STM bus driver refuses to speak English to passenger, calls police

[CLOUD 500]

Voila ce que je fais au travail, quand un anglo me pose une question et bien je lui réponds en français et je dirais qu'a 80% des fois, il semble comprendre un faible pourcentage semble ne pas comprendre, ou ne pas vouloir comprendre, alors pourquoi ne pas demander la question en français, quand la personne se donne la peine de me parler en français, même tout croche, ben moi je félicite ce geste et je m'efforce de bien lui répondre, même lui écrire les renseignements sur un bout de papier, mais comme je l'ai dit auparavant, le français est la langue de travail au Québec et ca, bien des gens ne le comprennent pas.

Some people do not speak the language well enough. Loosen up a little. There are a lot of immigrants who come here and French is a difficult language to learn. If they do not quite understand there is no reason to be angry or hate on them. I am sure there are Quebecers going to Ontario who do not speak much English how would you like if you had asked a question to a driver for example the direction and he called the police on you because you could not understand English? As for the language of work practically a lot of jobs you got to be bilingual. Montreal is both French and English but it seems that the former lack tolerance. I am not saying all are like this but there are too many that are. It is people with an attitude like you that make me not want to stay in Montreal.

I will also say it again that in any public sector job the employees should be required to speak both languages. You know something I just came back from Toronto and I noticed as I was driving on the 401 all the way to Toronto all the important signs were put up in both English and French but yet on the Quebec side of the border along highway 20 it was only in French. Hmm? So you said English people think the world revolves around them yet they actually cared to put up bilingual signs? Something to think about.

 

[CLOUD 500]

What are you getting angry about I didn't say it to you and maybe he's new in this country and doesnt know the language well like most new immigrants.

There you go someone who makes some sense. Learning a new language is not easy for some it is much more difficult then others and French is a difficult language to master.

 

[voyageur11]

The man insisted on being served in English big mistake.

 

[protagoras]

, mais comme je l'ai dit auparavant, le français est la langue de travail au .

Parfaitement d'accord Bucky, le français est une langue de travail. Cependant dans le cas qui nous intéresse plus particulièrement ici, le fait de répondre à une simple question d'un passager (en l'occurrence: demander l'heure) ne fait nullement partie de la définition de tâche d'un chauffeur d'autobus (à ce que je sâche). Le chauffeur peut être vraisemblablement tenu de donner des informations sur le trajet, les correspondances possibles, etc. Il peut le faire uniquement en Français et nul ne lui en tiendra rigueur.

Dans le cas qui nous intéresse, il faut donc faire la distinction entre ce qui tombe absolument sous la coupe du domaine du travail (sphère publique) et le domaine de la civilité (sphère privée entre individus respectueux). Le chauffeur impliquée, si elle avait eu la moindre parcelle de courtoisie, aurait dû répondre en Anglais à une question aussi anodine. La question qui reste maintenant à élucider est de savoir si elle possédait l,habilité linguistique de comprendre et de répondre à cette question (aussi simple soit-elle). Il ne faut pas oublier que les transports en commun relèvent des services publics et que ceux-ci sont payés (partiellement ou en totalité?) par nos taxes.

I also concur with Voyager11. The fact to insist to being served in English in Québec (or in any other country in the world) is also rude. I'm sure that if the request is polite, the people around you will try their best to give you an answer (no matter how).

As LIFE is not monochrome, this story is a question of nuances! (or lack of them)

 

[voyageur11]

La compréhension de l'Anglais est un atout et non une obligation pour etre chauffeur a S.T.M. Personnellement je pense de ne pas etre capable de donner l'heure est un peu fort. Mais je n'étais pas dans l'autobus et je ne sais pas comment il s'est adresser a elle.

 

[THEHITMAN]

Is this a joke or this asshole really came in our Province to learn the Coran
I knew that Cairo was a famous place to learn Islam but Montreal... OMG!
Or maybe it's a joint program with the department of chemistry at Mc Gill .
Or he's just another cockroach whose intention is to sue the STM to make money out of Montreal's tax payers (STM is subsidized by the City), like his friends Omar Kader and Suaad Hagi Mohamud.

I still don't understand why the majority of our fellow citizens absolutely want Canada to become a muslim country ...

This is not a joke we should be encouraging more immigrants who are actually here studying and trying to make it somewhere in life.Judging by your comments it seems like your putting all new immigrants are scammers or terrorists.

 

[THEHITMAN]

Seriously what does this have to do with Al-Qaida? Would you even mention it if the guy in question was a white guy demanding service in English?

I totally agree with you if it was a white guy they wouldn't even mention it but since the guy is coloured they throw all the eggs in one basket?

 

[THEHITMAN]

Some people do not speak the language well enough. Loosen up a little. There are a lot of immigrants who come here and French is a difficult language to learn. If they do not quite understand there is no reason to be angry or hate on them. I am sure there are Quebecers going to Ontario who do not speak much English how would you like if you had asked a question to a driver for example the direction and he called the police on you because you could not understand English? As for the language of work practically a lot of jobs you got to be bilingual. Montreal is both French and English but it seems that the former lack tolerance. I am not saying all are like this but there are too many that are. It is people with an attitude like you that make me not want to stay in Montreal.

I will also say it again that in any public sector job the employees should be required to speak both languages. You know something I just came back from Toronto and I noticed as I was driving on the 401 all the way to Toronto all the important signs were put up in both English and French but yet on the Quebec side of the border along highway 20 it was only in French. Hmm? So you said English people think the world revolves around them yet they actually cared to put up bilingual signs? Something to think about.

I totally agree with you

 

[protagoras]

Here you had a clash of two cultures. A Quebec woman and an Islamic man. Both are impossible to deal with.

Not only two cultures are clashing but also two stereotypes.

It's seems fairly easy to depict the alleged « victim » as an Islamist fanatic. We should not forget, on the other hand, that we could also possibly portrayed the driver as a frustrated old hag imbued by the fact that she was in a power situation...and when women are in that position they can really be a pain in the ass!

 

[Mike Mercury]

My favourite welcome to Canada story.

 

[Techman]

I'm amazed that many people in this thread seem to think that it's OK for a public servant to only serve the French sector of the public. People should leave their politics and racist attitudes at home when they have a job that deals with the public unless they are politicians. It seems that common decency has no place in Montreal if it requires someone to use any language other than French.

If you want a job dealing with the public, paid for by public tax dollars, then you damn well better be ready and willing to deal with all the public, no matter what language they speak or what the colour of their skin is.

This driver should be fired, which will obviously never happen. So as an alternative she should be assigned to a bus route in the east end of the city where she will have less of a chance of having to deal with something as distasteful to her as the English language.

I hope that the passenger files a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights commission. This is no different than other cases they have handled such as Black customers being refused entry or service in a bar. It's discrimination, pure and simple.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I'm amazed that many people in this thread seem to think that it's OK for a public servant to only serve the French sector of the public. People should leave their politics and racist attitudes at home when they have a job that deals with the public unless they are politicians. It seems that common decency has no place in Montreal if it requires someone to use any language other than French.

Whenever I have gone shopping in Montreal like at La Baie and the other big stores downtown, I am usually addressed first in French and then when words come out of my mouth and the salesperson detects that I am an American tourist, they always switch to English. I don't recall ever having a problem in all my years coming to Montreal, where someone refused to speak English to me. A few times the salesperson spoke only weak English and when they could not handle my inquiries, they went and got someone whose English was stronger. I have always been respected in this regard, at least in the downtown core.

Last summer during the Jazz festival, I travelled to Montreal with an American friend of mine, also a unilingual anglophone. It was his 1st trip to Canada. He insisted that we take the Grey Line bus tour of Montreal, which was a half day tour of the city. The only complaint he had was that all of the French speakers were identified and removed from our bus to another one (the remainder were all tourists from South Korea, Ontario and the USA and I know this for a fact because the bus driver walked down the aisle and asked everyone to identify their country of origin). There was not a single Francophone on our bus, yet every place we went, he gave us a narrative in both English and French. My friend complained to me later that he felt that the English narrative was rushed at times so that our driver could also do the French version. I believe we paid $40 each for that tour, and apart from that I enjoyed the tour, but it did not make sense for them to remove the French speakers to another bus and then have the driver do the narrative in both languages for our bus.

 

[Techman]

EB, that's the difference between the private and public sectors. In the private sector they know that they have to provide decent service to get you to spend your money there. In the public sector, they have no such requirement because they already have our tax dollars. There can be no comparison made between the two.

As for your experience on the bus tour, it would be against the law to provide the tour in English only as all services have to be provided in French by law and if someone had complained the driver most probably would have been disciplined or fired. I think it would be safe to say that on the other bus there was no English narrative combined with the French, justifiably as there were no English speakers on the tour, which would have made it an easier time for the driver and a more relaxed and informative tour for the passengers.

I'm sure that the English tour would have been more enjoyable if it had been provided primarily in English along with explanations for the French names, places and events in the city. It would seem to be simple common sense but that is lacking here for some reason.

 

[Octavian]

My favourite welcome to Canada story.

The english canadians sure know how to make you feel welcome. Let's keep bashing on the french instead.

 

[Techman]

My favourite welcome to Canada story.

And what does this have to do with the topic of this thread? Another case of the usual suspects trying to side track the discussion because they have no way of defending an indefensible situation.

 

[Bucky]

That may be the case but I doubt people are gonna hate on you for not speaking their language or call the police. This whole story is so absurd. There are many tourists coming to Montreal and we cannot expect them to speak French they may be Americans or people from other parts of Canada. I believe drivers driving the routes in the downtown Montreal should be required to have some level of English. Preserving a language does not have to mean to hate on another language which is more often the case in Montreal.
Wow ca c'est un brillant raisonnement de ta part, alors il faut décider sur quelles rues les chauffeurs devront savoir parler une autre langue que le français, pcq il ne sagit pas seulement de l'anglais, mais du grec, de l'arabe, du mandarin, de l'espagnol, le serbo-croate etc..



Really ? So you are telling me that if you go to Portugal you speak Portuguese or if you go to China you speak Cantonese or Mandarin? Do you realize how silly you sound? Let me ask you do you speak Portuguese? I doubt by the sounds of your comments .
Ben oui imagine toi que lorsque j'irai en voyage dans un pays étranger, je me donnerai la peine d'apprendre quelques phrases clés pour me faire comprendre c'est la moindre des choses, et comme je l'ai mentionné je n'ai eu de problème qu'avec les montréalais qui ne parlent pas et probablement ne veulent pas apprendre le français, jamais avec les touristes surtout les américains qui sont toujours très polis et qui eux me demandent souvent des renseignements en français, étrange non ? Ils viennent ici pour l'accent français de la ville, c'est un peu absurde de leur répondre en anglais non ? Sinon ils pourraient aller a Boston ou tout autre ville comparable, mais ils choisissent Montréal, pour l'histoire, la culture et le coté européen de la ville.

 

[leneo]

student

OK , bon , comment écrire ça !!!

tu es étudiant a l'étranger ! tu veux venir au canada étudier ! tu décide de venir au Québec ! mais crisse il parle français au Québec tabarnak ! si tu parles pas un crisse de mots français , vas pas au Québec sacrement, il y a 10 autres provinces qui parlent anglais calvaire !

Si moi je décide d'aller en Italie, mais je sais que ça parle italiens, je vais m'arranger pour parler italiens , crisse de la logique ça existe bon sens !

Bordel c'est rendu qu McDonald est obliger de mettre sur les verres de caffer , Attention contenu peut-être chaud. crisse c'est caffer sait supposer d'être chaud !

p.s. c'est juste mon opinion , j'ai pas envie d'embarquer dans une guerre de la loi 101 !

 

[CS Martin]

Last summer during the Jazz festival, I travelled to Montreal with an American friend of mine, also a unilingual anglophone. It was his 1st trip to Canada. He insisted that we take the Grey Line bus tour of Montreal, which was a half day tour of the city. The only complaint he had was that all of the French speakers were identified and removed from our bus to another one (the remainder were all tourists from South Korea, Ontario and the USA and I know this for a fact because the bus driver walked down the aisle and asked everyone to identify their country of origin). There was not a single Francophone on our bus, yet every place we went, he gave us a narrative in both English and French. My friend complained to me later that he felt that the English narrative was rushed at times so that our driver could also do the French version. I believe we paid $40 each for that tour, and apart from that I enjoyed the tour, but it did not make sense for them to remove the French speakers to another bus and then have the driver do the narrative in both languages for our bus.

EB, this very same thing happened to me on the famous Lachine Rapids ride recently. The only difference was my companion was an attractive Montreal SP whose native language was French. Two boats, one French only, the other English/French (SP stayed with me). I think French Quebec will always "accomodate" the English language. Your experience was merely the Grey Line's "accomodation" to the statutes. Kind of the Quebec way of winking at the law.

If you've ever traveled extensively outside of Montreal, "French" is not only predominate, but darn near exclusive. The average Quebecer outside of metropolitan areas speaks very weak english. This is not a put down, just a fact. It's one of the nuances that makes Quebec interesting and unique (it's women more so).

The reverse seems true in the Anglo areas of Canada.

 

[protagoras]

Leneo,

Question de tempérer le débat, note que l'étudiant en question est venu étudier non pas au Québec dans une université francophone mais bien dans une université anglophone. McGill est d'ailleurs un fleuron de l'enseignement universitaire dont le rayonnement est international. Cet étudiant n'a sûrement pas le désir de s'établir ici après ses études; il n'est - en toute vraisemblance - que de passage. Parler une langue étrangère n'est pas une nécessité lorsqu'on parle déjà l'Anglais. (Libre à lui de demeurer moron.)

Il est facile de faire appel au «bon sens» quand on utilise des argument factieux. Il ne faut pas oublier que Montréal est autant une ville anglophone que francophone. L'épithète décrivant pompeusement Montréal comme la seconde ville francophone est une monumentale arnaque. Montréal a été, est et sera toujours une ville cosmopolite où cohabitent deux solitudes pour reprendre ce terme éculé.

Je suis davantage agressé par les gens qui massacrent la langue française que par ceux qui l'ignorent. Les vrais traitres - ces perfides ennemis - ne sont pas ceux qui ignorent sciemment notre belle langue mais ceux qui la traînent dans la fange en la triturant, en l'abâtardissant, en l'avilissant d'une façon ignomieuse.

Je ne vise personne en particulier sur ce forum de discussion mais je parle en général de notre soi-disant intelligentia ou de nos thuriféraires d'opérette et du peuple qui se vautre dans la complaisance de parler joual et qui cultive l'art peu reluisant d'écrire un sabir plus digne d'un style «petit-nègre».

 

[CLOUD 500]

Ben oui imagine toi que lorsque j'irai en voyage dans un pays étranger, je me donnerai la peine d'apprendre quelques phrases clés pour me faire comprendre c'est la moindre des choses, et comme je l'ai mentionné je n'ai eu de problème qu'avec les montréalais qui ne parlent pas et probablement ne veulent pas apprendre le français, jamais avec les touristes surtout les américains qui sont toujours très polis et qui eux me demandent souvent des renseignements en français, étrange non ? Ils viennent ici pour l'accent français de la ville, c'est un peu absurde de leur répondre en anglais non ? Sinon ils pourraient aller a Boston ou tout autre ville comparable, mais ils choisissent Montréal, pour l'histoire, la culture et le coté européen de la ville.

So what you are trying to say is that no one should bother to come to this province unless they speak French? Should we have language tests before people come to the border if they fail refuse their entry? This is exactly the xenophobic attitude like yours that makes Montreal not such a welcoming place to come. Fortunately people like you are not in the majority if that was the case I would have moved to Ontario a long time ago. It seems you have to tolerance for what is different. So what if someone cannot speak French? We live in a democratic society and it is a free country. You are proposing a fascist type of governing. Yes people come here for to see the culture but who wants to see xenophobic people like you that cannot tolerate any other language then French? Oh yea, so you are telling me that you will never visit Honk Kong or the Dominican Republic unless you speak their language? I do not believe that and I doubt you speak their language. Remember this Montreal is a BILINGUAL CITY not exclusively French. Accept it and stop hating. Most of the younger generation speak both languages fluently and I think the man in question was well within his right to ask the question in English. I will say it again any public sector employee should be required to speak BOTH LANGUAGES and offer service in both languages. If they work for the city and serve the public they have to put aside their xenophobic and political viewpoints aside or they should find a new line of work. Can you imagine my hard earned tax dollars are going to pay for people the likes of you. I would never want a dime of my money to go to people like you .