tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay) (08/02/89)
Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. According to D'Iberville-Fortier, Federal Official Languages Commisionner, Keit Speicer, former Federal Official Language Commisionner, and of Brian Mulroney, Que'bec is the province where the minorities are best treated. Anglophones in Que'bec (less that 5%) had, have and will keep full control over their schools and Universities. Can we say the same about Francophones in other provinces?. Anywhere in Canada, minorities should be respected, not only in Que'bec. One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here. Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community. Their choice is usually influenced by their cultural background. They have access French/English courses. Medical and social services are provided in both languages. Jobs are available for French and/or english speaking individuals. It is in fact only in Que'bec and in New-Brunswick that the immigrants can chose their linguistic community. Anywhere else in Canada, English is the de-facto imposed standard. Michel J. Tremblay, tremblay@ca.philips.philmtl or uunet!philmtl!tremblay La patience a ses limites...
jimr@hcr.UUCP (Jim Robinson) (08/02/89)
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied >to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. >According to D'Iberville-Fortier, Federal Official Languages Commisionner, >Keit Speicer, former Federal Official Language Commisionner, and of >Brian Mulroney, Que'bec is the province where the minorities are best >treated. Anglophones in Que'bec (less that 5%) had, have and will keep >full control over their schools and Universities. Can we say the same >about Francophones in other provinces?. Anywhere in Canada, minorities >should be respected, not only in Que'bec. This may all be true. However it is also true that *only* in Quebec is the *suppression* of minority languages institutionalized a la bill 178. (I also understand that school children were/are being punished for speaking minority languages during breaks - is this true?) To me there is a huge difference between refusing to support a minority language, as much of English Canada does with French, and actively suppressing it, as Quebec does. Thus, in *my* opinion, minorities are indeed better respected in English Canada. >One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here. >Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY >chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community. >Their choice is usually influenced by their cultural background. >They have access French/English courses. Medical and social services >are provided in both languages. Jobs are available for French and/or >english speaking individuals. It is in fact only in Que'bec and in >New-Brunswick that the immigrants can chose their linguistic community. >Anywhere else in Canada, English is the de-facto imposed standard. I was under the impression that immigrants were required to educate their children in the French school system even though a perfectly good English school system is available (the exception being if at least one of the two parents was educated in English in Canada). And, whereas I respect Quebec's prerogative to require this I think it strongly contradicts the above statement concerning immigrants' freedom of choice. [Now for an aside] I remember several years back Quebec was talking about charging higher university tuition fees for non-Quebec Canadian students. Was this ever implemented? J.B. Robinson --
martin@innovus.UUCP (Martin Renters) (08/02/89)
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied >to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. I guess being able to post an english sign isn't a right then??? >Que'bec is the province where the minorities are best >treated. Anglophones in Que'bec (less that 5%) had, have and will keep ^^ >full control over their schools and Universities. I always thought it was more like 15-20%, but I guess they must have all left paradise because they couldn't handle all the "rights" they were given. >Michel J. Tremblay, >tremblay@ca.philips.philmtl or uunet!philmtl!tremblay Martin Renters martin@innovus Technical Analyst Innovus Inc.
ndonald@ccu.UManitoba.CA (Nick Donaldson) (08/03/89)
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied >to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. In my opinion, many Canadians get the image of Quebec ignoring minority right because of the sign issue. Regardless of what the situation is Quebec is, most people see it as, correct me if I'm wrong, Quebec not allowing english signs to be visible on store fronts. This is just the image that many people have, regardless of the facts. At least, many of the people I have talked to see it this way. Anyone care to comments? -- Nick Donaldson Internet: Ndonald@Ccu.UManitoba.CA or Ccm.UManitoba.CA BITNET: Ndonald@UOfMCC If I know then, what I knew now, it wouldn't make any difference.
clewis@eci386.UUCP (08/03/89)
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: Michel oversimplifies the situation to a series of absolute statements. Which are sometimes perfectly true in a general sense, but not necessarily absolute (or guaranteed). >Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied >to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. You're making a blanket statement that is obviously not entirely true. For example, Bill 178 prohibits (or at least severely curtails) the use of English (or any other language) on business signs. There is no similar law, for example, in Ontario. Bill 101 includes other examples. Thus, *some* rights which are available in other provinces are denied to minorities in Quebec. Therefore, your statement, as stated, is false. >According to D'Iberville-Fortier, Federal Official Languages Commisionner, >Keit Speicer, former Federal Official Language Commisionner, and of >Brian Mulroney, Que'bec is the province where the minorities are best >treated. All three of these people are "political animals", they have specific vested interests in ensuring that the applecart (vis-a-vis opinion in Quebec, or the justification of their own jobs) is not overthrown. I'm not sure that I'd take at face value anything those three have said. [Though, in some areas I may even be convinced to agree with them.] >Anglophones in Que'bec (less that 5%) had, have and will keep >full control over their schools and Universities. Can we say the same >about Francophones in other provinces?. I've been hearing of instances where the anglophone school boards in Quebec are being refused permission to teach french in their schools. (I didn't believe this either, but the person who told me was a school trustee for the anglophone school system in Quebec...) There appears to be less provincial operational control of french schools in Ontario than in the Quebec system w.r.t. english schools. >One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here. >Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY >chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community. >Their choice is usually influenced by their cultural background. >They have access French/English courses. Nonsense. Bill 101 specifically prohibits entry into the english school system for children not born of "anglophone" parents (it may even be as restrictive as "anglophone parents who attended Quebec english schools"). For an Italian immigrant (for example), there is no choice - their children *must* attend francophone schools. Therefore, immigrants are not freely allowed to join the community of their choice. In a sense, Canada is two countries w.r.t. immigration: you can either emmigrate to Quebec and your children *must* attend the French school system (except in rare circumstances), or you can emmigrate elsewhere and you can usually choose which school your children attend (the "where numbers warrant" rule applies in Ontario for the creation of French schools) >Medical and social services are provided in both languages. Both are available in Ontario as well, along with other languages. [depending upon availability of multi-lingual employees, as is also commonly the actual case in Quebec] >Jobs are available for French and/or english speaking individuals. Jobs *are* "available" even for unilingual French speaking individuals in every province in Canada. Not many, obviously, but the situation in Quebec is not all that much different - only in Quebec are there legal requirements that a business must conduct its internal operations in French if it's over a certain size. In other provinces it may be difficult to conduct internal operations in a language other than English, but it certainly isn't illegal, and *does* happen even in moderately large corporations. >It is in fact only in Que'bec and in >New-Brunswick that the immigrants can chose their linguistic community. The Quebec legal restrictions on who can attend english schools make this obviously untrue. >Anywhere else in Canada, English is the de-facto imposed standard. True. As French is in Quebec. >Anywhere in Canada, minorities should be respected, not only in Que'bec. We seem to have a minor difference of opinion whether "not only in Que'bec" is, by implication, at least partially misleading. -- Chris Lewis, R.H. Lathwell & Associates: Elegant Communications Inc. UUCP: {uunet!mnetor, utcsri!utzoo}!lsuc!eci386!clewis Phone: (416)-595-5425
Stewart.Clamen@clamen.avalon.cs.cmu.edu (08/03/89)
From: Stewart M. Clamen <clamen@CS.CMU.EDU>
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay) writes:
Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied
to minorities in Que'bec. This is false.
Some individuals in the Supreme Court as well.
According to D'Iberville-Fortier, Federal Official Languages Commisionner,
Keit Speicer, former Federal Official Language Commisionner, and of
Brian Mulroney, Que'bec is the province where the minorities are best
treated.
I agree that the English minority in Quebec (you will have to excuse
me, but I find the embedded single quotes (for accents) hard to read.
I hear that people are working on extended ASCII mailers...) is
better treated than the French communities outside Quebec and N.B.,
but what does that do to disprove the statement that rights are being
denied to Quebeckers? In my opinion, rights of the French-speaking
majority in Quebec are being denied as well. A French-speaker
Quebecker can no more post a bilingual sign (be it in English,
Chinese, or Swahili) than an English-speaking Quebecker. Also, those
French speaker CANNOT send their children to English public schools,
while the English speakers (and their descendents!) have a choice.
(More on this in a future post.)
A previous poster from the Toronto area noted that there are many
bilingual signs in Toronto (Greek-English, Chinese-English, etc.).
Such signs can no longer be legally displayed in Quebec. (I should
make a point to visit Montreal's (shrinking) Chinatown next time I am
home. It will probably be hard to find, since no Chinese characters
will be able to be displayed outside.)
Anglophones in Que'bec (less that 5%) had, have and will keep
full control over their schools and Universities. Can we say the same
about Francophones in other provinces?. Anywhere in Canada, minorities
should be respected, not only in Que'bec.
Certainly. That would be one of the first things on my list of what
Canada means to me. (Minority rights, that is). I would like to take
exception to your demographics, though; I thought it was closer to
10%, maybe a lot have left in the past few years. :-) Also, let us not
forgot those classified as "Allophones" (another 10% ?), recent
immigrants whose mother tongue is neither English or French, who must
go to French-language schools.
One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here.
Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY
chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community.
Their choice is usually influenced by their cultural background.
They may be able to choose to live anywhere in the province they wish,
but as new Canadian immigrants in Quebec they cannot send their
children to English-language schools (Americans included!).
They have access French/English courses. Medical and social services
are provided in both languages. Jobs are available for French and/or
english speaking individuals. It is in fact only in Que'bec and in
New-Brunswick that the immigrants can chose their linguistic community.
Anywhere else in Canada, English is the de-facto imposed standard.
Michel J. Tremblay,
tremblay@ca.philips.philmtl or uunet!philmtl!tremblay
La patience a ses limites...
Calm down. I think communication is one of the things most lacking in
the current national debate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stewart M. Clamen
School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
INTERNET: clamen@CS.CMU.EDU
USENET: ...!uunet!"clamen@cs.cmu.edu"glee@cognos.UUCP (Godfrey Lee) (08/03/89)
In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here. >Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY >chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community. Is this true? The last time I checked, an immigrant can choose English only if his mother tongue is English (i.e. one of his parents is English speaking). Did the law get changed? -- Godfrey Lee P.O. Box 9707 Cognos Incorporated 3755 Riverside Dr. VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3802 FAX: (613) 738-0002 Ottawa, Ontario UUCP: uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!glee CANADA K1G 3Z4
tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay) (08/04/89)
In article <1989Aug2.201110.21381@eci386.uucp> clewis@eci386.UUCP (Chris Lewis) writes: > > >There appears to be less provincial operational control of french >schools in Ontario than in the Quebec system w.r.t. english schools. > Less money, not less operational control. >Bill 101 specifically prohibits entry into the english school >system for children not born of "anglophone" parents (it may even be as >restrictive as "anglophone parents who attended Quebec english schools"). >For an Italian immigrant (for example), there is no choice - their children To qualify for English School, only one of the parents must have attended English School for one year. English School is defined as: School providing at least 51% of the courses in English, ANYWHERE. >*must* attend francophone schools. > >Therefore, immigrants are not freely allowed to join the community of >their choice. > The immigrants are free to join the community of their choice. Their childrens must learn the language of the majority and are not as free. Not speaking the language of the majority is a severe handicap, therefore their children must speak French. Remember that Immigrants are not forced to come to Que'bec. >In a sense, Canada is two countries w.r.t. immigration: you can either >emmigrate to Quebec and your children *must* attend the French school >system (except in rare circumstances), or you can emmigrate elsewhere >and you can usually choose which school your children attend (the >"where numbers warrant" rule applies in Ontario for the creation of >French schools) Honestly, does it make any sense for Immigrants to go to Non English schools outside Que'bec? It does not make sense to me. Since most minority School systems outside Que'bec are not funded properly, they simply cannot accept Immigrant anyway. Therefore provinces other than Que'bec dont need School laws like bill 101. > >>Jobs are available for French and/or english speaking individuals. > >Quebec is not all that much different - only in Quebec are there >legal requirements that a business must conduct its internal operations in >French if it's over a certain size. This is the theory. In practice things are very different. There are many exceptions in the law. It is very easy to obtain a special status for a company, and numerous companies do have such a status. For instance, the only linguistic requirement we have for technical jobs here (about 350 technical jobs) is English knowledge. >In other provinces it may be difficult >to conduct internal operations in a language other than English, but it >certainly isn't illegal, and *does* happen even in moderately large >corporations. > Imagine one moment that XXXXophones (not anglophones) in Ontario run many moderately large corporations and hire mostly XXXXophones. Picture this on a large scale, ie. on a scale significantly larger than the XXXXophone population. Dont you thing the Ontario government would do something about that? Of course... >-- >Chris Lewis, R.H. Lathwell & Associates: Elegant Communications Inc. >UUCP: {uunet!mnetor, utcsri!utzoo}!lsuc!eci386!clewis Michel J. Tremblay, tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca Economisons l'eau: Buvons du vin!
tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay) (08/04/89)
In article <28119@watmath.waterloo.edu> Stewart.Clamen%clamen.avalon.cs.cmu.edu@watmath.waterloo.edu writes: >A French-speaker >Quebecker can no more post a bilingual sign (be it in English, >Chinese, or Swahili) than an English-speaking Quebecker. >A previous poster from the Toronto area noted that there are many >bilingual signs in Toronto (Greek-English, Chinese-English, etc.). >Such signs can no longer be legally displayed in Quebec. (I should >make a point to visit Montreal's (shrinking) Chinatown next time I am >home. It will probably be hard to find, since no Chinese characters >will be able to be displayed outside.) False. Only COMMERCIAL signs of non-ethnic merchandise are not allowed. All ethnic shops and institutions may post in french and a language of their choice. For inatance an english book shop can post in english, a Chinese restaurant in Chinese. Any shop (ethnic or not) with 5 employes or less may use bilingual signs. >I would like to take >exception to your demographics, though; I thought it was closer to >10%, maybe a lot have left in the past few years. :-) Also, let us not >forgot those classified as "Allophones" (another 10% ?), recent 5% English: mother tongue is English 9% Allophones: immigrants whose mother tongue is neither English or French 86% French: mother tongue is French. Michel J. Tremblay tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca Ha ce qu'on se marre ici!
flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal) (08/04/89)
jimr@hcr.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes: >(I also understand that school children were/are being punished for speaking >minority languages during breaks - is this true?) Don't be ridiculous. Does it sound true? You can't believe everything you hear.
ead@tmsoft.uucp (Elizabeth Doucette) (08/05/89)
In article <262@ccu.UManitoba.CA> ndonald@ccu.UManitoba.CA (Nick Donaldson) writes: >In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >>Many individuals on the net are claiming that rights are denied >>to minorities in Que'bec. This is false. >In my opinion, many Canadians get the image of Quebec ignoring minority >rights because of the sign issue. Regardless of what the situation in Quebec >is, most people see it as, correct me if I'm wrong, Quebec not allowing english >signs to be visible on store fronts. This is just the image that many people >have, regardless of the facts. At least, many of the people I have talked to >see it this way. Anyone care to comments? >-- > Nick Donaldson >Internet: Ndonald@Ccu.UManitoba.CA or Ccm.UManitoba.CA >BITNET: Ndonald@UOfMCC >If I know then, what I knew now, it wouldn't make any difference. Quebec ignores minority rights in many ways but the sign issue resulted in some major news stories. Perhaps that is what others remember. For example, when I lived in Quebec, and after I moved, the media had several stories of citizens refusing to put up French bilingual signs. There was a lot of emotion over this issue. Also regarding signs, and I remember thinking that this made Quebec sound like a communist country, citizens were encouraged to call the police (or government agency, I can't remember which), and report a company that had an English only sign or a sign that didn't have French as the larger print. What was happening at that time that caused a lot of emotion? For one, the government started to put pressure on radio stations. There is one station that was/is very popular in Montreal. It was a bilingual station. By that I mean that the announcers and D.J.'s were bilingual. This was really special and they played a lot of Canadian music, French and English. A listener had the best of all kinds of music and language. Now the CRTC license that this station had was for English radio. No listener ever complained. The station encouraged an understanding between the two languages. Well, a French station complained. They knew their ratings would go up if the other station were English only. Legally, the French station was within its rights but it really upset the listeners, when the station was forced to broadcast English only. I lived there while this happened. Quebec decided to not allow distribution of major movies into Quebec unless Quebec was allowed distribution rights elsewhere. They were talking about movies with French language versions. As it happened, I believe, Quebec decided to exempt the U.S., but not the rest of Canada. This was going on when I lived there. I think that Quebec had a good marketing tactic by suggesting the above. But by exempting the U.S. it turns into an afront against the rest of Canada, in my opinion. There are other examples, but I just wanted to answer your request for comments. Elizabeth
ead@tmsoft.uucp (Elizabeth Doucette) (08/05/89)
In article <6723@cognos.UUCP> glee@cognos.UUCP (Godfrey Lee) writes: >In article <632@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >>One note about immigrants in Que'bec is reqired here. >>Immigrants in Que'bec FREELY >>chose to join the English speaking or the French speaking community. > >Is this true? The last time I checked, an immigrant can choose English only >if his mother tongue is English (i.e. one of his parents is English speaking). > >Did the law get changed? >-- >Godfrey Lee P.O. Box 9707 >Cognos Incorporated 3755 Riverside Dr. >VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3802 FAX: (613) 738-0002 Ottawa, Ontario >UUCP: uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!glee CANADA K1G 3Z4 As Michel Tremblay has explained in a follow-up article, immigrants can choose where they will live but their children must attend French school (unless one of the immigrants had attended English elementary school in Quebec). Elizabeth
rwwetmore@grand.waterloo.edu (Ross Wetmore) (08/06/89)
In article <1989Aug4.121135.22746@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal) writes: >jimr@hcr.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes: >>(I also understand that school children were/are being punished for speaking >>minority languages during breaks - is this true?) > >Don't be ridiculous. Does it sound true? You can't believe everything you >hear. There is intense conflict between the Quebec French and new immigrants now that allophones are being integrated into formerly uni-cultural French schools. The bitter reaction to the use of languages other than French in school corridors and on school grounds was presented in a Journal documentary a few months back. Both kids and parents on both sides were quite upset, though there was a third group that recognized the need for mutual accomodation and multi-cultural tolerance. Given the segregation controversy in the US, is it a wonder that such things would not occur during the process of Quebec's reawakening and integration into the modern world. It is also a fact that in most of the other countries where French and another culture coexist, French dominanace or a strict separation into semi-autonomous blocks is usually found. Look at Martinique (French-Dutch) Haiti-Dominican Republic (complete separation), Belgium (Walloon-Flemish), Switzerland (canton system), New Caledonia (French-English-Polynesian). In France, many of the inhabitants of Alsace speak a German dialect in their own homes, or communities, but only French is permitted in any public forum. Canada is an interesting case, because in many ways the French revival has seen an attempt to break out of this this mould and form a much more integrated society. But, if French Canadians can drive out or suppress minority elements in their communities once they achieve a sufficient level of dominance, then I think Canada will have to face the unpleasantries of the more normal course of history. I think Trudeau uni-cultural (ie a totally bilingual amalgam) policies are as abhorent to the French for their own reasons as they are to much rest of the country. But this does not mean that a strictly delininated pair of uni-cultural camps is any better a solution. Ross W. Wetmore | rwwetmore@water.NetNorth University of Waterloo | rwwetmore@math.Uwaterloo.ca Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 | {uunet, ubc-vision, utcsri} (519) 885-1211 ext 4719 | !watmath!rwwetmore
edhew@xenitec.uucp (Ed Hew) (08/06/89)
In article <262@ccu.UManitoba.CA> ndonald@ccu.UManitoba.CA (Nick Donaldson) writes: >In my opinion, many Canadians get the image of Quebec ignoring minority >right because of the sign issue. Regardless of what the situation is Quebec >is, most people see it as, correct me if I'm wrong, Quebec not allowing english >signs to be visible on store fronts. This is just the image that many people >have, regardless of the facts. At least, many of the people I have talked to >see it this way. Anyone care to comments? The gist of what I have heard on the media suggests that we are being told that it is a punishable offence to post non-French signs in the Province of Quebec, and those lucky enough to be merely charged and prosecuted might escape being firebombed by the fanatics. I'm sure that there is more to the (media) debate, but that's probably the ordinary (non-Quebec) citizen's information summary. This point is open to debate. I must comment that I personally wouldn't be offended if my neighbour wanted to embed a *French* (or Chinese, Ukrainian, German, or even hexadecimal) forsale on his front lawn. He should be allowed to advertise as he pleases. If he owns a business, he should be allowed to do the same. I don't know of this being illegal in Ontario, so why should it be in Quebec? Can someone comment if this *is* the case in Quebec, and if what I personally would consider to be appropriate minority language rights are respected in this scenario? The answer should clarify who's oppressing whom, if anyone. > Nick Donaldson >Internet: Ndonald@Ccu.UManitoba.CA or Ccm.UManitoba.CA >BITNET: Ndonald@UOfMCC Ed. A. Hew Technical Trainer Xeni/Con Corporation work: edhew@xenicon.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}utai!lsuc!xenicon!edhew ->home: edhew@egvideo.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}watmath!egvideo!edhew ->home: changing to: edhew@xenitec.uucp [but be patient for new maps] # I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on floppy around here somewhere!
edhew@xenitec.uucp (Ed Hew) (08/06/89)
In article <1989Aug4.121135.22746@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal) writes: >jimr@hcr.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes: >>(I also understand that school children were/are being punished for speaking >>minority languages during breaks - is this true?) > >Don't be ridiculous. Does it sound true? You can't believe everything you >hear. It *does* sound ridiculous, but I recall hearing it on the media a while back myself. Whatever one's opinion of the major video/audio/ print media may be, it's unlikely that they invent (read: falsify) news articles just to boost their circulation. We're not talking about the (U.S.) National Enquirer here. The media in Canada is quick to pick up on extremes when they exist. Getting back to the original topic: "Is it correct that such extremes should exist in Canada?" Ed. A. Hew Technical Trainer Xeni/Con Corporation work: edhew@xenicon.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}utai!lsuc!xenicon!edhew ->home: edhew@egvideo.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}watmath!egvideo!edhew ->home: changing to: edhew@xenitec.uucp [but be patient for new maps] # I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on floppy around here somewhere!
tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel Tremblay) (08/08/89)
In article <1989Aug5.143527.22467@tmsoft.uucp> ead@tmsoft.UUCP (Elizabeth Doucette) writes: > >As Michel J. Tremblay has explained in a follow-up article, immigrants >can choose where they will live but their children must attend French >school (unless one of the immigrants had attended English elementary >school in Quebec). ====== school in Canada. In some cases foreign English schools are acceptable. ====== >Elizabeth
ead@tmsoft.uucp (Elizabeth Doucette) (08/09/89)
In article <640@philmtl.philips.ca> tremblay@philmtl.philips.ca (Michel J. Tremblay) writes: >In article <1989Aug5.143527.22467@tmsoft.uucp> ead@tmsoft.UUCP (Elizabeth Doucette) writes: >>As Michel J. Tremblay has explained in a follow-up article, immigrants >>can choose where they will live but their children must attend French >>school (unless one of the immigrants had attended English elementary >>school in Quebec). > ====== > >school in Canada. In some cases foreign English schools are acceptable. > ====== Just to make this very clear, Michel's comment of "In some cases foreign English schools are acceptable" is the exception and not the rule. Quebec has no official policy that exempts anyone. However, Quebec has been giving the U.S. exemptions (in an earlier posting I mentioned the preferred treatment given to the U.S. regarding the film distribution industry) over other countries, including other provinces in Canada. If in the above comment he means that parents educated in English in Canada can send their children to English schools in Quebec, this is NOT true. I was educated in New Brunswick and I could not send my children to an English school in Quebec. I think that it is a privilege to be bilingual, trilingual, etc. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for children to be exposed to more than one language. I listen to French radio in Toronto but it is not as good as French radio in Quebec, because there isn't as much choice. Many of my relatives and friends in Quebec, N.B., P.E.I. and Ontario are educating their children in French. They don't want their children to not get a job, in the future, because they are not bilingual. But they are also doing this because once a child knows two languages, it is much easier to learn a third and a fourth. It is nice to visit another country and be able to speak their language. The son of one of my friends (in Montreal) spoke french, english and spanish by age 8. But, I don't like government legislation making it a crime to use whatever language a person or business chooses. Elizabeth