Keepitsimple Posted February 3, 2007 Report Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) February 3, 2007 Lost in translation By MICHAEL COREN There is an elephant sitting in the corner of the room and the political elites are pretending it isn't there. Or to put it more directly, the Tory attack ads on Stephane Dion are missing the point. The most obvious problem about the leader of the Liberal party is that his English is appalling and he is often entirely unintelligible. There. That which we are not supposed to mention. It's okay to lambaste English-Canadian politicians for their lack of French, even if they represent completely English-speaking ridings, but never point out that a man who wants to rule Canada and speak to and for 20 million Anglophones has an often-impenetrable accent and a bewildering vocabulary. Link: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/...pf-3514697.html Edited February 6, 2007 by Greg Quote Back to Basics
Leafless Posted February 3, 2007 Report Posted February 3, 2007 This is all the more reason majority English should be used throughout the country, as the only official 'commercial' language, including parliament. The way it is currently, Canadian society is providing the resources for minority francophone's to remain even more aloof than ever to cater to and keep alive their minority, obsolete language. Quote
jbg Posted February 3, 2007 Report Posted February 3, 2007 February 3, 2007 Lost in translation By MICHAEL COREN *** In 2004 a Jewish school in St. Laurent, Que. was firebombed, the terrorists leaving a note saying the attack was in response to the policies of the then-Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Dion publicly condemned the outrage but said it was wrong "because not all Jews support Sharon's policies." The logic of the statement, of course, was that the firebombing would have been acceptable if all Jews did in fact support Sharon. Dion and his people went into a political spin and explained it was all a language issue and he had not meant to say that at all. Firebombing schools was, it seemed, never a good idea. He was, we were told, lost in translation. *** Link: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/...pf-3514697.html The prevailing Continental European view, presumably shared by Francophone Canadian politicians, is that random, senseless attacks on Jewish or American facilities are indeed quite acceptable. Quote Free speech: "You can say what you want, but I don't have to lend you my megaphone." Always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. - J.J. Reynolds. Will the steps anyone is proposing to fight "climate change" reduce a single temperature, by a single degree, at a single location? The mantra of "world opinion" or the views of the "international community" betrays flabby and weak reasoning (link).
jdobbin Posted February 3, 2007 Report Posted February 3, 2007 The prevailing Continental European view, presumably shared by Francophone Canadian politicians, is that random, senseless attacks on Jewish or American facilities are indeed quite acceptable. You have evidence that Stephane Dion think this? It seems to me that he has been the first to step out and say Antisemitism is unacceptable in the campaign. I don't think we heard too much from him during the campaign on Israel or the U.S. but that is not unexpected. Harper didn't mention them either during his leadership campaign. Quote
jbg Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 The prevailing Continental European view, presumably shared by Francophone Canadian politicians, is that random, senseless attacks on Jewish or American facilities are indeed quite acceptable. You have evidence that Stephane Dion think this? It seems to me that he has been the first to step out and say Antisemitism is unacceptable in the campaign. I don't think we heard too much from him during the campaign on Israel or the U.S. but that is not unexpected. Harper didn't mention them either during his leadership campaign. I have a high regard for you as a poster, but not when you put words in my moth. I did not mention Dion specifically, but I was disappointed by Montreal's lack of maintaining safety and decorum when Netanyahu tried to speak at Concordia. Quote Free speech: "You can say what you want, but I don't have to lend you my megaphone." Always remember that when you are in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and when you are in the wrong you cannot afford to lose it. - J.J. Reynolds. Will the steps anyone is proposing to fight "climate change" reduce a single temperature, by a single degree, at a single location? The mantra of "world opinion" or the views of the "international community" betrays flabby and weak reasoning (link).
jdobbin Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 I have a high regard for you as a poster, but not when you put words in my moth. I did not mention Dion specifically, but I was disappointed by Montreal's lack of maintaining safety and decorum when Netanyahu tried to speak at Concordia. Sorry, you mentioned French Canadian politicians so I thought you meant Dion. As far as Dion goes, he has criticized the Iran conference and spoke against antisemitism quite a few times. http://www.cjc.ca/template.php?action=itn&Story=1982 There are quite a few Quebecers who have gotten upset with Concordia's radicalism and violence. Quote
Who's Doing What? Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 From what little I have heard of him Dion's english although still not very good is already better than it was at the Liberal Leadership convention. I wouldn't doubt he knows that is his biggest stumbling block to getting accepted in English Canada and I would think he is working hard on improving it regularly. I will say that I am going to be paying closer attention to it to see if there is any improvement. Quote Harper differed with his party on some key policy issues; in 1995, for example, he was one of only two Reform MPs to vote in favour of federal legislation requiring owners to register their guns. http://www.mapleleafweb.com/election/bio/harper.html "You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society." (Stephen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, January 22, 2001)
Ricki Bobbi Posted February 4, 2007 Report Posted February 4, 2007 It's okay to lambaste English-Canadian politicians for their lack of French, even if they represent completely English-speaking ridings, but never point out that a man who wants to rule Canada and speak to and for 20 million Anglophones has an often-impenetrable accent and a bewildering vocabulary. That's the key. The sad thing is Dion's French hasn't changed at all since he entered Government for Chrétien. He has always had that brutal accent. He has a *reader's* knowledge of vocabulary, but doesn't get that his high falutin' words make no sense in spoken English. My French isn't good enough to judge but I have a feeling it's the same thing en Francais. Quote Dion is a verbose, mild-mannered academic with a shaky grasp of English who seems unfit to chair a university department, much less lead a country. Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen
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