From: beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (Denis Beauregard)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: DIR/NEW
Date: 14 Apr 92 02:50:39 GMT
Organization: Hydro-Quebec

In article <1992Apr13.164822.5019@ac.dal.ca> galbrth@ac.dal.ca writes:
>beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (Denis Beauregard) writes
>
>|coady@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Coady Michael) writes:
>
>|>It's hard to believe that some heartless anglo devised this as a
>|>way of trivializing Quebec (the province).
>|
>|The trouble is not with the reason of the PQ abbreviation.
>|It is just that Quebec is using QC now.
When a 2-letter abbreviation is used, it is typically QC.
It is not necessary to always use a 2-letter abbreviation.
For instances, once I received a stack of junk mail with a lot
of Ontario address.  They used Ontario and Ont. for the most.

The same way, in many reviews, Quebec is at long as address for
company.  THe point is when you have a long list of "standard"
abbreviations.  

When the data originate from outside of Quebec, it is typically if not
always PQ.  When the data if from inside Quebec, it is QC.
ANd it in lists so that it is systematically a name of state or province.
In that context, P for province is redundant.

>|
>|So, why not accepting a standard from Quebec instead of something
>|that we found offensive.  
>
>Please speak for yourself.  I doubt all or even most Quebecois find
>the use of `PQ' offensive, or would find it offensive for that reason.
>I, for one, started using `Qc' a long time ago because `PQ' reminded 
>me of the Parti Quebecois!
>
>|                          Canada is so afraid of Quebec secession
>|that it will not even accept to remove the [P].
>
>You're putting *way* too much into this matter.
>If you persist, how are Canadians to decide what is *really* important
>to the Quebecois?  They may start to think Quebecois feel as much or
>little about very important issues as about the use of `Qc'!

If Canadian don't matter about using PQ, why do each time I suggest to
use it, and the American involved in the list accept the idea as it
is more obvious, why do a lot of Anglo-Canadian write to protest?


>
>|This is a 2-letter code that ALWAYS means a province in that context.
>|PQ is then redundant.  Moreover, Quebec per se has only ONE lettre
>|to represent it, while other have 2.
>
>Sure.  But the use of these abbreviations is not even mandatory!
>I worked for the federal gov. in Quebec city and they always used...
>Que'bec!

About 2 or 3 years ago, the return address for the Federal Tax form
(in Shawinigan, QC) was labelled PQ on the English side and (Quebec)
on the French side.


As I said above, in some lists, there is no abbreviation.
But in some others, all provinces have a 2-letter code.
For example, on my credit card, there is a 2-letter code for the
company billing me.  A Quebec based firm, it uses QC.  But, the company
distributing the credit cards is Ontario based and changed the address
code from QC to PQ.  Why are they changing that since they have to do that
on many 100000 of cards to process the whole thing.  And they should know
they are doing that, no?


As I said before, it is a symbol that could be installed at almost
no cost.  Just switching when preparing new forms, and replacing a few
codes in a some reference lists, et voila.  But, they DON'T do it.
If Federal is so friendly to Quebec, why not giving that (free) gift?


> Peter Galbraith       [Phone: (902) 494-7007] |  GALBRTH@AC.DAL.CA (InterNet)


-- 
    Denis Beauregard       _ _ _ _  Collecting Beauregard/Jarret/Jarest/Vincent
beaurega@ireq.hydro.qc.ca | * | * | Promoting use of QC as Quebec Postal Abbrev 
  Andre Jarret, sieur de  |===|===| Mes opinions?  Oui, oui, les miennes!
   Beauregard 1642-1992   |_*_|_*_| My opinions?  Yes, yes, mine!