Harper=Boring Anglo - Ignatieff=Sophisticated Foreigner

[blueblood]

Hypocrisy? No, we in Canada live in a civilized society.

The test of a society's civility is how the majority treats its minority. English-Canadians, I must admit, are civilized.

We must be civilized to put up with that gong show gov't in Quebec. Stalinist Language policy, Stalinist fiscal policy, and "Reasonable Accomodation". Do Quebecer's have rocks in their heads putting that kind of policy in place? If English Canada tried anything that goes on in Quebec we'd be called incompetant managers and bigots to the nth degree.

Giving special status to minorities is the stupidest thing Canada has ever done. This everyone is equal but some are more equal than others commie crap has got to go.

[August1991]

We must be civilized to put up with that gong show gov't in Quebec. Stalinist Language policy, Stalinist fiscal policy, and "Reasonable Accomodation". Do Quebecer's have rocks in their heads putting that kind of policy in place? If English Canada tried anything that goes on in Quebec we'd be called incompetant managers and bigots to the nth degree.

Giving special status to minorities is the stupidest thing Canada has ever done. This everyone is equal but some are more equal than others commie crap has got to go.

blueblood, compared to a KKK lynching in Alabama, I'll put your rant into the column of "civilized, polite English Canadian". Edited January 13, 2009 by August1991

[blueblood]

blueblood, compared to a KKK lynching in Alabama, I'll put your rant into the column of "civilized, polite English Canadian".

and i'll put the actions of the Quebec gov't regarding non french speakers in the same column as Southern State's gov't vs. Blacks and The guy who took the Quebec gov't to the UN in the same column as Rosa Parks.

[August1991]

and i'll put the actions of the Quebec gov't regarding non french speakers in the same column as Southern State's gov't vs. Blacks and The guy who took the Quebec gov't to the UN in the same column as Rosa Parks.

There were no lynchings in Quebec. There was the FLQ, and Rene Levesque referred to Westmount as White Rhodesia. (Is Westmount the minority that you meant?)

To compare the experience of minority English people in Quebec to the experience of minority blacks in the US South is beyond absurd.

----

Let me state again: We in Canada have explicitly referred to minority rights. For example, our Constitution forces the federal state to use two languages. The US Constitution has no similar compunction.

More broadly, in State references to religion, we in Canada have resolved minority rights differently from Americans.

Edited January 13, 2009 by August1991

[bush_cheney2004]

I don't entirely understand your response, b_c but your mention of the BNA Act is a good starting point to clarify matters.

There is no mention of God, religion or language in the US Constitution. In the BNA Act, religion and language play a prominent role.

Good, then we agree that Trudeau wasn't so exceptional in this regard.

We in Canada have explicitly recognized minorities and given them special status. Our federal system, with one province having a majority of Francophones, is designed to protect this difference. Moreover, our Constitution protects two legal systems and our federal Supreme Court explicitly ensures that three judges will come with a Civil Code background.

Morover, Canada fosters the racist concept of "visible minorities", which may have lead to your uneven description of Obama's parentage.

In short, the history of minority rights in Canada is markedly different from the US. What we practice in Canada would be called Jim Crow or Apartheid in the US. OTOH, in Canada, assimilation and integration are pejorative words. In Canada, "school bussing" would refer to the right of francophone or Catholic kids to go to a school reserved for them.

'Tis Canada's business to do as it pleases, including a prime minister shuffle based on such a narrow perspective.

Last point? We in Canada have avoided a civil war and we have a national anthem sung in two languages.

...yet you are still fighting the same battle after all these years.

[bush_cheney2004]

and i'll put the actions of the Quebec gov't regarding non french speakers in the same column as Southern State's gov't vs. Blacks and The guy who took the Quebec gov't to the UN in the same column as Rosa Parks.

Yes...could just as easily have been separate water fountains. As for the KKK, one need only look to Manitoba or Saskatchewan.

[madmax]

I was just asking a question, there's no need for the constant smart assed remarks. Is there anyone mature on this board or is it full of unemployed urban protesters?

I find it amusing that you follow up your request with a "smart assed remark".

I find it interesting that a rural protestor hides behind his union for financial support.

[madmax]

So you have a taped interview with Mr. Ignatieff that states he'd lost interest in Canada? Dan Acroyd has lived in the US most of his life but promotes Canada every chance he gets. He's from here, Kingston; and even gave his daughter that name. You don't have to live here to love it, or have a vested interest. Canadian spirit has no borders.

We should be thrilled that we were able to find such a brilliant man to lead us in trouble times.

You are oozing with syrupy goodness of the LPC and Iggy. I like far less syrup on my pancakes, but some people like to smother their pancakes with Maple Syrup.

maple syrup

Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees. In Canada and the United States it is most often eaten with waffles and pancakes. It is sometimes used as an ingredient in baking, the making of candy, preparing desserts, or as a sugar source and flavoring agent in making beer. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup.

[blueblood]

There were no lynchings in Quebec. There was the FLQ, and Rene Levesque referred to Westmount as White Rhodesia. (Is Westmount the minority that you meant?)

To compare the experience of minority English people in Quebec to the experience of minority blacks in the US South is beyond absurd.

----

Let me state again: We in Canada have explicitly referred to minority rights. For example, our Constitution forces the federal state to use two languages. The US Constitution has no similar compunction.

More broadly, in State references to religion, we in Canada have resolved minority rights differently from Americans.

Why is it absurd? English Minority rights and Immigrant minority rights have been and are actively being trampled just the same as black rights were trampled in the US. The only difference was the Americans took it a lot further than Quebecers, nevertheless, rights and the freedom to choose are being hampered in Quebec, as they were in the southern states. For somebody who champions the freedom to choose and individualism, I find it funny that you are defending in essence a racist, backward, and fiscally inept government.

In Canada we took the cowards way out of minority rights. In America everyone is the same. In Canada, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. In Canada, the majority is held back, in the US, the minority is brought up. IMO, MLK didn't want to punish the white population in the US, he wanted to be on the same level as them. In Canada, we want to punish the majority class and bring them down to the bottom so everyone shares the same misery.

Southern Americans thought that Northern Americans commenting on the experience of Blacks in the Southern States in the 50's and 60's was absurd as well. If the gov't of Alberta even attempted reasonable accomodation to protect it's "cowboy culture", they would be tarred and feathered by the rest of Canada including Quebec. Why does Quebec get a free pass when it comes to impeding the right to choose? To say the gov't of Quebec is "civilized" is flat out proposterous.

Edited January 13, 2009 by blueblood

[jdobbin]

There were no lynchings in Quebec.

No. Just bombings and kidnappings.