies throughout the country's capital in an effort to promote the French language, therefore there is no longer a career for Anglophones in the federal civil service in Canada". -Dr. Marguerite Ritchie, President of the Human Rights Institute of Canada, admitting during a panel discussion in 1995.

- - - -

"I cannot swear it, but I think we were thinking to ourselves,... we are a small group, Trudeau, Pelletier, Marchand, Lalonde, Chrétien, myself and a few people in the civil service, say 50 all told… we were bringing off a revolution. We held the key posts. We were making the civil service bilingual (French), kicking and screaming all the time". Jean-Luc Pepin, Minister of Industry, 1970.

- - - -

"Canada is going to be a French speaking nation from coast to coast and any body opposed to this is opposed to the best interest of Canada". Leo Cadieux - speaking to French National Assembly, 1973.

- - - -

Dr. Jim Pankiw, Canadian Alliance MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt, stood up in the house of commons on April 6th, 2001 and asked the liberal government the following questions:

Question No. 1: "Mr. Speaker, Treasury Board statistics confirm that for every increase in the number of federal public service jobs designated bilingual, there is a corresponding decrease in the participation rate of Anglophones in the public service. I should like to know what steps the government is prepared to take to end the systematic discrimination against English speaking Canadians with respect to hiring and promotions".

Response: "Mr. Speaker, this is probably the most insulting question I have ever heard in the House of Commons" Don Boudria, Liberal house leader.

Question No. 2 "Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's application of forced bilingualism is costly, discriminatory and a source of national divisiveness and disunity. Not withstanding, I ask the Justice Minister why she intervenes on behalf of Ontario Francophones but does not request intervener status to protect Anglophones in Québec. She is prepared to defend the interests of French speaking people in Ontario but she is not prepared to defend the rights of English speaking people in Québec. Why is there a double standard?"

Response: None.

- - - - 

"Canada is going to be a French-speaking nation from coast to coast". Leo Cadieux, Canadian Ambassador to France, 1973.

- - - -

"There will be no retreat in Quebec on the French language policy". Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Dec. 12th, 1986.

- - - -

“English Canadians have nothing to offer us but their stupid mediocrity. Everything that weakens and humiliates Canada must cause us to rejoice". Jeanne Sauve, former governor general-1987-"

- - - -

"The government of Canada has no right to promote English in Quebec". Gil Remillard, Minister for Inter-Governmental Affairs, 1988.

- - - -

"Bilingualism is unthinkable for Quebec". Robert Bourassa, 1988.

- - - -

"Language legislation is utterly insane and is designed to encourage bigotry. There is no precedence anywhere for unity being enhanced through a policy of two official languages". Peter Worthington, Financial Post, July 1988.

- - - -

"Anyone with a pea for a brain knows that our Canadian federal government is today firmly under French Canadian control". J.V. Andrew, Ret. Lieut. Cmdr. Navy, in his book 'ENOUGH' (Published 1988).

Pierre Trudeau in 1966. . . when he was parliamentary secretary to PM Pearson stated, “There is no way that two ethnic groups in one country can be made equal before the law! “To say that it is possible is to sow the seeds of destruction”! Knowing that it was immoral and wrong, two years later as Prime Minister Trudeau forced through his infamous Bilingual program.

Trudeau sowed the seeds of the nation’s destruction himself. Untold billions have been wasted on bilingualism (French) and it will only getting worse unless we finally have English speaking politicians willing to speak up for the majority.

Dr. Ron Cheffins, Victoria's political science professor and host on CFAX Tuesdays in B.C., is shocked at the new Official Language policy being worked in for April 1, 2004 under the blind eye of unilingual English-speaking Canadians.

The new policy states that all people applying for the top jobs in government, crown corporations, health care among other sectors must be fluent in written and oral French. Prior to this, the policy was that anyone who wanted these jobs had two years to bring their French language skills up to whatever level they needed to do their own job. They would be required to learn it while working on the job.

However, now the policy states that English only speaking Canadians (which of course we know is the majority) are literally locked out of these best jobs and leadership positions! We now have a full fledged dictatorship! What is even more shocking is the fact that no conservatives in any political party in Canada have ever tackled the French on this bilingualism issue. They have remained silent!

This new policy now slams the door on Western Canadians permanently! As it is now, the French control 65% of all administrative positions in government and the military. But the new policy states that everybody applying for any of these jobs must be totally fluent in French, both oral and written before even applying!

A National referendum on this crucial matter has never been conducted in Canada. If a referendum were held, Official Bilingualism would fail and the Constitution would have to be changed! This would end the French domination of the Anglophone population. That is why Ottawa has never permitted nor even discussed a referendum. It is the only way to understand the true needs and wishes of the majority.

In our parliamentary system, the people have no power, Ottawa has it all. In all the past years, not one Conservative leader has dared confront this issue. English speaking Canadians have never had a voice. They were manipulated into it by the leftist Trudeau Liberals. It is obvious that Canadian conservatives have always been impotent in this socialist regime. Why have they left millions of English speaking Canadians and their children unrepresented in the matter?

As long as it remains in place, it will continue to drain the Nation’s coffers while millions who make up the majority of Canada, English speaking, will be discriminated against and will fester with the resentment, anger...you will not be working in the future, or you must speak French to be employed by any level of government.

- - - -

http://www.canadaka.net/forums/jibber-jabber-f9/famous-quotes-on-the-language-issues-in-canada-t86426.html

---<RWR>---