Clarence-Rockland hires language police
New businesses forced to have signs with English, French in 'exactly the same size'
New businesses forced to have signs with English, French in 'exactly the same size'
Actually, Montreal has been on the economic rebound since the mid-90's.langeweile said:You guys don't get it.
The goverment imposed bilingualism is hurting Canada. if you don't beleive look at the stats of Montreal.
Compare the number of businesses in the 70's to today. Montreal is dying, much to the benefit of Toronto
Outside of QC the whole issue on biligualism is a little more than lipservice.oldjones said:If the English in Montreal had behaved with the hard-headed economic sense that free markets are supposed to produce, there would be no Quebec language law today. It was their pigheaded insistance on behaving and doing business as if 90% of the population were simply temporarily misguided in their language that spawned modern separatism and drove them out of Québec. Even the most submissive rebel after generations of being told to "Talk white."
As for downtown industrial space going begging; don't see many facories in downtown TO. Lotsa parking lots where they once stood (here we tax empty factories as if they were running, so they're torn down fast), and lotsa signs along the QEW where there's still a hope of industrial tenants. It's modern times: factories are as far from downtown—like Asia—as they can get. Nothing to do w/ language. In fact the global economy wants multi-lingual people, even if they speak two European languages and no Chinese. Bilingualism was and is one of the best things the feds ever did for this country.
This is textbook.... and a great example of what happens when we allow market forces to drive the economy.langeweile said:I ahve lived in QC for about a year.
Driving down 40 in to downtown Montreal, you can see over 50% of industrial space for rent or for sale.
Pretty depressing.
The Quebec issue may be boring to you, OTB, but it is a big deal here in Canada. In Oct 1995, the province of Quebec came within a whisker of voting to separate from the rest of Canada. Nobody really knows how it would have played out if the separatists had gotten just a few percent more of the overall vote, but it had the potential to spin out of control and put the unity of our country in jeopardy. Boring to an outsider, perhaps, but not to us.onthebottom said:I can see why you guys focus so much on US politics - your issues are boring and small - and that's probably a good thing. The big issues on this board - pizza gate, some local minister not flying the maple leaf because of transfer payments and dual language signs. Are there no large issues in Canada to debate or have you settled all the real issues.
OTB
Anti-Americanism is not due to Bush. i has been around ever since I can remember...and that is quiet a while....slowpoke said:The Quebec issue may be boring to you, OTB, but it is a big deal here in Canada. In Oct 1995, the province of Quebec came within a whisker of voting to separate from the rest of Canada. Nobody really knows how it would have played out if the separatists had gotten just a few percent more of the overall vote, but it had the potential to spin out of control and put the unity of our country in jeopardy. Boring to an outsider, perhaps, but not to us.
I'm sure a large portion of the world's fascination with US politics is because of your ugly assed foreign policy. The last election was a case in point: A Bush win = many more deaths and the very real possibility that he may choose to pre-emptively "project" his US interests by invading another ME country; A Kerry win = maybe the slaughter will begin to slow down. If the US had stayed isolationist since Viet Nam, your internal politics would seem boring and inconsequential too. Trying to ignore US politics would seem like living on the same street as Charles Manson and not paying close attention.
And the US has been playing Texas Rangers with the whole world ever since I can remember. My memory of politics goes all the way back to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.langeweile said:Anti-Americanism is not due to Bush. i has been around ever since I can remember...and that is quiet a while....
slowpoke said:And the US has been playing Texas Rangers with the whole world ever since I can remember. My memory of politics goes all the way back to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
I'm not hiding behind the Bush "myth" but his policies have made Americans much less popular worldwide than they were before he started all his Iraq bullsh*t. IMHO, US global popularity was slowly improving since Viet Nam, especially during the Clinton presidency. But it has suffered a drastic setback under Dubya.langeweile said:I appreciate your honesty...at least you are not hidding behind the "It's not you..it is Bush" myth.
Like some others here...
Sorry, how does this account for empty factories in Montreal, or show how bilingualism is hurting this country? Weren't those your original points?langeweile said:Outside of QC the whole issue on biligualism is a little more than lipservice.
After having lived in QC first and now in ON there is big difference as to the level of spoken french, especially outside of goverment business.
I agree that it can't hurt to speak another language. I happen to speak four of them myself. The problem is in the approach.
Large areas of QC are not speaking any english at all. This on the North American continet were the vast majority speaks english. In essence the QC goverment put's their citizens at a disadvantage, if you don't speak english, where can you work in Canada or the USA.
If anything learning spanish or portugese makes more sense. In a way the language development should be left up to it's natural develpment.
After having lived in Chicago(which has the second largest hispanic populatiion in the USA) and in Texas( another state with a large hispnic popukation), certainly I will make sure that my kids learn spanish. In the not so distant future spanish/portugese will be the domimant language in the Americas.
Other than for sentimental reasons I fail to see reason for goverment enforced french language preservation.
Don't you think it would make more sense to teach kids spamish/portugese?
Given the realities of current society it would make a whole lot more sense.
Interesting, I thought that was settled in 1995 - was that your last big issue?slowpoke said:The Quebec issue may be boring to you, OTB, but it is a big deal here in Canada. In Oct 1995, the province of Quebec came within a whisker of voting to separate from the rest of Canada. Nobody really knows how it would have played out if the separatists had gotten just a few percent more of the overall vote, but it had the potential to spin out of control and put the unity of our country in jeopardy. Boring to an outsider, perhaps, but not to us.
I'm sure a large portion of the world's fascination with US politics is because of your ugly assed foreign policy. The last election was a case in point: A Bush win = many more deaths and the very real possibility that he may choose to pre-emptively "project" his US interests by invading another ME country; A Kerry win = maybe the slaughter will begin to slow down. If the US had stayed isolationist since Viet Nam, your internal politics would seem boring and inconsequential too. Trying to ignore US politics would be like living on the same street as Charles Manson and not keeping an eye on him.
I guess that is the difference between you and me. You prefer a goverment imposed bilingualism i let the market take care of it.oldjones said:Sorry, how does this account for empty factories in Montreal, or show how bilingualism is hurting this country? Weren't those your original points?
But you digress and I follow: If there were no borders dividing the US from Canada and Mexico, the examples of American statistics you quote might be persuasive. But your country spends a fortune annually to stem th influx of Spanish speakers from the south, and our wee country's stats are different. As your country has the right to refuse to recognize its bilingual reality, please allow ours the right to recognize ours as we choose.