caesar

Great post playfulfellow. That is the brunt of the problem; we in western Canada are fed up to the teeth paying out tax money for bilingualism when Quebec and its language laws and separation threats does not show any respect for the ROC. We are spending tax dollars that could be put to better use where it will be appreciated.

Well that need does not exist here in BC; not enough students for it to be economically feasible. So quit your whining.

Public education in the second language should only be publicly funded where a need exists or is wanted and is economically feasible. But that is not really the question. The question is where the two schools are available who choses where the student can attend; the parents or the government. Choice or dictatorship???? We vote student/parent choice.

My ancestors, pioneers in this country were Scottish and Irish. Bring on the Highland Games. We have as much history as the French.

That is not a tax; it just means they lose a hand out; they still would be taxed very lightly if at all. They get gst rebates; something I have never seen.

She is English; spell it right; the way she spells it. Elisabeth may be the French equivalent but since her birth certificate spell it with the z that is the correct spelling. If my parents named me William; I would want and expect to be called William not Quilliam or whatever is a French equivalent.

Where besides Quebec are any French schools banned??? We have French Immersion schools (private). We just do not fund French schools as there is not enough students to make it a viable choice outside of Quebec. Quebec is the only province that makes laws to cram Frem nch down English throats or immigrants that realize that English is the language they will need in the future for their children to have a freer choice of employment in North America

That made Canada officially biligual it had nothing to do with the ridiculous laws in Quebec.

Queen Elizabeth II of Canada by the way; use a z not a s

Much of what you said is true; too many flip flops but I hardly think that BC is now or ever was one of the poorest provinces. Geesh, let's not exaggerate. Klein did give a bunch of Alberta's welfare bums a one way ticket to BC but I imagine most of them are either working or one of our street people. I generally do not give money to beggars but one boy; cried good tears (probably here trying to get acting parts) and said he wanted to go home to Alberta; so I tossed him a couple bucks and said go! The USA lumber problems has contributed greatly to our recent fall from wealth. That is now being cleared up enough for the mills to start re hiring.

Yes, you have been given that right. We English speaking Canadians in the west that have more viable reasons to learn a second language other than French have that right. too. Why should we waste time and money learning a language that we will never use. Perhaps if French speaking Quebeckers were willing to give us the respect and right to learn in whichever language that we find most suits our needs in Quebec; we would have more sympathy for your minority status. The natives of this country had more rights to their original language having status than did French Canadians. They do not whine separate every 5 minutes. Grow up Quebec; get with the program. Love us or leave us; we are tired of the whining and our federal governments bribes and peace offerings at the expense of the ROC.

A monopoly, is not one company that owns several different restaurants. Monopolies are a concern not because of optional goods such as pepsi. It is necessary to control and disallow them due to the necessities in life. Such as all the grocery stores, all the home heating products; all the electrical services; all the car fuel companies owned by one source. Your comparisons are inaccurate , irrelevant and silly

I completely disagree that a two tiered system would work better or shorten waiting times. There is still the same number of doctors. If necessary, I would prefer a small user pay fee to offset costs. That may make some who run to the doctor for non important items to have a second thought. We already have many services that are basically privatized in BC. Dental, eye check ups, chiropractors, physiotherapy. I think these doctors use this high cost for physiotherapy to have patients agree to pay for their own MRIs; cheaper than the hundred dollars a week for physio. (We do have private MRIs with the loophole that you pay for the use of the clinic not the MRI. Waiting times are used to persuade the patient to pay for his own MRI. Whether the government pays them for the procedure; I am not sure. Technically, if it is necessary, you are only paying for the use of the clinic.

English Canada learning French to make Quebec happy mis a lame reason. It just won't work. Quebec is like the 4 year old with temper tantrums; the more you give in to them the more they throw them knowing they will get their own way. Time for them to grow up and act like equal citizens. Believe me, if they ever do separate; they will learn to deal with English very quickly if they wish to survive and trade with others. There will be no transfers from the "have provinces"

We are better to trade between ourselves. Why trade with a country that doesn't respect the rules. Our trade has grown because American companies are picking off all our Canadian companies here in Canada. It is too one sided and has been getting worse with trade disputes. whenever we can oproduce something better and cheaper than the USA they scream dumping. If they don't like NAFTA rules they go to an American court and make new rules to suit them. It is BS. If you want to eat and have a place to hang your hat; you may well have to deal with corporations. The burder of taxes do not fall on a person; Corporations pay taxes on profits from underpayed employees

What are you talking about????? Corporations are large companies owned by individuals. shareholders, etc. The employees are usually just that; employees. OPf course we can and do tax corporations. As for free trade; dump it. We had much better trade relationships with American people and companies before joining. The USA doesn't abide by the rules; it just keeps changing them to make them more one sided

Who said he couldn't speak French. Why should it not be his parents choice what type of schooling is best for their child. Do we not live in a democracy?

Since we keep being told that one of our big problems is a lack of enough doctors; where are these private care doctors coming from???? Why did our provincial government give doctors a huge average 50 thousand a year raise while cutting wages or jobs for other medical workers????? Sounds like a good way to create a bad atmosphere in the workplace and slow down things. Alberta is not the only province that has snuck in private health care; we have that here in BC too. We keep our mouths shut as some day we may need to break the bank to save our life using the private system. I think a lot of the problems with health care is caused by the games played between provincial and federal governments. Provincial governments can't try to put the squeeze on Ottawa for more money if things are running well. So where is the incentive for them to do so? For this reason I would like to see our national health care managed and paid for by one central government.

Quebec authorities need to stop looking at their dumb rules and regulations and let parents decide which is best for their child in the primary grades; in secondary school; kids can choose for themselves. The children deserve to get the best education possible in a language they understand. Promote learning French do not mandate. Willing learners learn much easier. I think more people would be willing to try to learn French if it wasn't being stuffed down our throats.

Democracy is only as good as those who support it. Sure inequities have and will exist in democracies but with all citizens acting in good faith we can work towards fixing those inequities. What you seem to suggest would be better Hugo, is the old west. Where everyone took the law into their own hands. perhaps, look s good on tv but in reality it was probably very scary and dangerous times.

I believe it is still necessary to have at least 2 years of a second language to attend university. That second language need not be French. I will repeat; in Eastern Canada or for those planning on working in Eastern Canada; French would be a good choice. However, in BC and probably other western provinces; it would probably be a smarter choice to chose one of the more common second languages used here and internationally in trade. I read somewhere that more people from China have learned English than those who speak English in the USA. Someone said; we are taught much in school that we never use; I agree, but I think that should change and teach our children more relevant things. We need to look at some of the mandatory subjects taught. I loved math but what use is geomety, trigonomety, or calculus for many? Better to teach more economic courses and leave those subjects as options. I did not include algebra; I have found that using the principles of algebra can be used to figure out many things.

if it were illegal to tax a tax; they make one a levy, license or some other special name.

No I am not clueless; are you. yes we should but one that we will have use of; those languages are Japanese or Chinese. If Japanese or Chinese children can learn; so can we. Mandarin is particular often required for many jobs here in BC. Why learn a language we will probably never have use for nor anyone to practise our skills on???

They are already doing that to seniors; if you saved enough to have enough money to enjoy your retirement years you start losing government pensions and benefits.