Not many people have the opportunity to learn a second language after they leave school.

You call me short sighted? That’s funny because I was thinking exactly the same thing about you.

It is all about motivations and here, it is Stalin's motivations that are faulty.

And how motivating is it to start from zero when your trying to learn a new language when your 29 working ful time with two or three kids. You're talking about taking away an oppurtunity that some may never get back. I'm sure Stalin would approve of your views.

The main reason for an English Canadian to learn French is to improve something bigger than his/her bank account and even bigger than the welfare of his/her family, it is to improve Canada and, from there, to improve the World.

The main reason for an English Canadian to learn French is to improve Canada and, from there, to improve the World. So why shouldn't we give Canadians a starting pont?

I'm bilingual.

I've always suspected that english was a 2nd language for you.

Canadians for Language Fairness Inc.
P.O. Box 40111
Bank & Hunt Club Postal Outlet
2515 Bank Street.
Ottawa, ON, K1V 0W8
Tel (613) 321-7333 Fax (613) 524-3247
Website: www.languagefairness.ca Email: [email protected]

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June 28, 2008

What is the role of the NCC (National Capital Commission) in the Nation’s Capital Region? When a Quebec group complained about the historical panel on Sparks Street featuring Lord Durham, the panel was taken down and amended because it offended the sensibilities of this Quebec group. Historical revisionism aside, is this the way the NCC solves problems? Cater to the loudest complaints?

Below is the latest example of more acquiescence – the NCC (spokesperson, Kathryn Keyes) has no problem with this group that supposedly represents Franco-Ontarian culture, singing a song that refers to the “English pig”. In her anxiety not to offend the sensibilities of the group, she “stressed that the NCC never requested that the band not play ‘One Day’”. What about the sensibilities of the English to be called “English pig”? It was meant to be humourous, says Michel Bénac & Jean-Philippe Goulet!! Really?


This is the kind of insult that the rest of us are supposed to put up with – we’re supposed to shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well, they have the right to express their frustrations at the prospects of being assimilated”. NO!! You can do what you like to brain-wash your French-speakers to resist assimilation but you cannot use Canadian taxpayer dollars to insult us in the process!! To do this on a celebration of “Canada Day” – this is the ultimate insult!!


Orlin O. sent in an item from Saskatchewan which is an outrage!! This is just another example of how the French are going to force all our police forces across the country to be fully bilingual, whether we believe it or not!! Every French-speaker can get away literally with murder just because members of our police forces do not speak French when they confront a law-breaker. There have been so many cases across the country where French judges have ruled in favour of the law-breaker, on the premise that the police did not deal with the criminal in French!!


This brings me to a topic that is of great importance – the next Supreme Court judge – will he/she be selected on the basis of proficiency in both languages? This is a topic that concerns us greatly – we don’t need another French judge on the Supreme Court circuit. We have observed that bilingualism usually favours a French-speaker and whether he/she is Francophone or Francophile, the judgement is usually biased in favour of the French.

Please write to the Conservative Party (or your own MP) on this if you care about how Canadian justice will shape up in the coming years.

To locate your own MP, http://canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html; to locate all MPs: www.parl.gc.ca.

Kim
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http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/new ... b249f92dd3

The Ottawa Citizen : Saturday, June 28, 2008

Musicians who sing of 'English pig' to play Canada Day celebration

Ottawa-based Franco-Ontarian band says song is intended to be humorous, not anti-anglophone

David Gonczol and Graham Hughes

An Ottawa-based Franco-Ontarian band is booked to play Canada Day celebrations in Gatineau's Jacques Cartier Park despite the fact one of the group's new songs features lyrics such as "English pig" and "tête carré," a term viewed by some anglophones as a racist slur.

An organization that hired Le Groupe Swing to play at an event last month was so upset by the lyrics of the song 'One Day' that it ordered the band to not play it, but the National Capital Commission says it has no plans to ask the group to censor itself.

The Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien booked Le Groupe Swing to play the school-board's 10th anniversary celebration in Plantagenet, but told band members not to play One Day, which has a passage about the singer's anglophone boss and ends with the line, "Only an English pig with no brains would do that." Johanne Côté, who helped put together the celebration, said the board felt One Day was "really not appropriate." "When we saw that song we thought, oh my God, what is that ... we were not happy ... and we made sure that it was not in the show," Ms. Côté said.

"It's really unfortunate that they have that on their album." She said she hopes the material the board found offensive does not become part of the Canada Day festivities.

"I hope that they are going to do the same thing that we did," said Ms. Côté.
"Artists have to know that the content of their songs is very important because there is a message, so I think they (the NCC) should look at the lyrics and tread very carefully." However, an NCC spokeswoman said they have no qualms about the band helping Canadians celebrate next week.

When told of the material, the NCC requested a list of the songs that the band intends to perform on the Canada Day stage. They received word back Thursday in the form of a "preliminary" song list, that they would not perform One Day, which appears on the group's latest CD, Tradarnac.

"I'm not familiar with that song, I know the group is scheduled to play," said NCC spokeswoman Kathryn Keyes on Wednesday.

After having a copy of the song and lyrics for a day, she said that "Canada Day is a day to celebrate our shared nationhood and we believe the artists that come and accept our invitation to perform are there for the same reason, to celebrate what we have in common.

"We feel Swing is a good example of franco-Ontarian culture." Ms. Keyes would not comment on the lyrics in question because she doesn't expect they will be performed on Canada Day and she stressed that the NCC never requested that the band not play 'One Day'.

The group finds it surprising that the song, which it says is an ironic one about the reality of being a franco-Ontarian, has been interpreted as anti-anglophone.
Michel Bénac, who, with Jean-Philippe Goulet makes up the band, says the song is intended to be humorous.

The song is to some extent a lament for francophone culture in the face of the larger anglophone culture and sarcastically suggests that francophones stop complaining about it "'cause one day we'll all be just English." "You know, we've been performing for 10 years now and we're known as presenting a very festive (show) that spreads joy," Mr. Bénac said in a telephone interview. He says that they've performed at English folk festivals right across Canada, as well as at French festivals.

"About 95 per cent of our material is in French, because we're French, after all." He said they are looking forward to their part in Canada Day activities.

"To me, there's no more important day than Canada Day -- I was born and raised in Ottawa -- and if I'm not performing, I'm on Parliament Hill celebrating," Mr. Bénac said.

Swing has performed in Eastern Ontario for more than a decade and performed at Winterlude this past winter without incident.

Earlier this year the NCC became embroiled in a language controversy over a historical panel on Sparks Street featuring Lord Durham.

The panel discussed his contribution as a Canadian historical figure and his contribution to the development of Canadian democracy. A Quebec group complained that the Durham panel should be removed because he advocated the assimilation of francophones. The panel was taken down and amended.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
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Hi Kim:

Another example of the French push for their so called "language rights". Notice the name of the Judge in this case. Saskatchewan's Francophone population only comprises about 1.7% of the total. The individual pushing this issue is a militant Francophone despite his English sounding name. Of course the RCMP will be stumbling all over themselves to accommodate these trouble makers. Many RCMP detachments in Western Canada seem to have French commandants even though there are few Francophones in most prairie communities who can not speak English.

Redvers Saskatchewan for the record is where I attended High School. It is one of the few communities in Saskatchewan with a significant Francophone population, and like Francos everywhere in this nation they are always stirring the linguistic pot.

Orlin O.
Winnipeg
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http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/ ... 78f12c3b84

Friday » June 27 » 2008

Sask. judge tosses charge for man asked Mountie to speak french

Heather Polischuk
Canwest News Service

Thursday, June 26, 2008


REGINA - A charge against a francophone man who was arrested after asking a Mountie who had pulled him over to speak French was stayed Thursday by a judge in Saskatchewan.

Justin Bell was charged with speeding after he was allegedly clocked going 109 km/h in a 60 km/h zone through the town of Redvers, 280 kilometres southeast of Regina, in March 2006.

On Thursday, a judge decided the RCMP officer did not have legitimate reason to place the high school teacher under arrest, and stayed the Highway Traffic Act charge.

According to the transcript of the conversation between the officer and Bell - recorded in video and audio by the RCMP at the time - the traffic-stop conversation began in English on both sides.

However, Bell soon asked the officer if they could instead speak in French. The officer said he could not speak French, but Bell continued speaking in French until he heard the officer's words, "You're under arrest."

"For what?" Bell inquired in English.

"Well, let's put it this way," the officer responded. "It's dangerous driving, 109 in a 60 zone."

A voir dire held during Bell's trial sought to determine whether there was, in fact, an actual arrest and, if so, whether it was proper.

"The judge found that . . . it was an arbitrary arrest and that was the nature of the violation," Crown prosecutor Dana Brule explained outside court.

Judge Albert Lavoie said that violation meant he would impose a stay.

Bell was not present at Regina provincial court to hear the decision. and could not be reached for comment afterward.

Speaking on behalf of his client, lawyer Rupert Baudais said he was pleased with the outcome.

"The court found that there really was no valid basis to arrest somebody, simply because he asked whether the RCMP could offer him French-language services," Baudais said.

"The police officer, when he testified in court, admitted that it would have been relatively simple to offer French-language services in this case, but the officer didn't even offer that, or didn't even mention that."

Bell previously said the officer - who at one point tried to speak to Bell in German - seemed angry when he told Bell he was under arrest.

Sgt. Carole Raymond of the RCMP said members are expected to make efforts to provide services in whatever language is requested.

"And French being Canada's second language, we certainly will at all opportunities try to facilitate that," she said.

The detachment involved in Bell's case did not have bilingual members at the time.
© Regina Leader-Post 2008