fastmoonbrush said:
i agree...everybody in all countries should speak english
Don't agree with me on that because I never said it. What I said is that anyone who works in Montreal for any branch of the government, municipal, or provincial or federal, and who deals with the public on a daily basis as part of their job, should be bilingual. I really don't give a damn if someone in a dep or any other business refuses to speak to me in my language of choice because I'll just take my money elsewhere. But when jobs deal with public safety, and yes...a bus driver or metro employee is responsible for the safety of transit users, they should be required to be bilingual. Especially when our tax money is paying their salary.
I fail to see how anyone with even the slightest bit of intelligence can disagree with that.
Considering how much of our taxdollars they are being paid, if they don't like the requirements they can find themselves another job that, if they are lucky, will pay them half as much.
You'd probably have less trouble finding a bus driver in Tokyo that is willing to speak English than you will in Montreal.
I would bet you anything that if mass transit was privatized, these problems would vanish overnight.
Bucky said:
En plein ca Véro, une question de respect, les anglophones ont l'impression que le monde tournent autour d'eux.
Quand on visite la France, on parle francais, quand on visite le Portugal, on parle potuguais ainsi de suite, plusieurs pays ont emboité le pas quand a la préservation de leur langue, les états unis étant un de ceux la...surprenant non ?
So then I guess if you don't know how to speak a language you shouldn't visit that country then.
Or maybe you should take language courses for each country you visit. Maybe we should take out some tourist ads in major American newspapers to tell American tourists that we aren't interested in any of their money if they can't speak French. Or why don't we make everyone crossing the border into Quebec take language tests, you don't pass - you don't get in, so that some bus driver or ticket taker doesn't feel insulted.
But you're right, it is a question of respect...respect for the customer who is spending their money. And that is something that is sorely lacking in the transit system and has been for a very long time.