3,500 City of Ottawa Jobs to be bilingual

[BZBee]

Be careful what you wish for!! Canadians may have to learn a third language.

English?

I gather the two official languages now are Canadian and French.

JBQ, You're a smart man, so I know you know what I'm talking about.

[Argus]

Oh I understand, that you arguing a definition with sense of belonging is silly. You assume that Francophone residents of Québec are naturally nationalists, which I understand by that you mean seperatist. This goes back to your nonsense deduction I pointed out earlier that 100% of Francophones = 100% of residents of Québec = 100% Seperatists. Québecers may have a different sense of belonging than other Canadians by putting their province first, but that does not mean they like Canada any less.

By and large, Quebecers have little or no interest in Canada - much less any particular liking or love. The majority of Francophone Quebecers have always supported separating and still do. Even most of those who believe Quebec should stay within Canada openly admit they do so for economic reasons, not any love of Canada. Quebecers rarely ever travel outside of Quebec to other provinces, and most such travel is as far as Ottawa and no farther.

Canada is full of Anglos, you see, and Quebecers don't like Anglophones. That's why they've spent the last twenty five years trying to persuade them all to leave.

[BZBee]

By and large, Quebecers have little or no interest in Canada - much less any particular liking or love. The majority of Francophone Quebecers have always supported separating and still do. Even most of those who believe Quebec should stay within Canada openly admit they do so for economic reasons, not any love of Canada. Quebecers rarely ever travel outside of Quebec to other provinces, and most such travel is as far as Ottawa and no farther.

Canada is full of Anglos, you see, and Quebecers don't like Anglophones. That's why they've spent the last twenty five years trying to persuade them all to leave.

Don't generalize "Quebecers." There are still many Anglophones (my family included) in Quebec who love Canada but retain a feeling of belonging in Quebec and live in harmony among the Francophone population. With a Francophone majority in Quebec how can you say that separation is supported when 2 referendums (while I lived there anyway) indicate otherwise? Maybe Quebecers rarely ever travel outside of Quebec to other provinces but park your car on the side of the US I95 in any given month (but especially in the Fall and Spring) and you will see just how many license plates contradict your statement that they only go as far as Ottawa.

You're right about one thing though....smart Francophones realize that it is not feasible to be a separate country and still expect to use the Canadian dollar and have welfare, unemployment benefits, pensions, etc. supplied by the Canadian government/taxpayer. Not to mention having to give up all the other "extras" that Quebec apparently receives from the Federal Gov't.

[Charles Anthony]

By and large, Quebecers have little or no interest in Canada - much less any particular liking or love.

That is a joke. By and large, Canadians have little or no interest in Canada.

Quebecers rarely ever travel outside of Quebec to other provinces, and most such travel is as far as Ottawa and no farther.

Most Canadians will vacation outside of Canada before exploring their own country.

Charles, why don't you be a man and say whatever is on your mind.

I think you should learn French or stop complaining about French in Canada.

In my bold opinion, the best way to learn is by picking up a few Belgian comic books. They have a lot of variety.

[jbg]

So you want to use 'de facto' relating to language use, broken down to neighbourhoods. LOL- More trolling by an fraudulent incompetent poster and pretty well relating to all his other replies.

I find little to agree with in Kapitän Rotbart's posts. However, many websites on the Anglosphere referto English as the "de facto" language of the US, UK and Australia, which, by the way, are the three strongest bastions of English-speaking. Maybe by coincidence, those countries in which English's status is de jure are the ones where English usage is in significant amounts of trouble, usually as a result of second languages such as French (Canada) or Maori (New Zealand) that have competitive status.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

By and large, Quebecers have little or no interest in Canada - much less any particular liking or love.

That is a joke. By and large, Canadians have little or no interest in Canada.

Quebecers rarely ever travel outside of Quebec to other provinces, and most such travel is as far as Ottawa and no farther.

Most Canadians will vacation outside of Canada before exploring their own country.

Charles, why don't you be a man and say whatever is on your mind.

I think you should learn French or stop complaining about French in Canada.

In my bold opinion, the best way to learn is by picking up a few Belgian comic books. They have a lot of variety.

Amen to that! There are more folks from Québec in Florida than all other Canadians combined I'd figure... It's "Le petit Québec" where you'll see their provincial flags, satelite dishes to receive Québecer TV, Jean Coutu pharmacies and Le Droit and Le Devoir newspapers.

I find little to agree with in Kapitän Rotbart's posts. However, many websites on the Anglosphere referto English as the "de facto" language of the US, UK and Australia, which, by the way, are the three strongest bastions of English-speaking. Maybe by coincidence, those countries in which English's status is de jure are the ones where English usage is in significant amounts of trouble, usually as a result of second languages such as French (Canada) or Maori (New Zealand) that have competitive status.

Check this out: List of states where language is a political issue - Wikipedia. Canada's probably the only English-speaking country where language has reached such a serious level of being a political issue.

An authoritative language law like the one you have just described is contrary to human rights legislation:

'Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment. The right is preserved in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is granted formal recognition by the laws of most nations.'

It is obvious Quebec has no respect for the United Nations Universal Declaration of human rights nor the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

No mention of language in that quote. Québecers aren't necessarily censored, they simply have to make sure that their message be provided in French, along with any other language they choose.

What policies might those be? If all other provinces signed the Canada's constitution outside of Quebec, other provinces like I mentioned, must abide linguistic commitments to BOTH of Canada's 'official languages'.

So you want to use 'de facto' relating to language use, broken down to neighbourhoods. LOL- More trolling by an fraudulent incompetent poster and pretty well relating to all his other replies.

Isn't Québec obliged to providing education and other provincial services in English? They're not very good at it, but monolingual and spiteful Anglo Québecers still fight for their 'language rights'. They still manage to do everything in English in a French-speaking province, meaning Québec still conforms to the use of Canada's official languages.

More trolling? "Incompetent poster" is a pretty obvious example of a personal attack. Obey the rules before you quote them.

The prairies intended on assimilating Francophone communities prior to the feds obliging them to comply with certain federal language policies.

Then why have Francophone's managed to flood federal offices, Crown Corporations and have relocated important federal department into all parts of Quebec from its rightful place in Ottawa, Ontario, Capital city of Canada and supposedly home to Canada's federal public service as dictated by England's Queen Victoria.

Oh, I know its all about that French skill.

The relocation was due to His Satanic Majesty Jean Chrétien.

They flood federal offices because spiteful monolingual Anglophones like you will not learn French and therefore have trouble competing for federal positions.

I have no idea what your talking about.

But I will agree xenophobia is an appropriate word for someone who has a dislike of Francophone's.

You talking about French blilingual- and English bilingual- nonsense doesn't make sense.

Wow, I didn't get reported for suggesting that you might be xenophobic! Incredible. Having a dislike for any group of people is a symptom of bigotry, by the way.

[Pat Coghlan]

They flood federal offices because spiteful monolingual Anglophones like you will not learn French and therefore have trouble competing for federal positions.

They flood federal offices only after a francophone manager takes over a department and start classifying as many jobs as possible bilingual.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

They flood federal offices because spiteful monolingual Anglophones like you will not learn French and therefore have trouble competing for federal positions.

They flood federal offices only after a francophone manager takes over a department and start classifying as many jobs as possible bilingual.

Regardless, they wouldn't be flooding federal offices had more bilingual candidates having English as a first language competing for these positions.

[Leafless]

With a Francophone majority in Quebec how can you say that separation is supported when 2 referendums (while I lived there anyway) indicate otherwise?

Separation is supported in Quebec by Francophone's and and the very close results indicate that.

The only reason Quebec separatist failed in winning the referendum was because of the efforts of immigrants and minorities who all voted AGAINST separation.

[Leafless]

I think you should learn French or stop complaining about French in Canada.

I never learn French for reasons listed previously.

My complaints are not directed specifically against ANY Francophone, but rather against the federal government, that allows undemocratic discriminatory advancement of a culture, through traitorous implementation of policies including the Charter, under federal control by corrupt prime ministers from Quebec.

[Leafless]

Amen to that! There are more folks from Québec in Florida than all other Canadians combined I'd figure... It's "Le petit Québec" where you'll see their provincial flags, satelite dishes to receive Québecer TV, Jean Coutu pharmacies and Le Droit and Le Devoir newspapers.

So much for Quebec as a ' HAVE NOT PROVINCE'. More BS.

A province of phony BIG SHOTS supported by Canadians, while many REAL Canadians only can afford to shiver in the snow.

Wow, I didn't get reported for suggesting that you might be xenophobic! Incredible. Having a dislike for any group of people is a symptom of bigotry, by the way.

And you said it, not I.

I was simply agreeing with YOUR statement.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

With a Francophone majority in Quebec how can you say that separation is supported when 2 referendums (while I lived there anyway) indicate otherwise?

Separation is supported in Quebec by Francophone's and and the very close results indicate that.

The only reason Quebec separatist failed in winning the referendum was because of the efforts of immigrants and minorities who all voted AGAINST separation.

Actually, a lot of minorities in Québec also show their support for seperation (propably mainly from the huge Haitian population who has been living in Québec for quite a while now, for instance our Governer General Michaëlle Jean). The highest rate of seperatists in Québec is probably still amongst Francophones, but like in every democracy, people like you don't vote so we could never truly know (and the fact that votes are anonymous... we'd have to do polls but that would create a bit of turmoil). We can still figure that there is a more than significant group of non-seperatist Francophones in Québec (I've met plenty of them).

I think you should learn French or stop complaining about French in Canada.

I never learn French for reasons listed previously.

My complaints are not directed specifically against ANY Francophone, but rather against the federal government, that allows undemocratic discriminatory advancement of a culture, through traitorous implementation of policies including the Charter, under federal control by corrupt prime ministers from Quebec.

You have montioned that you have a dislike for Francophones. Your complaints are most likely exclusively driven by spite.

Amen to that! There are more folks from Québec in Florida than all other Canadians combined I'd figure... It's "Le petit Québec" where you'll see their provincial flags, satelite dishes to receive Québecer TV, Jean Coutu pharmacies and Le Droit and Le Devoir newspapers.

So much for Quebec as a ' HAVE NOT PROVINCE'. More BS.

A province of phony BIG SHOTS supported by Canadians, while many REAL Canadians only can afford to shiver in the snow.

Wow, I didn't get reported for suggesting that you might be xenophobic! Incredible. Having a dislike for any group of people is a symptom of bigotry, by the way.

And you said it, not I.

I was simply agreeing with YOUR statement.

To your first response: red herring. Plenty of non-Québecers are also snow birds, but many prefer to go to places other than Florida (sure many Ontarians go to Florida, but Ontarians go to many places) including the West Indies and California for the Westerners. Most Québecers shiver in the snow every winter, again your statement is absurd.

Second response: I know what I said, silly. I recall you being quick to report me, yet you, to my surprise, actually agreed with my statement. Like always the first step is admiting that you have a problem. There's help for xenophobes http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/xenophobia-treatment.html.

[jbg]

We can still figure that there is a more than significant group of non-seperatist Francophones in Québec (I've met plenty of them).

Oh, I'm sure. People who are involved in companies like Total (link to article about fresh scandals) either personally, through kinship, employment or friendship certainly recognize they have a good thing going by keeping Quebec in Canada. How else to have huge subsidies funneled into the province in return for???

More threats obviously.

[Leafless]

You have montioned that you have a dislike for Francophones. Your complaints are most likely exclusively driven by spite.

You have a lot of nerve alleging I have a dislike for Francophone's without proof and failing to post the offending post.

I really don't know what complaints (driven by spite), your talking about, another unproven most serious allegation of a personal nature, you know nothing about, which constitutes a serious personal attack against a fellow poster.

You have proven you are both, a bigot and a racist and an outright liar.

I know what I said, silly. I recall you being quick to report me, yet you, to my surprise, actually agreed with my statement. Like always the first step is admiting that you have a problem. There's help for xenophobes http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/xenophobia-treatment.html.

You said in post #297: " People speaking French around you stresses you out? That's a sign of xenophobia."

Let us be reminded, what you said: "People speaking around you stresses you out", is something I never said.

Your imagination is working overtime. It seems you are psychotic as well as being a bigot, racist and outright liar.

The only reason I agreed with xenophobia claim is because I agree that nationalist Quebecers who think Quebec comes before Canada are in reality 'foreigners', loyal to a foreign nationality and therefore are not Canadians loyal to Canada.

I fear all foreigners who are intent on breaking up Canada, especially those who's volatile actions are amazingly condoned, by our own federal government.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

We can still figure that there is a more than significant group of non-seperatist Francophones in Québec (I've met plenty of them).

Oh, I'm sure. People who are involved in companies like Total (link to article about fresh scandals) either personally, through kinship, employment or friendship certainly recognize they have a good thing going by keeping Quebec in Canada. How else to have huge subsidies funneled into the province in return for???

More threats obviously.

As mentioned earlier, I don't agree with Québec's socialism. I briefly read the article you linked and there's no apparent link between that story and modern Québec-RoC relations.

You have mentioned that you have a dislike for Francophones. Your complaints are most likely exclusively driven by spite.

You have a lot of nerve alleging I have a dislike for Francophone's without proof and failing to post the offending post.

I really don't know what complaints (driven by spite), your talking about, another unproven most serious allegation of a personal nature, you know nothing about, which constitutes a serious personal attack against a fellow poster.

You have proven you are both, a bigot and a racist and an outright liar.

I know what I said, silly. I recall you being quick to report me, yet you, to my surprise, actually agreed with my statement. Like always the first step is admiting that you have a problem. There's help for xenophobes http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/xenophobia-treatment.html.

You said in post #297: " People speaking French around you stresses you out? That's a sign of xenophobia."

Let us be reminded, what you said: "People speaking around you stresses you out", is something I never said.

Your imagination is working overtime. It seems you are psychotic as well as being a bigot, racist and outright liar.

The only reason I agreed with xenophobia claim is because I agree that nationalist Quebecers who think Quebec comes before Canada are in reality 'foreigners', loyal to a foreign nationality and therefore are not Canadians loyal to Canada.

I fear all foreigners who are intent on breaking up Canada, especially those who's volatile actions are amazingly condoned, by our own federal government.

I am both a bigot, racist and outright liar? That makes me two of three things. I don't see the justification for this personal attack you throw at me twice (nor for calling me psychotic once).

Why I say driven by spite? You got angry about offices filling up with people of a certain group, and then you rant about how such terrible policies favor them over the stubborn people like you who won't learn their second Canadian language.

I never accused you of saying "People speaking French around you stress you out". Because you didn't lose your job as a public servant and quit by your own free will due to the changing work atmosphere, it seems that you "couldn't stand the heat" of "people speaking French around you".

You now admit that you fear a certain group of people. However the way you define foreigners isn't accurate. You've just demonstrated your little understanding of "sense of belonginng". (Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_community.) Feeling a stronger sense of belonging to one's province than one's country is no grounds for an accusation of nationalism nor seperatism. Few Canadians from any province feel strongest sense of belonging to their country. There may be a higher rate of people feeling that they belong first to their province in Québec, but a majority of Canadians from the RoC will still feel a strongest sense of belonging to their province/city or town/region/continent or even the world as a whole as opposed to their nation. I feel a stronger sense of belonging to Ottawa than to Canada, yet this doesn't make me a nationalist (I also wish Ottawa were a city-state like Washington DC, Mexico City or Berlin, but that doesn't make me any less of a Canadian). Those holding Canadian citizenship may be a minority in their own country, but could never be foreigners to Canada.

I don't like seperatists either. They're still Canadians though and they (amongst non-seperatists who outnumber these seperatists) create the need for service in French in this country of two languages.

[Leafless]

Why I say driven by spite? You got angry about offices filling up with people of a certain group,

Your the one making that statement up, I've never said any such thing.

and then you rant about how such terrible policies favor them over the stubborn people like you who won't learn their second Canadian language.

My position was stated very clearly.

Being held hostage to learn an obsolete language by discriminatory undemocratic federal policy in order to gain federal employment, shows and unacceptable level of disdain on behalf of the federal government towards the countries majority English speaking population.

I never accused you of saying "People speaking French around you stress you out".

Yes you did.

Read your own post #297.

Because you didn't lose your job as a public servant and quit by your own free will due to the changing work atmosphere, it seems that you "couldn't stand the heat" of "people speaking French around you".

I have never given you or anyone else personal details surrounding why I resigned and I don't intend to.

Your statement is totally fabricated and is a lie.

Your brain is totally engulped with French propaganda and hate towards English speaking people.

You now admit that you fear a certain group of people. However the way you define foreigners isn't accurate.

It's accurate.

There may be a higher rate of people feeling that they belong first to their province in Québec, but a majority of Canadians from the RoC will still feel a strongest sense of belonging to their province/city or town/region/continent or even the world as a whole as opposed to their nation.

I know many people who admire their city or home town, but none have ever expressed a desire to be loyal to their city or home town.

Virtually all desire to be loyal to their country, Canada.

I feel a stronger sense of belonging to Ottawa than to Canada, yet this doesn't make me a nationalist.

This is why we know you are a troll, most likely a French nationalist.

You are expressing Quebec sentiments and ideologies.

I don't like seperatists either. They're still Canadians though and they (amongst non-seperatists who outnumber these seperatists) create the need for service in French in this country of two languages.

You keep making the same ridiculous statement, " non-separatist who outnumber the separatist".

How do you know that when both Quebec referendums were around the 50% mark.

Do you know the number of minorities that voted AGAINST Quebec separation? If you don't, you cannot assume separatist are not the majority among Francophone Quebecers.

I don't think separatist are true Canadians but are simply taking advantage of the Canadian identity to pursue their objective relating to a separate Quebec.

You can troll by yourself as I am out of here , with you anyways...game time is over.

[jbg]

I never accused you of saying "People speaking French around you stress you out". Because you didn't lose your job as a public servant and quit by your own free will due to the changing work atmosphere, it seems that you "couldn't stand the heat" of "people speaking French around you".

I went to the Met's game last night at Shea Stadium. As we left the parking lot, on our roughly 3 km drive back to the superhighway, most of the signs were in Chinese.

I won't say I felt "stressed out". I would say I believe that people who come, at least to my country, say they're coming for a better life, to be part of a free society. Coming to a country, wanting equal rights in a country, and at the same repelling that country's people by failing to learn the language and by use of signage is, at best, working at cross purposes. At worst, it's working towards a slow destruction of what makes, at least the US, great.

In Canada, French is a strong and important second language. The French, however, are both insisting on equal rights, i.e. provision of services throughout the country, and dual-language signs, in the ROC, and resisting reciprocal rights for long-established Anglophones in Quebec. Something is deeply hypocritical, disturbiing and wrong.

[Leafless]

In Canada, French is a strong and important second language. The French, however, are both insisting on equal rights, i.e. provision of services throughout the country, and dual-language signs, in the ROC, and resisting reciprocal rights for long-established Anglophones in Quebec. Something is deeply hypocritical, disturbiing and wrong.

I think it is a matter of opinion whether French is a strong and important language as no democratic process has ever verified that is indeed factual.

"Provision of services throughout the country" is not only about services, but the undemocratic and discriminatory establishment of the French culture through the implementation of federal style bilingual policies throughout Canada.

It is currently realized that the impossibility of provinces voluntarily identifying themselves as 'official bilingual' and along with federal help has employed another tactic, the one they used in Ottawa to implement a undemocratic federal style 'official bilingual policy' bypassing and excluding the participation of Ottawa's resident taxpayers.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

Why I say driven by spite? You got angry about offices filling up with people of a certain group,

Your the one making that statement up, I've never said any such thing.

Never said you did say that.

Your posts reflect your spite.

and then you rant about how such terrible policies favor them over the stubborn people like you who won't learn their second Canadian language.

My position was stated very clearly.

Being held hostage to learn an obsolete language by discriminatory undemocratic federal policy in order to gain federal employment, shows and unacceptable level of disdain on behalf of the federal government towards the countries majority English speaking population.

Regardless of who holds a majority, if one wants to work for a government of a country of two languages, it makes sense that both languages be required for the job. Besides, no one is forced to learn a second language, but those who do achieve bilingualism can benefit from more opportunities.

I never accused you of saying "People speaking French around you stress you out".

Yes you did.

Read your own post #297.

Nop, never accused you of saying that. I'll quote myself:

What's a French bilingual position?!?! As I said, if a position requires bilingualism, of course it will require French. People speaking French around you stresses you out? That's a symptom of xenophobia!

Did I accuse you of saying anything in that statement? Sounds like you're wasting my time trolling. I'll explain how I came to this assumption:

1. You stated "I was a previous a federal public service employee (years ago) who lost employment with the federal government, owing fully to the incredible playful antics of 'official bilingualism' (but with deadly consequences) in the federal government."

2. You later stated "No one person forced me to leave my position. It was the linguistic atmosphere that was poisoned by artificial French dominance that destroyed the department I was employed in."

3. I assume because you chose to resign, and the linguistic atmosphere motivated you to make this decision, that you were becoming frustrated by the fact that people were now speaking French around you at work. I never accused you of stating anything, I simply made an assumption based on the given information. You don't seem to be arguing against this assumption, you're only arguing the fact that you didn't state it, which we all know. By the way, I didn't even put my assumption in quotation marks, so I really can't understand how you accuse me of accusing you of making that statement.

Because you didn't lose your job as a public servant and quit by your own free will due to the changing work atmosphere, it seems that you "couldn't stand the heat" of "people speaking French around you".

I have never given you or anyone else personal details surrounding why I resigned and I don't intend to.

Your statement is totally fabricated and is a lie.

Your brain is totally engulped with French propaganda and hate towards English speaking people.

I think I've covered this. You may not have given "personal details", but you were giving the impression of frustration working in a different language atmosphere. I don't need personal information beyond what you stated. I'm sure I know enough about why you quit your job and I'm not particularly interested in further details either.

You now admit that you fear a certain group of people. However the way you define foreigners isn't accurate.

It's accurate.

'tis not. You claim people who feel a stronger sense of belonging to Québec than to Canada as foreigners... it doesn't fit the definition of foreigner (especially considering seperatists are likely to be Canadian for more generations than you or me).

There may be a higher rate of people feeling that they belong first to their province in Québec, but a majority of Canadians from the RoC will still feel a strongest sense of belonging to their province/city or town/region/continent or even the world as a whole as opposed to their nation.

I know many people who admire their city or home town, but none have ever expressed a desire to be loyal to their city or home town.

Virtually all desire to be loyal to their country, Canada.

Many Canadians couldn't care less about Canada. There are also a lot of Anglophone Canadians who hate Canada (I know some) and would much rather live in another country.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

I feel a stronger sense of belonging to Ottawa than to Canada, yet this doesn't make me a nationalist.

This is why we know you are a troll, most likely a French nationalist.

You are expressing Quebec sentiments and ideologies.

This is an example of you using personal attacks.

I couldn't care less about Québec, it's just like any other Canadian province only it's unfortunately a little heavy on socialism.

I don't like seperatists either. They're still Canadians though and they (amongst non-seperatists who outnumber these seperatists) create the need for service in French in this country of two languages.

You keep making the same ridiculous statement, " non-separatist who outnumber the separatist".

How do you know that when both Quebec referendums were around the 50% mark.

Do you know the number of minorities that voted AGAINST Quebec separation? If you don't, you cannot assume separatist are not the majority among Francophone Quebecers.

I don't think separatist are true Canadians but are simply taking advantage of the Canadian identity to pursue their objective relating to a separate Quebec.

You can troll by yourself as I am out of here , with you anyways...game time is over.

A lot of minorities have also supported seperation.

Seperatists are just as Canadian as Anglo Canadians who couldn't care less about Canada. The only difference is that seperatists share an erroneous dream of an alternative reality for Canada.

I never accused you of saying "People speaking French around you stress you out". Because you didn't lose your job as a public servant and quit by your own free will due to the changing work atmosphere, it seems that you "couldn't stand the heat" of "people speaking French around you".

I went to the Met's game last night at Shea Stadium. As we left the parking lot, on our roughly 3 km drive back to the superhighway, most of the signs were in Chinese.

I won't say I felt "stressed out". I would say I believe that people who come, at least to my country, say they're coming for a better life, to be part of a free society. Coming to a country, wanting equal rights in a country, and at the same repelling that country's people by failing to learn the language and by use of signage is, at best, working at cross purposes. At worst, it's working towards a slow destruction of what makes, at least the US, great.

In Canada, French is a strong and important second language. The French, however, are both insisting on equal rights, i.e. provision of services throughout the country, and dual-language signs, in the ROC, and resisting reciprocal rights for long-established Anglophones in Quebec. Something is deeply hypocritical, disturbing and wrong.

The immigrant communities in the US or in any country do not have to learn the national language provided they can sustain in their language. It's always favorable to learn the national language (and most preferable), but if someone can live their whole life in suburban El Paso or in Miami only speaking Spanish and not feeling limited, then there's no problem (provided there be someone who could fill their tax forms in the working language provided the minority's language is not available for contacting the gov't). I still think anyone wanting to move to the USA should learn English, though no one is forced to learn any given language.

Dual-language signs in the RoC are not a bad thing (and are normally limited to very bilingual areas anyway). Essentially, one should be able to contact their federal government in any part of their country in their prefered official language if need be. Québec and the federal gov't are two very distinct entities. The feds want to increase bilingualism sea to sea through policy enforcement and educational opportunities, whereas Québec and most other provinces have no interest in bilingualism. It's probably just as difficult for Anglophones in Québec as for Francophones in Manitoba (where there is a significant, well-established Franco-Manitoban community).

[Leafless]

2. You later stated "No one person forced me to leave my position. It was the linguistic atmosphere that was poisoned by artificial French dominance that destroyed the department I was employed in."

3. I assume because you chose to resign, and the linguistic atmosphere motivated you to make this decision, that you were becoming frustrated by the fact that people were now speaking French around you at work. I never accused you of stating anything, I simply made an assumption based on the given information.

YOU HAVE NO BUISNESS ASSUMING ANYTHING WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS OR CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!

YOU ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATVE OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

IN FACT WHAT YOU ARE, IS A LITTLE NOBODY!!

Right to-day, I have a close family member who is a senior employee of the federal public service who makes a salary of 80k and has three years remaining before this person can retire with full federal pension.

This person is in an English only position and is being urged by French management to retire early, so the position can be reclassified to a 'bilingual imperative position' to employ another single Francophone or possibly even more, by justifying more work to create another position. This information was not freely avialable.

This person cannot retire early or settle for a reduced pension because full time was not served.

So now management has forcefully transferred this older worker to another section that consist of 20-25 year old Francophone's. This person does not fit in to that group and was not given any real duties to perform, so basically sits at the desk all day.

It was learned, under the table, that the rush for all this is the fear of a Conservative majority, where they will put a freeze on federal government public service hiring.

Meanwhile this older family member is nearing a nervous breakdown and can no longer endure this type of torturous treatment and is considering even though it will mean less pension, resigning.

What I endured as a federal public was 10 times as bad including the partial slashing of my vehicles inside tires and brake lines knowing full well I commuted on the highway to and from employment along with my wife.

[Kapitän Rotbart]

2. You later stated "No one person forced me to leave my position. It was the linguistic atmosphere that was poisoned by artificial French dominance that destroyed the department I was employed in."

3. I assume because you chose to resign, and the linguistic atmosphere motivated you to make this decision, that you were becoming frustrated by the fact that people were now speaking French around you at work. I never accused you of stating anything, I simply made an assumption based on the given information.

YOU HAVE NO BUISNESS ASSUMING ANYTHING WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS OR CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!

YOU ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATVE OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

IN FACT WHAT YOU ARE, IS A LITTLE NOBODY!!

I made my assumption based on the information you gave, which seemed sufficient to come to such conclusions.

No, I don't represent our government, and I gather that neither do you.

I'm no less of a person/Canadian/Ottawan/Ontarian... etc. than you are. At least I practice my right to vote, so I count for more than you do at this point.

By the way, when I clicked to respond, I noticed you used multiple exclamation marks. There's no use in yelling, my web browser eliminates superfluous exclamation marks thanks to scripts, so it doesn't affect me, but to others it looks like you're arguing on the Internet (and we all know what that means):

http://static.flickr.com/75/195983063_e380efd610.jpg

Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.

Right to-day, I have a close family member who is a senior employee of the federal public service who makes a salary of 80k and has three years remaining before this person can retire with full federal pension.

This person is in an English only position and is being urged by French management to retire early, so the position can be reclassified to a 'bilingual imperative position' to employ another single Francophone or possibly even more, by justifying more work to create another position. This information was not freely avialable.

This person cannot retire early or settle for a reduced pension because full time was not served.

So now management has forcefully transferred this older worker to another section that consist of 20-25 year old Francophone's. This person does not fit in to that group and was not given any real duties to perform, so basically sits at the desk all day.

It was learned, under the table, that the rush for all this is the fear of a Conservative majority, where they will put a freeze on federal government public service hiring.

Meanwhile this older family member is nearing a nervous breakdown and can no longer endure this type of torturous treatment and is considering even though it will mean less pension, resigning.

What I endured as a federal public was 10 times as bad including the partial slashing of my vehicles inside tires and brake lines knowing full well I commuted on the highway to and from employment along with my wife.

Sounds like bureaucracy. Bureaucracy happens in every country, and language policies also risk inciting bureaucracy (like anything else in any government). Just because a few people do unfortunate things doesn't mean the system is draconian. It just means there are some people using the system to act at the expense of others.

Out of all possible terrible things which can go wrong, siting at one's desk having nothing to do and getting paid public sector salary for it is nothing to complain about.

If enough Anglophones learn French and get government jobs, the current situation could be tamed. Not learning French, complaining and writing letters, however, will not have much of an effect.

[Leafless]

If enough Anglophones learn French and get government jobs, the current situation could be tamed. Not learning French, complaining and writing letters, however, will not have much of an effect.

I can easily say the same thing that Quebecers if they were smart, would have dropped French years ago and learn the English language, the only language that matters as far as Canada is concerned in North America. After being ignored by France after the British win on the 'Plains of Abraham', one would assume, French Quebec would only be to willing to allow themselves to be assimilated linguistically.

This only proves French Quebec is after political power and (not the unity of Canada) have succeeded to a point with the help of French prime ministers who's loyalties to Canada are flawed in favour of promoting a group with a culture alien to that of other Canadians.

Selling your English majority identity to the standards of a minority French society within our federal public service is like admitting France won on the 'Plains of Abraham'.

Smart English speaking Canadians would not go near the federal public service when it is saturated with Francophone's with cultural preferences of a foreign country.

You have virtually nothing legal to backup traitorous Liberal language policies, including what is written in the Charter, that have allowed French nationalist and French who believe 'Quebec comes first' to work in our most politically sensitive federal institutions (federal public service) that could place the security of all Canadians at risk, if push ever comes to shove, relating to relations between majority English provinces of Canada and the French province of Quebec.

[BZBee]

In Canada, French is a strong and important second language. The French, however, are both insisting on equal rights, i.e. provision of services throughout the country, and dual-language signs, in the ROC, and resisting reciprocal rights for long-established Anglophones in Quebec. Something is deeply hypocritical, disturbiing and wrong.

Amen....finally someone who understands the crux of the problem.

Many Canadians couldn't care less about Canada. There are also a lot of Anglophone Canadians who hate Canada (I know some) and would much rather live in another country.

Oh yeah? Canada doesn’t need people like that and if they hate it so much and think the grass is greener elsewhere, then they should leave. Won’t be long before they realize how good they had it in Canada.

..... Besides, no one is forced to learn a second language, but those who do achieve bilingualism can benefit from more opportunities.

A good thing for the unilingual Francophone to realize. You see, as an English speaking individual, one can go just about anywhere and be understood. However, the choices are much fewer for a unilingual French Canadian. Therefore, it is more advantageous for the French to learn English than vice versa. (Heck, if you’re English and you hate Canada, you can just move across the border.)

[Kapitän Rotbart]

If enough Anglophones learn French and get government jobs, the current situation could be tamed. Not learning French, complaining and writing letters, however, will not have much of an effect.

I can easily say the same thing that Quebecers if they were smart, would have dropped French years ago and learn the English language, the only language that matters as far as Canada is concerned in North America. After being ignored by France after the British win on the 'Plains of Abraham', one would assume, French Quebec would only be to willing to allow themselves to be assimilated linguistically.

This only proves French Quebec is after political power and (not the unity of Canada) have succeeded to a point with the help of French prime ministers who's loyalties to Canada are flawed in favour of promoting a group with a culture alien to that of other Canadians.

Selling your English majority identity to the standards of a minority French society within our federal public service is like admitting France won on the 'Plains of Abraham'.

Smart English speaking Canadians would not go near the federal public service when it is saturated with Francophone's with cultural preferences of a foreign country.

You have virtually nothing legal to backup traitorous Liberal language policies, including what is written in the Charter, that have allowed French nationalist and French who believe 'Quebec comes first' to work in our most politically sensitive federal institutions (federal public service) that could place the security of all Canadians at risk, if push ever comes to shove, relating to relations between majority English provinces of Canada and the French province of Quebec.

If you were smart, you'd know that no people have 'chosen' assimilation; it was forced upon them. England was to blame for doing such a terrible job at colonizing the QC. The best way to assimilate people into another language is to change the language of instruction in every school. The English, who did this in other countries, somehow didn't assimilate the Quebecers, instead they tried populating the QC with Euro-Anglophones. This was possibly the stupidest thing the English have done in North American history. The obvious result is spite. If anyone is smart, they won't drop their language (they may gain another language, but they shouldn't lose their own).

Who's English majority identity? Though English is probably the largest ethnicity in Canada (like German is the largest ethnicity in the USA... almost 50 million Americans have German ancestry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American), there are many Canadians who only speak English yet they are of Dutch, Greek, Ukrainian, Chinese, etc. ancestry. Would it be terrible for a Dutch Canadian who only speaks English to learn French? By the way, your logic is flawed. Learning a language does not mean that one admits false historical facts. Is a Texan compromizing his or her identity by learning Spanish and 'therefore' admitting that the Mexicans won the battle of Alamo in San Antonio? Seems like nonsense.

Smart Anglophones will learn French because it increases their possibilities in their own country.

7 million voters back up policies supporting the French language. I don't have to back it.

Oh yeah? Canada doesn’t need people like that and if they hate it so much and think the grass is greener elsewhere, then they should leave. Won’t be long before they realize how good they had it in Canada.

It's debateable whether one really has it better in Canada. One has it best where one is happiest (the grass may not be greener, but it may have greater appeal to certain individuals). However, I'll agree that anyone not liking Canada should leave willfully. Seperatists cannot take Quebec with them if they leave Canada, so they might as well give up their dream of seperating.

A good thing for the unilingual Francophone to realize. You see, as an English speaking individual, one can go just about anywhere and be understood. However, the choices are much fewer for a unilingual French Canadian. Therefore, it is more advantageous for the French to learn English than vice versa. (Heck, if you’re English and you hate Canada, you can just move across the border.)

Even if French were only spoken in one large, metropolitan city in North America and the rest of the continent spoke only English, the majority of people living in this city would still not speak English because they could do everything in their locale in French. Anyone wanting to travel, work or study abroad or benefit from incentives in terms of job opportunities or bursaries for studies should know English, however even few Anglophone Canadians don't really benefit from the fact that they speak the international language as their own considering few take advantage of opportunities for travel, studying or working abroad.