Language in Federal Politics

[August1991]

Pierre Trudeau, Wilfrid Laurier, Brian Mulroney and Louis St-Laurent could speak elegantly in French and English.

Among these four, Trudeau changed the rules and made French a pre-requisite for federal office. Since Trudeau, Canadians will not elect a Prime Minister who does not speak both languages. Parties will not select a leader who is unilingual.

Stephen Harper's French? It is better, IMV, than Stéphane Dion's English. (Harper knows his limitations whereas Dion tries too much. The comparison is not entirely fair. Harper has fewer voters to seek in French than Dion seeks in English. Then again, for a WASP like Harper to seek votes in French Quebec is far harder than what Dion faces in English Canada.)

Prediction? Assuming Dion doesn't win this election, Gerard Kennedy will not be the federal Liberal leader since Kennedy doesn't speak French. OTOH, Ignatieff and Rae both speak French and Rae's French is delightful - almost non-English. Ignatieff's French is erudite whereas Harper's French is the plodding, honest French of a capable Englishman.

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As much as one criticizes Trudeau, there is something fundamentally good/intriguing about a man who raised the stakes of an election and changed a tradition. Since Trudeau, if you want to be PM of Canada, you have to speak two languages.

In general, I think that's a good thing. Dictators tend to be unilingual (Mao, Hitler; Napoleon and Stalin were exceptions) and knowing a second language is hardly a guarantee of an open-mind (Putin learned German). Yet, thinking in a different way often opens up one's mind.

I think Harper and Chretien are examples of people who have benefitted from learning a different language.

In the future, a Canadian Prime Minister must not only speak English and French, but also speak them well.

Edited September 28, 2008 by August1991

[Argus]

As much as one criticizes Trudeau, there is something fundamentally good/intriguing about a man who raised the stakes of an election and changed a tradition. Since Trudeau, if you want to be PM of Canada, you have to speak two languages.

In general, I think that's a good thing. Dictators tend to be unilingual (Mao, Hitler; Napoleon and Stalin were exceptions) and knowing a second language is hardly a guarantee of an open-mind (Putin learned German). Yet, thinking in a different way often opens up one's mind.

I think Harper and Chretien are examples of people who have benefitted from learning a different language.

In the future, a Canadian Prime Minister must not only speak English and French, but also speak them well.

The problem with that is that ones ability to speak multiple languages is unrelated to ones ability to govern effectively. And it limits your selection by removing 95% of the population from consideration. Yes, Trudeau was bilingual, and we have a massive debt load as his lasting gift to us. Chretien was bilingual, and as crooked as his face. Martin was bilingual, and indecisive. Brian Mulroney was bilingual, and a weasel. Joe Clark was bilingual, and a pompous fool. Bob Rae's "delightful" French didn't assist him much when he ran up the largest deficit in Ontario's history and pissed off everyone from the far left to the far right. Is it your contention that the quality of federal leadership has improved over the last 30 years now that they're all bilingual?