From: duquet@astro.phy.ulaval.ca (Jean-Remi Duquet)
Subject: Re: Toronto Sun: another case of paranoia???
Organization: Universite Laval, Ste-Foy, Qc, Canada
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 23:59:04 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.035510.10594@csi.uottawa.ca> cbbrowne@csi.uottawa.ca (Christopher Browne) writes:
>In article <BxJ4KM.Eq6@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> tdwebste@sparta.uwaterloo.ca (Timothy D. Webster) writes:
>
>>>I notice here the same tendency that some journalists spotted after
>>>Oka crisis, which is to introduce french quotations where it comes
>>>to frighten people; it sounds like a foreign language and calls to
>>>their potential xenophobia. (during Oka crisis it was reported that
>>>english journalists switched from "Quebec police" to "Surete du Quebec"
>>>because it sounds more like "Securitate" or "KGB".)
>
>The journalists can't win.
>
>If they called them "Quebec Police," some francophones would complain
>that "Ce n'est pas la vrai nom.  C'est la (?) Surete du Quebec.  Vous
>ne pouvez pas utilizer la vrai nom, et ca nous offende!"
>
>If they call them "Surete du Quebec," it's xenophobia because it
>sounds like "Securitate".
>
>Either way, some quebecois are offended.
>

Maybe you're right. But this can be tested. If the english version was
used before Oka crisis, but not after, your theory is probably not
worth its weight in (whatever you like...). I don't know for sure if
this is the case. Moreover, I don't know how I could feel insulted by
such a direct translation. I guess english press uses "Quebec's Liberal
party" instead of "Parti Liberal du Quebec", which is quite the same.
But I assume they would keep the same terminology if PLQ became involved
in some bad (Oka-like) situation. Much in the same way, french press uses
the acronym APEC though they refer to their full name in french (ironic, 
isn't it?). There's no reason to change this convention if some dramatic
event occurs. That would be playing with people's xenophobia.

>If you are looking for something for which you can take offense,
>you'll probably find something. 
>
>>>In any case, it certainly is a nice case of Quebec bashing, and 
>>>a call to intolerance if not total war against separatists. I
>>>never saw anything like this on this side of the... the whatever
>>>it is that separates ontario from quebec. 
>
>You probably haven't seen the APEC types that REALLY want to go to war
>against separatists.  They might be REALLY scary.
>
>It's not Ontario that really hates you guys - whether Quebec separates
>or not, Ontario's going to have to live with it, and we'll be living
>closer than anyone else.
>
>It's when you go to the far west that you find REAL hatred..
>
Probably right. But this doesn't mean it should be tolerated in either
region. There are laws against heinous propaganda.

>>Quebec Separatist are an enemy of Canada. The Bloc Quebecois have as
>>their mandate, the separation of Quebec. Therefore they are an enemy of
>>Canada. Remember this comic strip did not attack Quebecois ONLY
>>Separatist. 
>
>It IS hard to tell the difference sometimes between Quebecois and the
>Separatists.
>
>The Separatists would like everyone to think that ALL Quebecois (and
>probably generalizing further, all francophones) are Separatists.
>
>Since a Quebecois reading an English cartoon may be passing through a
>couple of levels of cultural translation, it may be difficult to grasp
>the distinction between hatred of Separatists, and hatred of
>Quebecois.
>

OK, agreed. But how can you HATE 30%+ quebecers while "loving" the
remaining 70% or so ? How does it affects your feelings toward a group
of quebecers when you don't know their political "color" ? The reciprocal
would be, say, hating "royalist" canadians. How would you accept a
similar strip, mutatis mutandis ?

>-- 
>Christopher Browne                |     PGP 2.0 key available


Jean-Remi Duquet
Universite Laval



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