Lets hear it for the OLF

[Techman]

Great timing guys! Fantastic way to showcase the international, open qualities of Quebec by going after Richmond Qc for having english labels on the air conditioner and fax machine. And forbidding them to speak english at work. That's a really great way to show all the international tourists in town for the race how inclusive a society we have here. [...]

*** Techman, I removed the name calling from your post. Please do not repost. M2 ***

 

[Gee]

can you post a link to that because I find it hard to believe that they would or even could forbid a language from being spoken.

As for the fax and air conditioner thing, the language police has to justify their paycheck somehow right

 

[Elvis]

Great timing guys! Fantastic way to showcase the international, open qualities of Quebec by going after Richmond Qc for having english labels on the air conditioner and fax machine. And forbidding them to speak english at work. That's a really great way to show all the international tourists in town for the race how inclusive a society we have here. [...]

Techman,

Je pense que tu devrais prendre le temps de t'informer correctement sur les faits et les événements avant de faire des affirmations gratuites.

Tout ce qu'il dit est faux, archi-faux et de mauvaise foi.

Voici un lien sur Cyberpresse qui donne une version correcte des faits.

J'en ai marre de ces discussions inutiles.

Mod2 , could you please remove this useless thread?

Elvis

 

[metoo4]

Certaines personnes ne comprennent pas la situation linguistique du Québec et ne sont pas intéressés à la comprendre même si ils habitent le Québec depuis toujours. Il y aura toujours des personnes comme Techman qui ne veulent rien entendre...
Les Anglophones ne sont nullement menacés au Québec. Ils ont droit à des services en anglais peu importe ou ils vont, souvent sans le demander. Ils n'ont qu'à parler l'anglais et ils se feront majoritairement répondre en anglais.
Le problème est que certain de ces anglophones s'offusque d'avoir à se forcer un peu et d'avoir à parler et comprendre le français quelque peu. Il m'est impossible de comprendre comment une personne de 50+ ans, née au Québec et qui a toujours vécu au Québec puisse toujours être unilingue anglophone.
Désolé mais, au Québec, nous parlons français. Aucun problème avec les touristes qui parlent anglais, il nous fait plaisir de les assister dans leur langue.

 

[Elvis]

Metoo4

Très bien dit.

Elvis

 

[orallover]

Certaines personnes ne comprennent pas la situation linguistique du Québec et ne sont pas intéressés à la comprendre même si ils habitent le Québec depuis toujours. Il y aura toujours des personnes comme Techman qui ne veulent rien entendre...
Les Anglophones ne sont nullement menacés au Québec. Ils ont droit à des services en anglais peu importe ou ils vont, souvent sans le demander. Ils n'ont qu'à parler l'anglais et ils se feront majoritairement répondre en anglais.
Le problème est que certain de ces anglophones s'offusque d'avoir à se forcer un peu et d'avoir à parler et comprendre le français quelque peu. Il m'est impossible de comprendre comment une personne de 50+ ans, née au Québec et qui a toujours vécu au Québec puisse toujours être unilingue anglophone.
Désolé mais, au Québec, nous parlons français. Aucun problème avec les touristes qui parlent anglais, il nous fait plaisir de les assister dans leur langue.

well said metoo4.. I was not born here but have been living for many years. My french still sucks big time (due to the choice of univeristy, work environment, and friends) but I still try to improve. I know it is not much improvement I have achieved but still trying.
anyway, that is my unworthy 2 cents.

 

[J. Peterman]

They are just doing their jobs!

I think they deserve a big reward for doing their jobs so zealously. My cat and I think that they should get some just deserts. Kitty has suggested that we send them some cat box cookies in the mail! Can anyone tell me how to say CAT BOX COOKIES in french?

 

[eastender]

Service en anglais

metoo4,
"Ils ont droit a des services en anglais peu importe ou ils vont,
souvent sans le demander."

Appellez le gouvernement(prov/mun).Boite vocale "For service in english
press..../Pour service en anglais appuyez sur le ...".Appuyez sur le .....
majoritairement,le message va continuer en francais ou la reponse
sera en francais.Alors des services phantoms/Pere Noel ?????


"....il nous fait plaisir de les assister dans leurs langue"

Paroles v actes.
Les affiches sur les routes.PONT pas PONT avec
BRIDGE(en miniscule 50%).Oui quand ils demendent les directions
pour le "Bridge" tu vas les assister mais l'importante c'est de eviter
les erreurs et la dependence inutile et un faux sens que ce type de
situation est utile.Pictogramme?????

Translation
Call the government(prov./mun).Voice mail response "For service
in English press .../Pour service en anglais appuyez sur le ...."
Press ... and the majority of the time the message will continue
in French or the person who answers will speak French.
Imaginary services like Santa Claus.

Words v deeds
Highway signs.PONT not PONT with BRIDGE (lower case 50%).When
tourists ask for directions you will help them but the important thing
is to avoid errors and pointless dependence and a false sense that
this type of situation is useful.Pictogram?????

NB:Clavier en anglais/english keyboard.

 

[ManAboutTown]

metoo, I have a funny story for you. It is truly sad in many ways, and shows how much the pendulum has swung.

I went the other day to a Tim Horton's to get a coffee and a soup. I go through the drive thru. The girl answers, gives the usual "bonjour..." and I say "can I have a coffee and a soup". Her reply was "quelle sort de soupe?". I say "What do you have?". She then lists them all off in french. I have not said a SINGLE WORD in french, and she has not said a single word in english.

Now, I speak excellent french, and I could have easily switched. But now I have realized what I am facing:

The OLF version of the "Fat english lady at Eaton's".

30 years later, the french people have learned to be just as fucking rude as the moron fucking english people of the past.

Congradulations to the OLF and all the supporters of the french language law, you have finally convinced me I need to leave this province.

MATt

 

[steak]

No rules

I went the other day to a Tim Horton's to get a coffee and a soup. I go through the drive thru. The girl answers, gives the usual "bonjour..." and I say "can I have a coffee and a soup". Her reply was "quelle sort de soupe?". I say "What do you have?". She then lists them all off in french. I have not said a SINGLE WORD in french, and she has not said a single word in english.

Funny the opposite happened to me at McDonald's in Gare Centrale and at M Felix Mr Norton in Centre Eaton last week. Was talked in english first. I answered in french signifying my desire to be served in french but they never say a word in french.

There is no rule in this sort of things, it happens both ways. All I can say is when I talk to a client at my job I think it is important to answer in HIS language. So I expect the same when I am a client.

 

[LongJohn4510]

It's not only the OLF

Not too long ago my XYL and I did some shopping at Les Ailes at carrefour Laval. Of course the XYL doesn't speak french, understands some though. Get to the cash and the girl says in french cash,debit or credit card, XYL says in english, excuse me, I do not understand? The girl behind the counter
again says in french cash, debit, or credit card,but this time says it even louder. I noticed what was going on and came over to the counter and being bilingual said politely to the girl in french, my XYL is not deaf, she doesn't speak french.

 

[Techman]

Link

Here is a link to the story as reported by the Montreal Gazette. I was not wrong in my facts. http://www.canada.com/montreal/mont....html?id=9db93996-ec57-448a-a894-7ef3210a5d1a

 

[Techman]

Judge69

You must not be from Quebec. As a matter of fact all companies, gov't or private, have to operate completely in French in the province of Quebec or face the wrath of the OLF and heavy fines. This includes all computer software installed on company systems as well as internal company documentation and correspondance. And I have no problem with protecting the French language. I do have a problem with the systematic elimination of the english language however. There are many languages spoken in our great city and none of them are in danger of extinction but only english seems to be singled out for legal eradication. You never hear of the OLF going into Chinatown and telling the merchants there that they have to conduct business in French.

Oh, by the way, my original post was not as much concerned with what the OLF did. It was more about their timing. Every once in a while they go out on one of their witch hunts and we are used to it here. But if it wasn't for the decision on health care, it would have made the Gazette's front page and it isn't the kind of publicity this city needs with our international visitors in town.

 

[Not-a-Homo]

Just goes to show that there are still people out there who'd happily take away other people's civil rights, it's disgusting really that the French would do some stuff like this, even worse that they could try to convince themselves that it's justified.

 

[ManAboutTown]

..and think nothing of it.

I love Montreal, but I won't be unhappy to see some of these people in the rear view mirror.

MATt

 

[LongJohn4510]

OLF or Gestapo or KGB??

Hi all,

Yes it might sound harsh and maybe insult a few out there but in actuality freedom is not freedom when the STATE controls what you say when you say it or how you say it! What you can and cannot do.
I own a company, its my cash, or line of credit, maybe even my house that is on the line as collateral, and yet the Government can walk into my company and inspect how I conduct my business, how I post memo's on a company bulletin board, the language that is used in my office, warehouse, etc. my correspondance, what language version is on my computer, then issue a fine right then and their because I am not conducting business in the proper language, and an order to correct it??
Or, I am a Canadian citizen, yet as one, I do not have the freedom nor choice where I can send MY child to get their education.
These are just a few examples. How about the dirty tactics used during the last referendum? We as Canadians condemn other countries from doing exactly what went on here, but the State still continues as it wishes! We all take history in school, but never ever learn from it.

 

[Esquimo]

Je me souviens lors d'un voyage en France j'ai osé aller goûter à la gastronomie du McDonald's.

Le menu est présenté différament qu'au Québec, j'imagine pour y joindre la saveur locale de cet établissement, soit !

Le temps de comprendre le menu qui est en francais mais écrit en anglais, ce n'est pas des trio mais des menus, bon !

Nous commandons en francais mais la jeune dame nous ne comprend pas, alors on demande en anglais, mais il ne comprennent pas l'anglais. Parce que le seul accent anglais qu'ils comprennent est le leur.... Potatoes a la francaise ! iimaginé.

Je demande un Coke diete ou Diete Coke, tout dépend qu'est-ce qui est écrit sur les cannettes. Ils ne comprennent pas. En France c'est un "Coca Light".

Je me suis faché parce que la situation était d'un ridicule. Je leur ai dit pourquoi utiliser des termes anglophones dans un pays francophone. Protéger votre langue comme nous la protégeons.

Ils ont bien vu que nous étions québécois. Mais bordel, la France devrait etre le défenseur de la langue francaise. Si elle ne l'est pas, cette langue se perdera. Pourquoi devons nous, les québécois, protéger cette langue ou seul un petit endroit parlons francais dans une mer anglophone.

Je crois au mécanisme de l'OLF malgré quelques ratés.

Soyons fier d'etre des habitants de la province du Québec.

Remarquer, quand vous sortez de la région de Montréal, il ne faut pas s'attendre à ce que les gens parlent anglais !!! du moins, peu le parlent.

 

[ManAboutTown]

Esquimo, it isn't a question of protect or not protect a language. That is up to individual people who choose to use or not use a language. Slang, local phrases, and influences from other languages are pretty normal in this connected world. Otherwise we would all be talking latin.

I don't deny that the desire and need to protect a language is there. I don't like that that desire overwhelms and removes my rights to speak another language. I am disgusted that I live in a country with 20+ million english speakers but I can't order lunch in english? What the heck happened to MY rights?

More importantly, I feel sorry for those french people in Quebec who don't realize (or seem to care) that because they have never learned a second language, that they are forever locked to living in an artificial language ghetto called Quebec. I can get up and move to Toronto tomorrow and get a job. I can move to Vancouver and live well (I might have to learn to speak chinese, but that is another problem). They can't. They are locked in because their government and laws basically forbid them from being anything but french quebecers.

It's always explained as a good thing for Quebec, it's the place you want to be, whatever. In the end, many Quebecers are prisoners of a political idea, not metal bars required to keep them in - there is nowhere to go.

MATt

 

[EagerBeaver]

I think preservation of the French language and culture is important, but at the same time, one must look at reality. The reality is that Quebec territorially is surrounded by predominately English speaking lands and peoples to the east, west and south. The youth of Quebec simply have to learn English as a second language and if they don't, their opportunities in life are going to be limited. This is a fact. It seems to me as a foreigner from the USA that all of the children of Quebec should be educated in both languages. I am not sure why you would raise a child and not give him or her an opportunity to do something with his or her life. If you want to work in and advance in many businesses, bilingualism is crucial. This is obvious to anyone and cannot be debated. The existence of this Board is even proof of that.

 

[Techman]

I just feel that there is a big insecurity thing going on here. There are many cultures in Quebec and none of them need any gov't help to survive. Culture cannot be legislated into existance but it can be legislated out of existance. You don't see the Greeks or the Italians or any of the many other groups crying for help to protect them from the majority language spoken here. Culture is passed down from parents to their children, not from the gov't to the population. What they do not seem to realize is that with their various legislations all they are creating is resentment towards themselves. People by nature do not like to be pushed around and sooner of later will push back. I often wonder what they would do if companies, and people in general, decided to ignore their language laws and refuse to pay the fines they received? Would they close every business in the city and arrest everyone who refused to pay? It isn't the French language they want to protect, it's French dominance and power they protect. I have no problem with French being required on all signs, but why does it have to be twice as big as any other language? Equality is not enough, dominance is required. It's like children in the schoolyard, my daddy is bigger than your daddy. I think it's time to grow up and let these insecurities go. The French language and the people of Quebec are the equal of anyone in the world and we should be secure enough in ourselves to be able to prove it on a level playing field without big daddy government stepping on the opposition.