Kapitän Rotbart

I for one am surprised that a passport office in Alberta would have service in French. Sure virtually all who speak French in Alberta also speak English. However, abilities and willingness are two seperate things. If the bilingual people in Alberta prefer to be served in French, then they are justifying the demand for service offered in both domestic languages. In Ottawa when I went to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan office, I grabbed a ticket for each language, willing to be served in either language provided I get the shortest wait time. Service in English called my number first, so I gladly renewed my health card in English that day. There was a higher demand to supply ratio for service in French than for service in English. Not too surprising for Ottawa, but I'd imagine that there could be days in an Albertan passport office where no one requests service in French. On the other hand, the bilingual Service Canada employee in that office probably has other tasks to keep busy when not serving people in French, so it's not a huge expense to have a bilingual agent at such a location. Culture and socialism are two seperate things. Québec is preserving their culture on their own dime. They celebrate their culture without government intervention, whereas the distinct English Canadian culture is hardly celebrated and probably wouldn't be celebrated at all had it not been for the Canadian government subsidies. Québec's socialism is costing the RoC. I'd be in favor of demanding that they stop publicly funding day care service and plenty of other things, but that has nothing to do with language.

Questions don't start with the word "proove". That's imperative. Not when it doesn't make any sense. This is your argument, I'll ask you to elaborate. Again, another example of poor grammar. Start your questions with verbs in imperative form? Use the English language? Doesn't sound right to a native English speaker in your patois. If the USA weren't there, the first Anglophones to populate Canada, the loyalists, would have no where to come from. Regardless, Anglophone Canadians have a distinct culture, yet fail at celebrating it. Despite the government's attempts at forcing exposure to Canadian culture in either language with the gay CanCon law, Anglophone Canadians still have little interest in celebrating their own culture. It doesn't matter who won the Plains of Abraham... Canada still has to cater to its current demographics according to its policies. Britain failed at assimilating all the Québécois into the English language while Québec itself was an English colony. Hasn't happened yet, and probably never will. Racist according to your definition, where race is not limited to skin color. I also do not believe that you're white, unless you're really a member of the KKK. In Soviet Russia, Canada insults you! There have been other Canadian politicians with dual citizenship. One could argue that it is an insult to Canada that an American citizen represent Canadian people in a costitutional monarchy. You seem to only hate one people, the French and those who speak their language, including those falling in this category of your own country. Your statement is erroneous. Québec is amongst other provinces, not part of other provinces. Québec can use whichever domestic language it pleases. As long as they use a domestic language, it's fine. Wow, you really can't read. Using item 1 which you gladly quote yourself, read over again and again "or by their elected representatives". Still fits the definition of democracy, buddy. I never said I was only interested in federal bilingualism. I think it would be nice for all provinces to be bilingual, but that's not feasible. Granted Ottawa is the only urban center outside Québec with a strong natural demand for bilingualism, yet there are pockets of nearly exclusively Francophones throughout Ontario (and in pretty much all other provinces aswell). The demand is not artificial, otherwise the private sector in Ottawa would not care about bilingualism at all. Are you telling me that you cannot understand English? A demand for bilingualism means there is a need to serve in two or more distinct languages. Canadians don't care for the most part if the government official assisting them speaks both domestic languages, they only care that they can be served in their own domestic language, resulting in the need for skilled workers who also are able to communicate in both official domestic languages. In Soviet Canuckistan, demand for bilingualism sees you!

Almost a quarter of Canada's population has French, one of Canada's official language, as their mother tongue. The private sector has caught on to the national demand and is requiring it for many positions because they see the profitability in selecting bilingual candidates. I'll quote WordWeb: Seems to me that the Liberals have been democratically elected. Most politicians find ways of defrauding the system one way or another, but that doesn't mean the government infrastructure is any less democratic. My point is that if one province is to become more accommodating to Canadians of the region's minority language (English in QC, French in TROC), then all provinces should become more accommodating to their minority language (by the way, English is a minority language in Québec, because I cannot assume that people speak English there). WTF? Just because the leader of the Liberals is a French citizen does not mean he praises France, nor does it mean the Liberal Party praises France either. There have been several Canadian politicians having dual citizenship, so why should one of them having French citizenship change anything? This is an obvious proof of your racism. I quote His Satanic Majesty Stéphane Dion: He clearly values Canada more than France. Anyway, I don't really like him either, but claiming that the Liberals are praising France by appointing a leader with French citizenship is enough evidence of racism. Who wouldn't cater to France's wine industry? They're the kings of wine (it's one of the few things they do properly). Hydro-Québec can give whichever price they want to whoever they choose, and Hydro-Québec does not represent Québec's population. Sure a few people in Canada praise France, but that doesn't mean Canada nor any part of Canada praises France an entity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Canada Sure many aspects of Canadian and American culture are shared, but English speaking Canadians still have their own distinct culture. English may be the most innovative language today, but that's thanks to the United States. Canada does not provide to the English language (with the exception of a handful of English language words only used in Canada), only the USA is innovating the English language. Canada is benefiting from many aspects of being neighbors with the United States of America and having few if not no cultural barriers. I just find it sad that most Anglophone Canadians are unaware of their distinct culture because they so quickly embrace American mass media. They need innovation in their province, regardless of who creates it. Unless you're talking about la fédération luxembourgeoise des quilleurs, the FLQ is history and is no longer an issue. Québec exports its culture to the world, including to France and Germany (I have spoken to many folks from Europe who listen to music from Québec, and other Canadians have confirmed the same findings to me). The Québécois do not seem to have much interest in exporting their culture, most of their artists will only put on a show within their province (others who happen to like this culture just seem to catch on to it). Québec doesn't have the Feds exporting their culture... if that were the case, there would only be Québécois dishes and Québécois music seen and heard in Parliament. I refer to the terms you mention, because those are the ones you post on the forum. Should I try to find some wise way of rephrasing them or use synonyms? I don't see the point. I'm proficient enough in both my first languages, so I do not need your judgement towards my language skills. If Canada's population attains a higher rate, Canadians would be less divided by language. Your observation is false. I would gladly force all provinces to be bilingual, but it's not gonna happen. Ontario is the only Canadian province in which I have lived, so I don't care too much about provincial policies that are foreign to Ontariario. By the way, I don't believe that you are a true Anglophone. This is obvious because your command stated above telling me to prove that bilingualism increases national unity is ended with a question mark (you'd fail ESL).

No, there is a natural demand for bilingualism. Otherwise it would never pass. The Liberals have maintained a high popularity amongst monolingual Anglophones as well, so it was very democratic. I'll agree that it would be nice if Québec were to integrate itself a little more, but there's no reason for them to be any more accomodating than they already are to the Anglophones as long as the Maritimes and the Western provinces don't become more accomodating to the Francophones in their regions. Canada never associates itself with France beyond History. I have met a few Francophile Canadians who think France is paradise and everything else is second to it, but I'd be glad to tell them myself to move to the French Republic. Canada does not import any culture from France nor anything else. Canada provides its own cultural resources in the French language, which is really impressive (it puts many Anglophone Canadians to shame, who limit themselves to American culture with the possible exception of the Canadian media content forced down their throats through the fascist CanCon law). Since the quiet revolution the Québécois have been developing a larger sense of belonging to their province than to their country, which I find unfortunate. The only solution for Québéc would be a cultural revival, going back to the mindset predating the silent revolution. I wouldn't mind seeing Québéc developing a larger thirst for capitalism, as long as it doesn't stop them from producing and exporting their own regional culture, which other provinces are failing to do. I don't know how you can come to an assumption that I have a French accent. I can speak French with a French accent, sure. I also speak English without a French accent (I've been speaking English as of day 1 with Anglophones). I don't know what leads you to believing that I have a French accent, but if you make false assumptions about me, I get to make false assumptions of you. I assume that you are a member of the KKK The reasons I support bilingualism and not Québec are many: I support bilingualism because it increases national unity, allows Canada to live up to its Charter signed by all provinces using the majority language and it improves its representation by having those representing an institution of two languages fluent in those two languages. I do not support Québec because they have a high rate of seperatists (highest rate of seperatists in Canada), a very socialist system and because I've never lived there. They can run their province however they like, as an Ontarian I cannot tell them how to run their system, but I am not interested in moving there. To me, language does not have to be limited by borders.

Argus, In Soviet Russia, French Nationalist dedicates YOU! I am not for the seperation of Québec and I would never live there because of two factors, the first being their socialism and the second being their atheism. There's also the fact that Québec is only interested in the French language, making it not bilingual enough for me. It's fine that people live there, it's just not my cup of tea. 95% of candidates in what area? 40% of Ottawans are bilingual, nearly a quarter of Canadians are bilingual, I do not see why you would knock out 95% of an applicant sample due to a language requirement. I don't have French citizenship. Unless you have English citizenship, you are not English either. You are not what you speak. I am not ashamed of the fact that I am both Anglophone and Francophone. I am simply content with being a Canadian and I prefer to not identify myself by language because people like you are too ignorant to understand the possibility of having two first languages. Yes, I speak both languages at home with my folks (one language to one parent, the other language to the other parent, and my parent to whom I speak English cannot speak French). No, I have no interest in differentiating people by nationality nor ethnicity. I am for bilingualism and the plurality of cultures. We can laugh in eachothers' faces. I laugh at your ignorance, it amuses me. Each person has their own sense of belonging, and sadly clueless Canadians feel they have 'belong' to a language. If you determine their sense of belonging, they will laugh in your face. If you determine my sense of belonging, I will also laugh in your face. I do not feel that I belong to any language, but I speak both Canadian languages since I have been able to speak, so I am not more of one than the other.

And yet, in some federal departments, agencies and groups more than half the employees are Francophones, even though Francophones only make up about 22% of the population. I'm sure that doesn't bother YOU, of course. Well, there's nothing I can do to change that, That, in essence, is your response to everything. To you, all that matters is everyone in all departments and agencies must speak French. No other skills are really required or important. French is all. And the fact that your own province places no importance whatsoever on bilingualism is, to you, utterly without importance. Screw the English Quebecers. You couldn't care less. My province is Ontario. I've never lived in Québec (so I don't really care about how residents of Québec or of any province other than Ontario are treated, regardless of first language... I've never lived there, most of my family is in Ontario and those who aren't Ontarian live in other countries, none having French as an official language). I insist that federal government employees have the language AND non-language skills mentioned in the job description. You seem to think that I want to staff the gov't with incompetent bilingual people, whereas I want to staff the gov't with competent bilingual people. To suggest that bilingual people have no skills beyond languages is discriminating. You would be counted as a Francophone. Guaranteed. There is no slightest part of you that is Anglophone. I'm just as Anglophone as you are. I've been fluent in both domestic languages since age two, and suggesting that someone can only be of one language is proof of ignorance. One language does not take away from another, it only adds to another. If we flip through the dictionary, I quote WordWeb That describes me, because I can speak English and I always could speak English. A language has nothing to do with political intentions and you're wrong for claiming me to not be something that I am. Of course, to you, the only skill is French. The fact the lifeguard can't swim is beside the point. Sounds like you're proving ignorance to me. As I said, I would prefer that the best candidates be hired. If I'm staffing pools in Ottawa, I'll prefer bilingual candidates because it would be a useful skill (amongst other skills). If I find a really good monolingual candidate, I'd try to have the candidate relocated to an area where an insignificant number of swimmers speak the minority language of that region. The Anglophones have the skills for the job, they just don't speak the French that the unskilled Francophones require. Then what do the skilled Francophones require? Or do you not consider that to be a possibility? Seriously, you need to realize that there are skilled Francophones. You should also know that I believe that the government cannot make use of candidates who have absolutely no skills beyond languages and who are terrible learners. There are some government jobs where pretty much all non-language skills could easily be learned on the job. Most government jobs require skills that cannot be learned on the job, therefore it is essential that candidates have these skills before they apply. Yet if they are to represent an institution of two languages, they should properly represent it by knowing both languages. There's no point continuing this discussion with you if you suggest that Francophones have no skills beyond languages and if you claim that I am any less of an Anglophone than you are. Both are proofs of your ignorance (not to mention that you suggest that I am from Québec, which is also largely inaccurate).

If you want a source, here's a good read: http://www.acs-aec.ca/Polls/Poll53.pdf They refer to Stats Canada, so if you have no faith in Stats Canada, there's no point reading, there's no point quoting, there's no point even discussing anything with you. I'd gladly quote Government of Canada statistics of the population's favorable reaction towards having two official languages and so forth and so on and you'll gladly not value such references, so there's no point quoting them. I'll gladly stop discussing bilingualism with you, Leafless, if this continues as a name-calling game, I think both of us know better than to do that (so no more calling me stupid, dumb or any of that, it's against the rules as you said anyway, so please no hypocrisy). Also, I do not appreciate your racist inclinations. I want to make it clear that Francophone ≠ Québécois ≠ Seperatist. I am in complete agreement that Québec's socialism is a waste of money and it's costing other Canadians tax-money through equalization, but that has nothing to do with bilingual policies. A lot of Francophones are Québécois, a lot of Québécois are seperatists, yet very few Francophones are Seperatists. There happens to be many Francophones in Québec, and many of them work in Ottawa, but that has nothing to do with bilingual policies. There are plenty of Ontarians commuting to Ottawa for work, but they wouldn't phase you because they don't have different licence plates. People living in Québec and working in Ontario is a completely different issue and again is irrelevant to bilingualism. If a Francophone steals your job, that doesn't mean he's a seperatist, it just means that he's as much of a Canadian as you are, was taught the French language first and met the criteria for the job profile. If you do not see everyone as equal, then you need to learn tolerance. Even if the Francophone who steals your job increases a certain proportion, this does not mean he wrote the bilingual policies, nor does it mean that he advocates them. He may be a normal guy like any other Canadian who just happened to be looking for a job and happens to have learned French as a first language. Your complaint that this would increase a certain proportion does not justify being more frustrated because of losing your job to a Francophone as opposed to anyone of any other language. If you are willing to consider my source I refer to this time, it shows that bilingual Canadians, especially Ontarians average higher income than their monolingual comrades. Therefore it is wise for Canadians, especially Ontarians to take their language studies in school seriously because it's as much of a good idea to persue post-secondary studies; both increase potential income. You may not use the French language, but there are tonnes who do, and as long as plenty of people agree to use it, others can increase their potential income if they can work in that language, even if it is a minority language. There clearly is a natural demand for the French language, otherwise the private sector wouldn't demand it (they would not demand a skill if it weren't profitable). The only pressure the government can have on the private sector is the media, and they have no quotas for first language. Only skin color, sexual orientation and possibly physical disabilites. Large CRTC-licenced corporations can choose to hire only people of one language if they wish, but they have to hire enough blacks, natives, gays and maybe people in wheelchairs working for them. The CRTC is in Gatineau by the way. If you can think of a reason why I should believe that the federal government is pressuring the private sector into requiring language skills even though there would be no financial benefit for the company, please let me know. For the Federal Government to live up to the Official Language Act, they have to require bilingualism in areas where they guarantee that federal employees can work in their prefered domestic language. If there is a Francophone/Anglophne working for the feds in Ottawa/Gatineau/Neu-Braunschweig... and chooses to report in their prefered domestic language, his/her boss has to be bilingual in order to allow this right, otherwise the gov't would have to hire two managers or a manager and a translator, meaning more money is wasted. It makes sense to expect the manager within the gov't to know both languages, in order to comply with the Official Languages Act, which means that all Canadians can request service from the Federal Gov't in their prefered domestic language and that gov't employees can report in their prefered domestic language. I'll agree that the Official Languages Act could use some editing, but now that we have it, we might as well live up to it. Incomprehensible? I thought I explained myself clearly. I have had these formed opinions for a long while, so it's not "made up as I go". I'd quote more but the best sources I can get are gov't propaganda, which you don't value as a valid source, so there's no point quoting if you don't value such a source. Thanks!

'Citation please'. Say 5% of 800 000 people are unemployed gives 40 000 unemployed people. Ottawa has a really low unemployment rate, and it could not be much lower. DC has an extremely high unemployment rate, yet they only require English as a working language. I quote: Unemployment in Ottawa could not reach a much lower rate. There are few places in this world with unemployments lower than 5% (the odd place reaches as low as 2% unemployment, but there's nothing spectacular about Ottawa's job market that would make it the world leader in unemployment, even without bilingual policies). Your just plain dumb and ignorant. You are justifying claims relating to "stats Canada doing a good job at counting unemployment rate" as the last word, without knowing what they are actually talking about in the ways of Ottawa's or the national unemployment rate. The number of unemployed in Ottawa or speakig nationally or anywhere in Canada is compiled by unemployed Canadians CURRENTLY RECEIVING EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS. There could be 500,000 unemployed people in Ottawa, but if you are not currently receiving employment benefits, you are no longer a statistic and are NOT included in official unemployment numbers. In fact no one really knows what the REAL or ACTUAL unemployment rate is in Ottawa or in fact the country. The unemployment rate includes those not receiving employment insurance benefits yet are over 15 years of age and are actively seeking employment. Those no longer seeking employment, even though they may not have a job, are no longer considered unemployed. If you include disabled people who could work, you'd probably easily hit half a million in Ottawa, but that's for another discussion. This site incorporates free speech and for you to label another member 'racist' is against rules of this site. All I will admit is that Quebec incorporates racist policies making it a racist province and the Charter is a discriminatory racist document that discriminates against the White English speaking Canadian. Discriminatory racist policies language policies creates an artificial requirement for the use a phony minority official language within a federal public service that only exist because of a tax base created by ALL of Canada's tax payers and its hiring policies should reflect that FACT. Yeah, you too broke the rule by using insults and personal attacks towards me. A good example is cited above by calling me plain dumb and ignorant. I identify you as racist because of your racist comments. It would bother you more to lose your job to a person of a given background than of any other background, making you racist. Oh, you will exclusively 'admit' that someone else uses racist policies... I'll admit that you're racist. We can 'admit' anything about eachother... makes sense *sarcasm*. How can a language be phony? Sounds like you're losing it. I think it's also important that Federal Government employees know Canadian history, it's a shame such questions are not used in the screening. I'll settle on language. Democratically elected. HA-ha-ha-ha-ha, what a joke. I guess you are not aware that in any federal elction, 50% of the votes are wasted, they don't count for anything. If you want to continue to support a corrupt political system, I DON'T. Then if I don't want to continue to support a corrupt political system, you DO?! Our elections system is ridiculous and I propose volumocracy. Basically votes should be counted by how loud the participants are, in an American football style. Screaming, body-painting, cheering (and cheerleaders) and a zepplin (and more) would determine our future political leaders. That would be awsome and we could be the first country using such a system. Points would be counted and the party having the highest score wins the election. This would be proportional, that way those who care most about politics would go out as loud as they can, making the largest contributions towards their prefered party. I didn't elect those liberal leaders, but I sure benefit from the bilingual policies (and you can too if you want to). Well, I am saying 'officially' that the English is Canada's mainstream, majority commercial language. And to prove its official look at Statistic's Canada's own English language numbers. If you want to insist it is not, please provide a citation. Ok, let's flip through the dictionary, shall we? Majority does not mean official. Granted English is the majority language in pretty much everything in Canada, but it doesn't mean it should be the only language. Quebec's nationalistic concerns and the desire to be recognized as 'distinct' is one of the main reasons concerning the creation of the Charter. You have a hard time understanding Quebec's nationalism is a natural enemy of federalism. Quebec should practice what they preach and if they want remain aloof and nationalistic let them pay for it with their own money rather than break down our federal political system with corrupt, undemocratic demands. BTW- Founding nations of Canada has no legal weight as the founding nations were originally Britain and France and has nothing to do with Quebec. Founding nations is only a political courtesy as France gave away all rights to Canada. I know seperatism is a national enemy of federalism. I still see seperatism, socialism and language policies as seperate issues. I can't understand why you seem to think that seperatism, socialism and language policies are the same issue. It seems like you want to hate one big enemy and put all your frustrations into one entity. It doesn't work in this case. I will hate socialism and seperatism with you. However, bilingual policies make sense for a government managing a country of two languages. France may have given Canada away, yet the people in Canada chose to not change. This is quite interesting, because the 'French Canadians' never renounced being French, despite France abandoning them. Hypothetically, 'French Canadians' should have the right to claim French citizenship, because they never renounced being French. Also, 'French Canadians' have contributed to the founding of Canada, despite no longer belonging to France.

Your statement reflects your lack of intellect, lack of research and shows how poorly informed you are regarding federal employment statistics. And I am not going to educate you either. But I will tell you this for what it is worth. You can have 10,000 or 30,000 unemployed Ottawa residents and it will not show in the national or Ottawa's official unemployment rate. It is all federal propaganda, smoke and mirrors and allows Francophone's to flood Ottawa filling phony bilingual federal and municipal and private sector jobs, while Ottawa's real English speaking unemployment rate is well HIDDEN. No federal propaganda is refering to Ottawa's unemployment rate. There may be a little more than 40 000 unemployed Ottawans, and I doubt removing bilingual policies would lower unemployment in Ottawa. Your statement lacks intellect because you provide no reason for me to believe you. I am confident that Statistics Canada does a good job at counting unemployment rates. There may be, however a greater rate of monolingual Anglophones who are currently working part time rather than full time or have trouble getting the promotions they want because they refuse to learn French which is clearly in the job description, but that doesn't mean they struggle to find employment. Well, the point is Mahmoud or Eduardo will not form any type of meaningful statistics in Ottawa's phony bilingual job base, but Francophone's will. Its got nothing to do with ME being racist but I'am simply pointing out FEDERAL RACIST POLICIES and phony bilingualism policies, resulting in a Francophone linguistic attack on Ottawa's majority English job base. Admit it man, you're racist. Let's say Jean-François just wants a job, he has all the required skills and because he meets the job criteria better than you do they give him your job. Say he's a hard-working guy, has a family and needs the job just as much as you do. You can't blame him for losing your job, only yourself for not meeting the job description. Seriously, losing your job to another is just as unfortunate, regardless of the background of the guy taking your place. You are indeed racist. There are not very many real loyalist in Canada anymore but simply Canadians that admire our past British history that gave us our constitution. I care about our monarchy, but not to see it badly abused, for greed and power, starting with Trudeau and his discriminatory Charter to basically carry on the war pertaining to the 'Plains of Abraham' based on language and culture. I prefer now to see justice administrated by Canada becoming a republic, which will in turn allow Canadians to be masters of their destiny rather than by, a handful of politicians and judges catering to corrupt politics and Quebec political ideologies. Justice or fairness? It is just that the government expect its representatives to be fluent in both domestic languages. It may not be fair, but out of fairness becomes communism. Justice never includes "making policies to proportionally fit the population", it means treating everyone equally, in this case expecting both languages from all applicants for federal employment. That indeed is just. It would not be just if they demanded bilingualism from certain people and not others. Sounds like you don't care about the monarchy. If you did, you'd prefer to correct the system rather than burn it down. Guess what, the liberals were democratically elected since Trudeau (and before Trudeau as well), therefore these language policies have passed under a democratic system. Maybe just maybe you threw the wrong string into Google. Try languages of Canada. It doesn't have to be put in writing by Canadian authorities. All you do is look at the population statistics relating to language and figure it out for yourself. Yes it has to be put in writing to be official. There are two official languages, both being equally official. I don't see the Canadian authorities saying that one language is more official than another. Population statistics does not make anything official. There are more people who speak Portuguese than Romansh in Switzerland, yet Portuguese is not official and Romansh is official. Unless it's put in writing, it's not official. It's like saying Canadians officially speak --insert foreign language here--. There are many who do, but it's not put in writing by the officials, therefore it has no official recognition. What do you mean? Language policies are part of the Charter, right. You said: Sure language policies are part of the Charter. This has nothing to do with Québec's socialism and trying to bum as much money as possible from equalization. Québec is only receiving such a large portion due to its important population. Other provinces are receiving more per capita, but have much smaller populations. Equalization has nothing to do with language policies, so hating Québec for costing us tax money and hating Francophones for language policies (which you do because you're racist, I couldn't care less how you justify it) are two totally different issues. Because I am not a resident of Québec, I am not benefiting from equalization, so I too complain about Québec's socialism, yet I think it's fine for the federal government to require bilingualism from those representing a country of two languages.

Or loose my job to a Francophone. Seriously, you DON'T recognize how serious the situation is, government dictating discriminatory, racist policies. Oh right, that explains Canada's extremely low unemployment rate, especially in Ottawa where it is a little bellow average the national rate. If it were an issue, the unemployment rate would reflect it, yet Ottawans regarless of how few languages they speak manage to find work. Fancy that! In that case, if you lose your job to Mahmoud or Eduardo that's fine, but if you lose your job to Jean-François, it's hell on wheels! Seriously, would it bother you less if someone whose first language is not French yet speaks it fluently as opposed to someone whose first language steals your job? Maybe you're the one who is racist. By the way, if a Francophone is granted your job, it's not him/her to blame. The country must become a republic. It is really strange indeed how Quebec always shows and demonstrates disdain for the Queen and the monarchy, but love the English system for the federal power it provides to allow Quebec to abuse the system. Our system of being a Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy as been abused to the point where our political system is dysfunctional. A republic would allow real democracy to rule and not by a handful of politicians. Tell the loyalists that they should no longer remain loyal to the Queen. I personally thought about it, and I'd much rather move to a republic than have Canada become one. Canada's constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy has humongous historic and diplomatic value. I'd much rather my Canadian passport be the property of a parliamentary democracy than of a republic, for instance. I guess it wouldn't matter to you because it seems that you couldn't care less for any country beyond Canada and the United States. Obviously you don't know what a official national commercial majority language is. It's English, get over it. Tell me what an official national commercial majority language is. Threw the string into Google "between brackets" and generated zero results. You can claim whatever you want, but if it doesn't mean anything, then of course I won't know what it is. By the way, English is the majority commercial language of Canada, granted, but it has never been put in writing by Canadian authorities, therefore it's not official. Also, I don't have to "get over it", because I don't care which language is most used in the private sector. All I care is that those representing the Federal Government be bilingual. Really doctors and psychiatrist lead the general population in suicides. In Japan some commit suicide for simply being unemployed as they see it as a great humiliation. Imagine how poor Canadians must feel when they loose their home, their car, their wife and kids due to a racist language policy implemented unilaterally by their own federal government. Dentists score number one in suicide. We could go on about the silliest reasons why people end their life... boredom in the workplace, they discover that they're homosexual, they lost a loved one, they listened to heavy metal / industrial music, they watched horror flicks... there is no valid reason for ending one's life, so people ending their lives over losing a job are just as silly for doing such a stupid thing. They clearly need psychological assistance. I agree but at the expense of the rest of Canada. just check out the transfer payments and equalization payments and the many federal programs that subsidize Quebecers. Yeah, that's costing us to sponsor Québec's socialism, which I don't personally endorse, so we can agree on this much. Has nothing to do with language policies though. There is no suggesting at all, it is a fact that Western culture, highly U.S. influenced includes Canada. Don't you even remember a few years back when Quebecers mocked English Canadians for wearing those boring, dull, brown or grey or black suits. To-day Francophone's exclusively wear those boring dull, brown, grey or black business suits rather their brightly coloured, patterned clothing that they wore previously. This is only a single example. Now I must point out one of your contradictions. Previously you were ranting about how biculturalism did not reflect the Westerners' culture, therefore you were suggesting that there are multiple Canadian cultures even amongst English speaking Canadians. Now you say that there is only one culture in all of North America outside Québec. This is completely false, because there are several fully segregated cultures in both Canada and the United States. Culture goes beyond attire. There's also the fact that Québécois for the longest time were accountants for the most part in Canadian commerce, yet now there is a larger proportion of entrepreneurs in Québec. If they want to sell big, they have to sell to the majority. If they dress properly according to the majority business culture, then they can make money selling to people like you. This does not mean that they are losing their culture. No doubt there are some English speaking Ottawan's that use Quebec as a bedroom community and think they are saving money on the Quebec side but forget about the high taxes. Quebec insurance is a bit of a bargain but then again vehicle plates are expensive. I really don't care who drives the car, all I am saying is if the flood of cars coming from Quebec means millions of lost dollars are leaving Ottawa in the form of taxes and this should be regulated by Ontario in some form of an inter-provincial user tax. There is no real net gain to Ottawa with all that money going over to Quebec. BTW- This is the second time you used 'bitter' to describe trying to stand up for my rights and views as an English speaking Canadian citizen. Grow up and don't be so condescending. Seriously, you have the same rights as any Canadian citizen, so being of a certain language does not grant you any privileges. I think you need to grow up, considering your nonsense arguments about culture and your absurd generalizations. I'll agree that those living on the other side end up paying more taxes and don't come out ahead (unless they're students, because students don't pay taxes). Ottawa does not need to collect tax money from out of town residents working in Ottawa, because they are not requiring municipal services such as garbage pick up, fire safety and several other services (and if they do use Ottawan services, it's on a much smaller scale because it would only be during their drive in Ottawa to or from work). Same goes for provincial services for those coming from Québec because they are not using our public education. Ottawa benefits because we get plenty of labor from people not living in Ottawa, therefore Ottawa does not need this tax money. It makes Ottawa a more prosperous city. Mexicans bring home plenty of dollars they earned on the American side of the border, yet it fuels the American economy.

You should try reading up on the 'quiet revolution' and the FLQ concerning the hate for the British and Americans. It has every thing to do with Quebec trying to destroy Canada, all based on language and culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Revolution Yeah, there were some crazy people in the FLQ, but the FLQ consisted of a few crazy folks. The quiet revolution was a little more inclusive and was largely about religion and socialism. You are being of course silly suggesting there would be a referendum on every little detail. How is that? The U.S. does it all the time with fair representation with delegates from all independent states. This is not no party. That's the whole point the federal government is forcing especially English speaking Canadians to participate in the federal view of multiculturalism and the Charter. This would be okay if Canada was a state controlled communist country. Sounds to me like it is. The government is not forcing anyone to "participate" in anything. However, there are policies making things easier for others. Yes, Canada is a communist country, that is why you cannot leave, your consumption is limited by monthly portions, you cannot earn beyond a certain income and you are continuously reminded of how Stalin was a great man. Seriously, sounds like you know nothing about life in a communist country, or about several other things, for that matter. Or the French who are already a minority would become a micro minority. Granted, but that's just as unlikely to happen. My point was that anyone can benefit from Canada's multiculturalism if they choose to. It only changes Quebec's race. Which reminds of what French radio talk show host have been saying: ' the only babies you see popping out of maternity wards in Quebec are Black and Quebecers only have themselves to blame'. Ok, then Québec will be run by Francophones of a different race, due to Québec's incredibly low birth rate outside their immigrant population. By the way, Québec also has a sizeable Hispanic and Arab community. Do you suppose that once the original Québécois are replaced by the immigrant population, that they will continue to fight for bilingualism?

What army did Quebec use in its 'quite revolution'? Yes, strikes and unions, Quebec leads NORTH AMERICA in this regard. Québec does have more unions than anyone else, however this has nothing to do with language. The quiet revolution had a lot to do with Québec's society's secularization. It was not only about language. All in all the quiet revolution was destructive, but socialism and language policies are two seperate things. The 'Charter' and the 'Multiculturalism Act' are fraudulent in different ways. 1.- Both were implemented without Canadians being part of the process. 2.- Quebec is a demanding key player and is the culture 'official multiculturalism' accommodates to the highest degree. 3. -But the federal government excludes Quebec from being responsible to Charter requirements. Even Quebec's immigration is handled by Quebec only, with no federal influence like in other provinces, where for instance it allows uncontrolled ethnic immigration to destroy the English cultural face of Ontario's largest city Toronto with Ottawa a close second with not only ethnics but Francophone's, while Quebec remains a PRISTINE, OFFICAL FRENCH province. COME ON REPUBLIC OF CANADA!!! 1. A referendum on every detail would drive Canada into debt; 2. Anyone who chooses to benefit from multiculturalism can benefit from it. It's up to the other Canadians to use multiculturalism to their advantage (familiarity with other cultures is good because it's knowledge, history and celebration... if you don't want to be part of the party, no one is forcing you to participate). French Canadians may be greatly benefitting from multicultural policies, because they are the most sizeable minority. The only way this could change is if another minority reaches this size, if this were to happen it would most likely be either the Italian or the Chinese Canadians, or if English Canadians actually become a minority; 3. I believe it was mentioned that Alberta is inviting Germans who work in trades to come to Alberta and continue their profession in Alberta. There are plenty of Anglophone Caribbean and African blacks in Montréal. It doesn't change Québec's language policies, just like the Francophone Caribbean and African blacks in Ontariario don't change Ontariarian language policies. Oh no! You wouldn't want to lose your job to an immigrated French speaking negroid! Seriously, you're quite bitter. Republic of Canada sounds nice, but unlike you, most Canadians do not feel that they need their government to be a republic. Because English is the 'official majority commercial language of ALL of Canada, that's why. Is Quebec so far behind the times that they do not know this? Don't you think it is kind of dumb to expect everyone to speak minority residential French just for the sake of speaking French to be nice, when virtually all of North America relevant to including Canada speaks English? There is no official majority commercial language. English is one of the two official languages of Canada, and French is also used in Canadian commerce (and always has been). Though this is almost completely limited to Québec, it's still a legitimate commercial language. I think everyone should try to know one or two phrases in many languages, but if one goes to Québec, it makes sense that they be expected to speak French. Going to Québec and expecting to be served in a language other than French is like doing the same in any French-speaking country. If you're lucky, you'll be served in your language, but you can't expect it. You mean you never heard of anyone committing suicide over bilingualism and job loss (either in Quebec related to the English purge or the federal government) or being murdered in Quebec's 'quite revolution'? The Quiet Revolution is one thing, language policies are another. The only thing the Feds did was Trudeau getting involved with the October Crisis, and that was after the Quiet Revolution had ended. Seriously though, anyone committing suicide over a language policy, I hate to say it, has serious problems beyond languages. Life is much more expensive (well, priceless for that matter) than the cost of learning a language, so anyone throwing their life away over a language policy has serious psychological issues and should get immediate counselling. No one ever segregated Quebec or the Aboriginals. They choose to be segregated by their own free choice, by their own hand and have FAILED to build successful societies and in turn whine and complain and blame Canada for their failure. Go figure! Don't be foolish Quebec has been assimilated and copycat English culture and lifestyle and entertainment into their own LANGUAGE, the only component of culture they kept (apparently) as a weapon to force Canada into supporting their society. The Aboriginals have failed at handling their resources, that's why I wish we could come up with a one-time agreement as a permanent solution with the Aboriginals. Throwing them wads of Bordens will not ease their problems. Québec doesn't seem to be failing at their objectives. Sounds like you don't know a thing about Québec culture. The most obvious example I can give is there are different foods typical to French-speaking Canadians that are seldom found amongst English-speaking Canadians (if they are found amongst English-speaking Canadians, they've been adopted from the Francophones). There is a lot to "French Canadian" culture, and the fact that you are unaware of this yet somehow have encountered many Francophones in the workplace means that you'd most likely be amongst the worst candidates for an HR position. French Canadians have a different behavior, different styles and different values than English Canadians (the list goes on). You seem to be quite inclusive in terms of this English-speaking world, because only the United States of America matters in terms of the English language (it's because of the USA that the English language is normally the most popular foreign language in non-English speaking countries and it's the USA who exports their culture to the world). American mass media is translated in the French language in Québec, but that is still irrelevant to English Canadian culture (or are you suggesting that American culture is English Canadian culture?). You talk as if federal jobs are the ONLY jobs Quebecers come pouring into Ottawa everyday, when you know its ALL jobs, including construction and trades and sales, food industry, automotive and all others, spread across the employment spectrum in majority English speaking Ottawa,Ontario. Quebecers take many and put the English on welfare in their own majority English speaking province and you turn around and say Francophone's have not been assimilated. I don't really know how authorities in Ontario can tolerate the financial rape, pertaining to job loss to another province, especially one that protects and has rules and regulations to protect Quebec jobs from FORIGN CANADIAN'S FROM ANOTHER PROVINCE. What a joke!!!! Are you willing to work in such sectors? Ontario benefits from the labor. Think about all the illegal labor in the United States of America which is fueling the American economy. The illegals are working jobs that the nationals are not willing to do. If Ontario gets this labor from outside, Ontario's economy keeps strong. I've never heard of Ontarian electricians complaining that another Canadian stole their job, and it's thanks to Québécois labor in Ontariario that helps Ontariario stay on top. Besides, at least a third of teachers at Ottawan English language schools live in Québec, so this is not a language issue. What automotive industry in Ottawa? You mean the garages? No one speaks French in those work-places to my knowledge. I can't think of any auto plants in Ottawa, I thought they were all in Southern Ontario, and if the Québécois take those jobs, they have to move to Ontario and pay Ontarian taxes because of the distance. If I were hiring salesmen at car dealership in Ottawa, I'd prefer bilingual candidates because then they could easily sell cars to a larger segment of the regional population. There are also people with dual residence (have a foot in both provinces) and would much rather bear Québec plates in order to pay hellaciously less in car insurance, so seeing Québec plates does not tell you everything about the driver, you're just bitter.

So why should I speak yours? Why should anyone? My point was that it's a good idea to try to speak to a person in their language as much as possible, even the slightlest effort will be appreciated. Leafless said that he wouldn't speak French in the QC because he's not of their culture, and I say that this stupid excuse can be used on either side. If someone goes to Québec, they should try to speak French, just as if someone from any multilingual country were to go to a region where a language other than their own is most spoken should try to speak the regional language. Sure, you could stay home and expect to be spoken to in your prefered language at home, but if you go to a place where another language is most spoken, it is best to put some effort in using the other language (even if it's with a phrase book, requiring no studies of the given language). There's a laugh. In any large organization, and certainly in government, by far the most incompetent department or group is HR. Government HR is notoriously incompetent, fails to achieve any of its stated goals, consumes endless time, and makes it almost impossible to hire, promote, or get rid of the people you want to hire, promote or get rid of. I never said the HRSDC was competent. I was talking about universities, and education is a provincial issue, having nothing to do with HRSDC. University professors advocate being culturally sensitive in the work place (towards people of different sexes, religions, sexual orientation, physical capabilities, and cultural background). Because Canada is a multicultural country, it is important that we respect people of different backgrounds in order to have harmony in the workplace. Not being willing to accomodate others at all makes for terrible managerial skills. And yet we have endless whining from Quebecers in government and Francophones in general when some mom and pop shop in the Byward market doesn't serve them in French. Actually, I haven't heard any of this whining. If a small scale shop can make good money operating in just one language (whether domestic or foreign), then it's fine. If they can serve clients in other languages, then they'll most likely increase revenue. That's the reason for the private sector's thirst for bilingual candidates. And yet, in some federal departments, agencies and groups more than half the employees are Francophones, even though Francophones only make up about 22% of the population. I'm sure that doesn't bother YOU, of course. Well, there's nothing I can do to change that, so I'm not going to get frustrated by this fact. If I get a job with the Federal Government, I would be counted as Anglophone AND Francophone, so I wouldn't really help lever the proportion in your favor. If most skilled applicants are Francophone, then most empoyed candidates will most likely be Francophone. The only thing Anglophones can do is make sure they have the required skills (often including bilingualism) and applying for federal positions. If most applicants are bilingual Anglophones, then most employed candidates will most likely be bilingual Anglophones. If monolingual Anglophones are not going to persue the required skills for such positions, you might as well stop complaining about the disproportion.

Who needs the Queen's support to revolt? Anyway, Canada is well on the way of becoming a republic. 'The Charter of Rights and Freedoms' has effectively allowed judicial supremacy, which undermines meaningful parliamentary politics which is the heart and soul of our monarchical heritage. Even Sec.33, pertaining to the 'the notwithstanding clause' will not and does not reflect our monarchical heritage, because again the courts will define the parameters and validity relating to its application. We should be embracing embracing republican inspired reforms, including democratization of parliamentary procedures, proportional representation, the curtailment of the concentration of powers in the prime ministers office and a triple E-elected, equal and effective senate. You don't need the Queen's support? You and what army will revolt? Without the right to bear arms, you can't take down the government too easily (the most aggressive Canadians become nowadays is by leading strikes). I have no grudge against minorities, but I do against those who try to destabilize the unity of the country with outrageous demands and who are constantly demanding more rights from our federal government to bolster the political status of their minority. Minorities are not demanding more rights, because rights have already been granted. They're simply insisting that Canada live up to its multicultural and bilingual policies. For what real reason as I am not part of that culture. I am there for business purposes and as far as I know, like any other business if they want my money they should speak to me in the majority commercial language of Canada, English. It is my decision where I do my business or even where I live in Canada. Everything is a business proposition as far as I am concerned and English is the official mainstream commercial language, a language all Canadians should be familiar with. They are not part of your culture, so why should they speak your language?! A little bit of appreciation towards another's culture goes a long way. This is actually taught in human resources classes in universities, so it seems that according to such experts, you'd make a terrible businessman. If businesses in Québec can make good money without guaranteeing service in the English language, then you cannot expect them to do so. YES, to both of your assertions and I will not elaborate. Yikes, sounds like you know some dangerous people. These are not the Canadians I know (who are just like Americans, only unarmed and carry public medicare). Multiculturalism has many flaws including the absence of compelling minorities to conform to the cultural characteristics of Canada and not trying to undermine these characteristics with their own. This is serious buisness. Most nations do have sub-cultures, no problem. These segregated minorities are becoming of and forming Canadian sub-cultures because they eventually differ from the culture celebrated in the land of their ancestors. I'm for integration, but against assimilation. If a country offers two languages, you can't expect everyone to pick yours. We have already covered this a few times already. Important jobs or any kind of job in Quebec are mostly all held by Francophone's. Even pertaining to federal employment in Quebec, English speaking employees are denied their proper representation. It is common knowledge Quebec protects its own job market. Just count the Quebec vehicles pouring over to Ontario every morning compared to the vehicles coming into Quebec at the same time of day. What a joke! Most jobs in Québec are held by Francophones because most people in Québec are Francophone. The reason being for the Québec vehicles coming into Ontariario everyday is because most of the good labor in the Ottawa is government related, and most of the Federal Goverment jobs are in Ottawa. There was an agreed quota for having at least 25% of federal jobs in the NCR in Gatineau, however this agreement has been hardly respected. Regardless, at least 75% of federal jobs are in Ontariario, so of course there will be more people from the other side driving into Ottawa than the other way around. If it were the other way around, say 75+% of Fedral Government jobs were in Gatineau, you'd have plenty of Ontariarian cars pouring into Québec every morning.

Yeah, feel free to start Canada's first civil war or revolt. Who would you revolt against? Your own gov't? If the Canadian people attack their gov't over the issue of official language, you probably wouldn't get the Queen's support, so Canada would become a republic. But with what would you revolt? Most firearms are illegal in Canada. If you were so patriotic yourself, you wouldn't hold such a grudge against minorities. If you go to a Walmart in Hull, you should be culturally sensitive and try to speak French. I'd go into an Arabic shop despite not knowing any Arabic. If I find something I like, provided I can read the price and can identify the product, I might purchase something there (provided it appeals to me). I'm sure the ethnic shops have really good prices on foreign spices. Essentially, people working in ethnic shops still can communicate to a certain level in a domestic language (especially the younger ones because they typically do their studies in Canada). Minorities are not out to get you. You seem to not trust people doing things in other languages around you. I've been around people of different backgrounds and they would speak to eachother in their foreign language, yet I did not feel threatened by this. I'd say either become tolerant or learn everyone's language, because you'll only be getting more minorities in Canada in proportion to the population considering the low national birth rate. The minorities are not out to get you. They just want to benefit from their segregated communities. I am disappointed in this site for not telling me that I've been reported. Nazi-type language policy? Is anyone dying because of this language policy? Does anyone get death threats for not agreeing on the provincial language? Seriously, nice laugh though. I don't think minority language speakers need your permission to speak their prefered language. Many companies (mostly in Québec and some in Ontariario and Neu-Braunschweig) use French as a working language. As long as they can submit reports to the government in either domestic language, then it's fine. Why should multiculturalism fail if minority groups become more powerful? What's wrong with a Nation having sub-cultures? A referendum won't happen because the feds aren't considering agreeing on only one language. Oh no, a Francophone might steal your job! Seriously, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Canadian job market thirsts for bilingual candidates. Any monolingual gov't employee should be able to figure that their job will eventually require bilingualism, giving them more than enough time to learn their second domestic language in adult high schools on evenings or weekends. English were flooding the Québec job market? The people or the language? (because with you I can't be sure). Many important jobs in Québec require bilingualism, so it's just like in Ontariario.

The federal Charter discriminates against majority English speaking Canadians by providing special attention to Quebec's French 'collective rights' i.e. 'official languages' and entrenching them into the Canadian constitution, while ignoring English speaking Canadian collective rights, that could include, the notion, this might not be such a good idea to entrench these minority French rights. This equates to the failure by the federal government to implement a national referendum to address this all important concern. Quebec never signed the the new Canadian Constitution and to impress its use of Bill-101 or otherwise called the French Language Charter, has used the 'notwithstanding clause' to prevent Quebec from honouring its commitment to the new Canadian Constitution. This is outright discriminating against the people of Canada and the other official language of Canada and again illustrates the lack of federal leadership to force Quebec to honour Charter requirements. Yeah well... why did no other province choose to use the notwithstanding clause? Adding a language does not subtract from another. You seem to be convinced that it's French OR English. I say it's French AND English. Just because someone else can be served in their preferred domestic language does not mean that you can't. This will be my last post trying to form any kind of significant debate with you as you are an obvious troll. You have been reported. Shucks, I've been reported for being in disagreement with Leafless... the language fairness police might come after me! Thanks for the laugh.

Great, you have finally admitted language is a component of culture. I did not "admit" that one is a component of the other. I said there's a many to many relation, saying one is not bound by the other. In other words, you do not lose your culture if you ad to your list of spoken languages, and you do not have to be of a certain background in order to learn a certain language. There would be no charter if it weren't for multiculturalism? If it weren't for diversity, we wouldn't have any rights? I doubt it. Can you quote these sections of the Charter? As I said, I skimmed through the Québec charter of rights and found hardly any mention of language (just that one is to not be discriminated based on a bunch of things including language and that one has a right to an interpreter in court if they cannot speak the judge's language(s) ), none that suggested language supremacy or any of the likes. If you can find any discriminating parts of Québec's or Canada's charter, please quote. You still do not understand in Richmond B.C. you have a foreign minority language (Chinese) trying to establish precedence over the official language English. Region means nothing as far as discrimination is concerned. Quebec is discriminating against the official language of Canada, English, which has Charter protection. How would you like all other provinces in Canada to develop their own language Charter, to keep those provinces English, as part of their culture? This would remove the danger of French or any other language from forming any kind of precedence within majority English speaking provinces. In BC, the foreign language is not trying to gain status; people are simply agreeing on using it. This does not change the language used within the provincial government. Québec is using one of the two official languages, and as long as a provincial government agrees on a given official language, there is no problem. Thanks to the charter, Québec is forced to subsidize public schools using the English language as an academic language of instruction and a few other things in English, so the Charter of Rights is preventing Québec from completely eliminating the English language from within its parameters.

Languages are a skill. Despite being raised in multiple languages, one still has to learn their first languages. Knowing them properly is a skill that one has to work towards in order to achieve. I beg to differ on the second point (only marginally, but I still beg to differ). People fluent in more than one language before reaching puberty are proven to be more capable in not only languages, but in mathematics and logics (and analytical work). As for physical capacities, I will not argue that multiple languages will make someone a better swimmer. Either way, multiple languages may not directly contribute towards management, law or lifeguarding in itself, but employees representing an institution should be able to communicate fluently in the languages of the institution (bilingual for federal gov't, Neu-Braunschweig gov't, Ottawan municipal gov't including certain public pools and a few other cases). Not applicable because lawyers and doctors are self-employed. The government can contract their research, so the government does not actually need doctors nor lawyers as "government employees". They can be contracted, and therefore bilingualism would not be an issue. There are great managers within the bilingual sample of applicants, so this shouldn't be an issue. If a monolingual manager is sooooooooooo good, then maybe the government can justify the costs of French language training, because monolingualism can always be cured. Seriously though, no government has ever been "efficient". Tax money has been spoiled on the silliest things in every government. That's why I favor a smaller gov't, that as much work be outsourced as possible, and then the remaining government employees be bilingual in order to properly represent the federal gov't.

Language and race have a many to many relation. Though language and culture have high correlation, a culture can be celebrated in any language, and a language can be spoken by people of many cultures. I will acknowledge that there is a correlation between language and culture, however one is not a component of the other. A good example are the Native Canadians out West... most have lost their indigenous languages and only speak English, yet they have not lost their culture. I am against government intervening with culture, however I am not against government intervention in terms of languages. I quote myself, because perharps you didn't read it properly the first time: No one benefited from official multiculturalism because it doesn't mean anything. It's just a self-declared title. One can consider themselves what they want, it doesn't mean that anything will result from this. Ontario and Québec pretty much are Canada. Between the two provinces you get more than two thirds of Canada's population. Alberta may fuel Canada's economy, but it has much smaller importance politically (other than the fact that they're pretty good at voting conservative). Do you want to please supply proof, to support your ridiculous assertions. The demand for bilingualism depends on the number of people asking for it, not for a government self-declared title. No, you are wrong. It would not be fair to argue if French is a majority language in Québec, because Québec is a region and French is the majority language of that region. The law 101 in Québec emphasizes the majority language of the region and sets all other languages as equal (second to the majority language of the region), being completely fine (that is, provided you do not disagree with BC's proposed language law). BC's proposed language law is just as discriminating as QC's law 101. It doesn't matter if the chosen language is a majority/minority/foreign language, it is still emphasized, leaving all other languages second to it. Besides, Québec could not fully rule out the English language from their province because of federal policies (they still provide education in the English language and so forth and so on), whereas BC has the freedom to rule out any use of foreign languages if they choose to.

Anyone voting in the next Québec provincial elections (and anyone else interested in the topic) should follow this link (http://tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=62). Good laughs. Very convincing independant rep.

Non-bilingual people need not to apply for jobs requiring bilingualism, so it screens out the few, senseless ones who apply despite not having the required skills. People are not hired based on their performance, they are hired based on how good they can convince the employer that they are the best. I would not hire a "proclaimed professional" who has no skills beyond languages... unless the position was for translating. I would only hire qualified judges, lifeguards, etc. who have the skills beyond languages to practice their profession. However, many jobs in the NRC make use of bilingualism, so if I were the City of Ottawa and I were to hire Lifeguards, I would certainly first screen out those who do not have the capacity/knowledge to save a drowning person, but I would also prefer bilingual candidates. I would relocate employed monolingual candidates to the West end and to a few other areas if I cannot staff all positions with bilingual applicants because otherwise the City of Ottawa lifeguards need language skills to communicate with clients and to document certain things in both languages. You seem to think that demanding bilingualism makes for an unqualified remaining sample of applicants, whereas only those who are qualified should be applying in the first place. The government manages to find qualified bilingual applicants, so there is no loss in demanding bilingualism.

Happy St. Harper's Day! Seriously, if it weren't for the liberals, how could we define conservatism? Increase on military spending was thanks to His Satanic Majesty Paul Martin, so the pot of gold had already been spilled by Harprechaun's arrival.

Shucks, I like George W. Bush (he's one of my heros... I love his internal policies). I also like Stephen Harper, but alas I am not the biggest fan of his "supposive" posse, who are true Liberals at heart. As for the war, I'll have to agree with some of the earlier comments saying that the war is inevitable, and will be on our territory or theirs, so might as well nip it in the bud and make sure our streets are safe. Shucks, I'll agree with Anne Coulter that we should reserve the right to deliver democracy to the world, because all other currently existing systems are oppresive.

jbg, Be warned if you ever do move to Canada though, there are some expats within our (current) borders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-XbZL7Lns Speaking Hespaniol is just as useful in Québec as speaking American, so learning it in your end of the woods before coming would never hurt. I'll have to agree about China... I'll learn Mandarin when I run out of other languages to learn, but even then that's unlikely to happen and I probably won't reap the rewards for the efforts in this lifetime. China is currently at number five in world economies, but they'll likely fall behind soon enough. The USSR was somehow close to ruling the entire world during the cold war, but they still didn't succeed. God bless the West

Nice statements up there, but if you care about facts and truth, please post references.