An intolerant people named Québec

Originally Posted by loyalist

Thirdly, the Government of Canada has an obligation to keep watch on Quebec to protect minorities. Wuebec has an awful record of mistreating Anglos and Allos, misspending money that could have been useful on the "language police", and so on.

They do have an obligation to protect minority rights, but since the Quiet Revolution, the G of C never intervened because Quebec is awash with voters and civil servants.

Political seperation may be the only way to resolve this issue. Judging from the example of the Czech Republic, seperation may actually bring the two sides closer together through economic cooperation/border agreements, etc.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Turbot's right when he says that the generous conditions in the Quebec Act were implemented on the basis of necessity, and not because the British were benign and wanted to give Quebec a fair deal. Canadian history has shown that Quebec gets what it wants because it reacts viciously against causes that are important to the province, with some recent examples being Equalization, Adscam, provincial rights and the health accords. It also helps that the province has an abundance of voters that, in many areas, routinely shift political allegiance at the drop of a dime.

Protecting the French language is a pretty moot goal, though. If the winds of change blow against the necessity of the French language, then just let it run its course if its not palpably harmful. If French is replaced by English, than the Quebecoise will be able to participate in the global economy that much more easily, and their relationship with the ROC will be that much better. Bottom line: Quebeckers must decide whether protecting the French language is really worth the opportunity cost of a considerably higher standard of living. And really, is it really that important to have an identity so nominally distinct from the ROC (I say nominally because the differences are actually quite negligible, but are trumped up whenever some Quebec politician wants to play the nationalist card to get himself elected)?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Turbot

Also, speaking French doesn't forbid us from speaking English (obviously!) and being a part of the global economy (or the continental economy for that matter): as far as I heard, the Chinese and French are pretty good in that, and their population is far from being as bilingual as Quebec's population (about 40% of Quebecers speak both English and French)!

Your points are fair, but Bill 101 does unnecessarily restrict access to the English language for French kids. Kids with French as their mother tongue cannot go to an English school until CEGEP (college studies) while English kids can attend either. We simply have more choice and opportunities than the Frenchies do when it comes to language. Furthermore, our French courses are logically better serviced than English courses at French high schools, considering the political climate. We're further advantaged by the fact that English is the de facto language in business, while French can no longer be considered the language of diplomacy, or even a remotely important one for that matter.

Of course, French kids could always study English after high school, but so many don't actually get out of high school, or don't pursue post-secondary studies, or simply don't care for English and don't think its necessary considering where they live, that they never pursue it. Moreover, we English get the bonus of learning two languages, while the French don't have that same luxury. This gives us an intellectual edge over the French, making us the ultimate benefactors, to some extent. And besides, most of us will leave the province at some point, afterwe've exploited a generous (by no means cheap) post-secondary education arrangement.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Quote:

It's easier for a French to learn English than the opposite!

Not if you've been learning French from kindergarten (sic) onwards.

Fact of the matter is Quebec is a predominately french-speaking province, and to not have even a rudimentary grasp of the language is just plain stupid if you intend to live here.

Or think of it this way: The provincial government spends a couple billion dollars a year to educate French and English students. If English students don't understand French, their chances of remaining in the province decrease. And to stem the losses resulting from this "linguistic brain drain" and preserve a French character to the province, the provincial government institutes mandatory French language instruction so that non-French residents can participate in the larger society, and not be relegated to small, isolated communities or forced to leave the province.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?